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"His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling, like the descent of their last end, upon living and the dead. Pg 103" This sentence really sets the tone or theme of the story, "The Dead". The words "like the descent if their last end" gives us this notion that everything eventually comes to an end. The setting of the story is an annual party that the family members attend, and as the years go by, the party has witnessed the passing of relatives, the growth of its youth, and the limitation time has on its elders. We finally get the notion of time at the end of the story, as Gabriel, the main character falls asleep as the snow falls everywhere.

"But yet...there are always in gatherings such as this sadder thoughts that will recur to our minds: thoughts of the past, of youth, of changes, of absent faces that we miss here tonight." (pg 86) This one quote from Gabriel secretly foreshadows the ending of the story where Gretta tells Gabriel about her long ago friend/love that died for her. To that day, when "The Lass of Aughrim" was played, she was still brought back to that time in her life where she promised to come back for him, but he had passed. It still deeply moved her, showing that she still missed that boy even though her life currently was moving on and was very well; that love has a funny way of showing up and not always in a happy way to change things.

"Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age." (102) This passage is important because it is essentially touching on the idea of living life to the fullest. It not only relates to the title but it relates to the passing of relatives as Benson mentioned. The element of snow is something Joyce touches on and is an ironic element of this story that relates to death. Snow falls on everything and affects everything as does death. There is no living thing that wont be toughed by death. This passage prepares us for the ending by correlating the idea of death with the image of snow. Snow is repeatedly mentioned throughout the story and this goes along with the idea of life sperated into seasons where winter is the end of life.

"Generous tears filled Gabriel's eyes. He had never felt like that himself towards any woman but he knew that such a feeling must be love. "pg (102) considering the event that had taken place just before this passage, i.e Gretta telling of her once love ordeal with the young michael, it seems to me that Gabriel's immence love for his wife is too strong to be shattered by feelings of jelousy or resentment. He actually is empathetic towards his wife when she admits she was thinking of another man. We are told that he had never felt that way towards any other woman which signifies the fact that she was the first he had ever loved and even though the years had gone by and her looks were somewhat frail and aged, he is still attracted to her. By this passage line, Joyce brings forth the idea that love does overcome obstacles and endures all things.

"His own identity was fading out into a grey impalpable world" (103) This line sums up a lot of the story it comes at the end she is dead and he is now wondering what the world has in store for him. She was part of his identity and now she is gone. He is lost and doesnt know what to do.
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"Mr. D?Arcy , she said what is the name of that song you were singing? Its called The Lass Of Aughrim , said Mr. D?Arcy, but I couldn?t remember it properly. Why? Do you know it. The Lass if Aughrim, she repeated. I couldn?t think of the name.?( 93)This is important, because this part starts to explain the ending. I think it also explains the title. At the end of the song Gabriel ask her why she wanted to know the song. That?s when she broke down told him about the boy who died. That boy she loved he would sing this song to her. He died because he was very sick. I think might have been one of the reason why the title was named The Dead. The whole story mentions know one that dies until the end

The passage that i liked most was at the very end of the story gabriel is laying in bed and Joyce writes "...It had begun to snow again... Yes, the newspaper's were right: snow was generally all over Ireland". page(103). For me this was meaningful because it was sort of like a new beginning for him and i think the idea of the freshly fallen snow represents this because when snow falls it covers everything that was there before and Gabriel had just found out that his wife had loved another man before him and was heartbroken to know that she kept this from him. So the new snow falling signifies that Gabriel is going to move on [westward] and put the past behind him. I think this is when he finally realizes that he needs to get over that his wife had loved another before him and Joyce does a nice job describing this moving forward through the freshly fallen snow referred in the passage at the end of the story.

"There are always in gatherings such as this sadder taughts that will occur to our mind ... and rightly claim our strenuous endeavours." (pg 86) This passage from the story which is a part of Gabriel speech earlier during dinner time will revealed later how wrong this comment was for Gretta. Gabriel declares that although people has sad memories from the past , they must get over them and live their life. This declaration is in opposition of Gretta's reaction later that evening recapturing the memories of dead Michaell. Gabriel is wrong. He realized that one cannot forget his/her first love and what's upsetting him more is that He was not Gretta's first love. He was mad at that dead boy that Gretta really knew true, deep love through his eyes as he was willing to die for her. Gabriel realized that this women , his wife that he tought that he knew well, was holding memories of another man within her heart.

"Generous tears filled Gabriel's eyes. He had never felt like that himself towards any woman but he knew that such a feeling must be love" (102). I found this passage to be important to the story because it shows the power which love has - that he can overcome feelings of jealousy with feelings of empathy and fondness. This passage also distinguishes this piece as a love story similar to the rest in Eugenides' collection. Gabriel's realization of his love for his wife is a landmark in his life and allows him to open his eyes and see that life should be lived to the fullest with the people you love most.

"There are always in gatherings such as this sadder taughts that will occur to our mind ... and rightly claim our strenuous endeavours." (pg 86) This passage I liked and saw as very important. As it set up the theme of the whole story and also created and issue which would be solved right after.Gabriel was stubborn at first to see how difficult it is to lose a first love, and was frustrated for Gretta having loved another before him. He was even angry at the dead Michael and Grettas ex lover . But it set up the ending beautifully as the snow was a new sheet of life , which was to forget the past and move forward.

"Therefore I will not linger on the past. I will not let any gloomy moralising intrude upon us here tonight." (pg 86) This passage means not to let history ruin your day, life goes on. The author is probably trying to tell the readers that at the end Gabriel will forgive Gretta for having a secret lover, whom died after she broke his heart.

page 102 "Generous tears filled Gabriel's eyes. He had never felt like that himself towards any woman but he knew that such a feeling must be love. " This line was interesting to me because it does not seem realistic to me. This was Gabriel's reaction to the news he had been cheated on. Anger and jealousy were an emotion one would expect to see come from news like that. The author wants to show that Gabriel's understood no other emotion could shake the feeling of love he had for his wife. He was able to see past his her faults, even though she cheated on him. J

Their were many important passages in Joyce's story but to me the most important one was at the end of the story when Joyce writes "it had begun to snow again"(103). I say this because i believe that the fresh snow represents a new start. Gabriel was now ready to move on and put the past in the past. He was ready to finally get over the problems with his wife and move past it.

In Gabriel's speech, he says "We have all of us living duties and living affections which claim, and rightly claim, or strenuous endeavours. Therefore I will not linger on the past." (p86). By including this part in his speech, Joyce is able show Gabriel's epiphany in the end. He realizes that memory will always continue living after hearing his wife talk about the death of her first love. He was touched by the story. It was a part of her life that he didn't even know of until that night. This also makes him seem hypocritical because in his speech, he said they should embrace the living instead of holding onto the past, yet he, himself, doesn't do that with his own wife. He realizes that he doesn't know his wife as well as he thought and that he never experienced the feeling of love like Michael did towards his wife.

"He was trembling now with annoyance. Why did she seem so abstracted? He did not know how he could begin. Was she annoyed to about something? If she would only turn to him or come to him of her own accord! To take her as she was would be brutal. No, he must see some ardour in her eyes first. He longed to be the master of her strange mood.? In this moment we see how Gabriel is insecure, socially awkward, and does not have to courage to approach his wife directly .This shows that she has more power over him in the relationship. We are prepared for the ending because when he learns about his wife?s past; he doesn?t become angry with her because over the strong power that she has over him. Joyce is revealing the true dynamic of their relationship. The way that he acts toward his wife is important because we are able to understand the way they feel about each other. I think it is very interesting how he acts when he sees his wife w in this manner. Most husbands would just ask their wife, however he is very timid, observes her in a secretive manner, keeps his true thoughts to himself. Also it was strange how he was observing his wife from a distance as if she were a stranger to him and could not be approached. As he was watching her, he was longing ?to be the master of her strange mood? and was so desperate to understand her thoughts.

"One by one they were all becoming shades" (102) I liked this thought because it came after Gabriel pictured himself at his aunt's funeral, and led him to thinking again of his wife's former lover, who had risked death in his sickness to visit Gretta one more time before she left town. The thought shows Gabriel's contemplation of the his own mortality, and the fact that mortality is something everyone must face. He thinks that it would be better to "pass boldly into that other world, into the full glory of some passion, than fade and whither dismally with age" (102). With this sentiment he is comparing Micheal Furey's life and death to that of his still living aunt, and he realizes that the glory of Furey's passion was his love for Gretta.

"It lay thickly drifted on the crooked crosses and headstones, on the spears of the little gate, on the barren thorns." (page 103) He is thinking about how Michael Furey lay buried and was thinking about his aunts funeral.He was thinking about his wife and there relationship as well.

"Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet. Hardly had she brought one gentleman into the little pantry behind the office on the groundfloor and helped him off with his overcoat when the wheezy halldoor bell clanged again and she had to scamper along the bare hallway to let in another guest? (P.62). This is an interesting begging to the story ?The Dead?. Reading this opening piece after reading the title made me think that the little girl may symbolize the grim reaper. ?The little pantry? may be a coffin, and she leads the man to the coffin on ?the groundfloor.? Words like ?wheezy? and ?bare hallway? remind us of death and decay. It?s a very good beginning to the story and diffidently hooked my attention.

"His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all living and the dead"(P.103). This quotation at the end of the story basically sums up his emotions. He is in a deep depression because she is dead. His relationship was very strong but also we know that there was a part of his wife that had nothing to do with him. He is slowly becoming lost and trapped under his own emotions.

"Generous tears filled Gabriel's eyes. He had never felt like that himself towards any woman but he knew that such a feeling must be love" (102). This passage was important to me because it shows the love is a feeling that everyone goes through in some point of their lives but can sometimes be unrecognized until you go through certain situations. Some people dont realize how much they love someone until they are faced with circumstances that they can not control. These circumstances open up their eyes and their hearts to feelings they never know they had about this particular person.

"Garbriel's warm trembling fingers tapped the cold pane of the window. How cool it must be outside! How pleasant it would be to walk out alone, first along by the river and then through the park!...How much more pleasant it would be there than at the supper table!" (76). this quote seems to show Gabriel's love of himself and how it important it is to him. Yes he loves the people around him but in this passage seems to be more than content alone. Further the last paragraph of the story places Gabriel back at a window. This time "A few light taps upon the pane made him turn tot he window. It had begun to snow again... the time had come for him to set out on his journey westward."(103). the first quotation describes to me a scene of self thought that foreshadows the next scene of self thought and better yet an understanding not just a longing. Westward could mean many things however I think it has to do with the ending of something (i.e. the cycle of the sun; it sets in the west) or, more aptly, the end of him. In essence death and how it will happen to everyone/thing just as snow falls upon everyone/thing.

"Garbriel's warm trembling fingers tapped the cold pane of the window. How cool it must be outside! How pleasant it would be to walk out alone, first along by the river and then through the park!...How much more pleasant it would be there than at the supper table!" (76) This quotation from the book spoke to me in a strange way because the character seems to portray more love of the outside world in the dismal state that it appears in due to it being winter time rather than spend the moment with his friends and family. It seems like he would rather be separated from everyone around him and spend time alone. He describes how he would feel walking by the river by himself and his own thoughts and just how he would relish this idea rather than sitting at the dinner table with people around him. This character seems to be almost dead inside because he wants and would rather be alone.

"A few light taps the pane made him turn to the window. It had begun to snow again." The snow to me symbolize new beginning and Gabriels emotions, just as it is said water symboizes emotions. His emotions were being seeing; him being in love and his watery eyes. It was a good start for him to put all his past behind and celebrate a new begining and it was christmass too, so he had a lot to celebrate about.