ENG M1D2 Assignment: The Significance of Snow

Post #1 by Westley
Gabriel Conroy is a notable example of a complex character in “The Dead” by James Joyce. A complex character is a character who has a mix of traits that come from both naturally and through experience. Complex characters are more realistic than noncomplex types. Gabriel is an egocentric individual, who cares only about himself and how others see him, he is paralyzed by his self-consciousness, and tends to avoid conflict throughout the story. Gabriel’s personality traits change throughout the story. First, he started off happy, then to anxiety, and then jealousy.
Gabriel started off the story showing up late for the party at Miss Kate and Miss Julia’s house. Once he arrived Lily addressed him that they assumed he was going to make it to the party. In return Gabriel put down his wife by make a snide joke “they forget that my wife here takes three mortal hours to dress herself" (Joyce, n.d.). Instead of making a reasonable excuse for their tardiness, he makes sure to point the blame from himself onto his wife. His next change in personality traits took place when Gabriel was carrying on a conversation with Lily. He starts making small talk with her and when she ends up correcting him, he throws a temper tantrum. “Gabriel coloured, as if he felt he had made a mistake and, without looking at her, kicked off his goloshes and flicked actively with his muffler at his patent-leather shoes” (Joyce, n.d.). After having had the incident with Lily, Gabriel begins to feel somewhat uncomfortable and as such anxious about his character. Again, Gabriel finds himself uncomfortable when Miss Ivor embarrasses him for writing for the Daily Express. After this incident Gabriel starts losing his sense of security. At this point, Gabriel displayed the fact that he is a “round” character and he doesn’t know how to handle either situation. The final personality trait that Gabriel transitioned to was jealously. Gabriel became extremely jealous that his wife still had deep feelings for her past love, Michael Furey, that had passed away. The simple hearing o£ The Lass of Aughrim, made her start thinking out him and made her start to cry, in return rejecting Gabriel from having a passionate night with his wife. Gabriel could not believe that his wife loved someone before him.
Most people can relate to Gabriel and the emotions he is having. No one likes to feel embarrassed, insecure, or become jealous, but we all have these feeling. Gabriel felt like he was going into the situation in complete control, but by the end he realized this wasn’t the outcome. He is forced to deal with his own internal struggles and emotions. To me the theme of this story is failure. Gabriel’s ability to have a conversation with Lily, working for the Daily Express, and his evening with his wife alone were all failures to Gabriel. Joyce could highlight these failures throughout the whole story.
Post# 2 by Caleb
Gabriel Conroy is without a doubt one of the most developed characters in the story. We see an array of development of his character ranging from happiness, to agitation, and even jealousy. The story also shows how emotional and defensive he can be which can result in his dark thoughts near the end of the story.
Gabriel at first holds the persona of the family member that is loved by everyone. It even states that he was their favorite nephew and he seemed to always take care of everything and everyone. However, one could argue that even though he seems to be well-liked and seems to always do or say the right thing, he can still be defensive about his own decisions regarding his life. For instance, he is questioned by another member at the party about his travels, work, and things of that nature. Which this seems like a normal conversation between family members, but it takes a turn. His love for his country comes under question and Gabriel quickly becomes defensive. This sounds like a normal family gathering around me, but it seems to spark a series of events.
Gabriel’s emotions continue to change at this point. It would seem that Gabriel does not handle stress or his emotions very well.
I believe most people can identify with Gabriel. At the surface level we have all had to deal with holiday gatherings, constant questioning, and the ever-so-common arguments/awkward moments. On a deeper more emotional level, who hasn’t ever felt jealousy like Gabriel felt about his wife and her first love? Maybe not on that extreme of a level, but I’m sure everyone has felt jealous of someone over a man/woman.
Without Gabriel, there wouldn’t hardly be a theme. Gabriel has to deal with his own emotional struggles. His wife still remembers her first love even though he is no longer alive. Michael Furey continues to have an emotional tie with his wife, regardless that he is no longer present in this world.