Introduction
The topic of moral paralysis is the central issue in the entire anthology written by James Joyce. The author created his works during the time of economic stagnation of Ireland, which affected his oeuvre. This period of paralysis of the Irish society stemmed from the nationalist movement that promoted independence from Britain in terms of economic, political, and cultural development. During those days it was considered that England was responsible for the stagnation of Ireland by limiting its national identity and the ability to evolve. Therefore, Britain managed to paralyze its citizens, politics, economy, as well as culture by imposing its agenda and cultural values not characteristic for Ireland. While political and economic issues in this situation were particularly relevant, Joyce managed to go the other way and to address the psychological paralysis of the Irish people during the time of stagnation.
Analysis
It is possible to notice that the topic of paralysis is piercing the entire anthology, hut with the progress of the book, the themes illustrated in “Dubliners” become more and more powerful. Overall, Joyce addresses the psychological and emotional paralysis of three stages in human development, namely childhood, adolescence, and adult life, where the theme of stagnation is individual. Some of the stories address the problems in Irish society straightforwardly by analyzing economic and social problems in the country. While the topics and the methods of illustration of paralysis are different, the core problem in the Joyce’s works remains the same.
In “The Dead” Joyce uses the method of repetitiveness of routine actions as the major illustration of stagnation and paralysis. The Morkans’ party tends to be held every year, where its attendees act in the same manner every time they are invited. For instance, Gabriel always prepares a speech for the party, Freddy usually comes there already drunk arrives. Moreover, everyone sing and dance in the same manner they did a year before. Joyce writes, “for years and years it had gone off in splendid style, as long as anyone could remember” (Joyce 96). While the author does not present this repetitiveness in a negative connotation, there is an atmosphere of absence of any progress or development in the scene.
Such a repetitiveness and usual routine puts everyone in the story in a particular condition of paralysis. The characters of the story seem to have lost their ability to express new feelings and to undergo new experiences, as dullness and routine overwhelmed their lives completely. It is possible to claim that Joyce’s heroes are spiritually stagnated and remain in the state of psychological paralysis from the beginning to the end of the story. In one of the scenes Gabriel raises a controversial topic of Irish identity and culture, which according to Joyce is the main reason of paralysis. During the dance, Gabriel states that he likes to go abroad once in a while and plans to visit France, Belgium, and Germany for practice of languages and experiencing something new.
However, Miss Ivors is trying to shame him for not taking interest in his own country. By opposing his dance partner, Gabriel makes an apparently offensive remark to the entire group of the guests by exclaiming, “O, to tell you the truth,’ retorted Gabriel suddenly, ‘I'm sick of my own country, sick of it!” (Joyce 103). While Gabriel does not explain his remark that obviously became an epiphany for his interlocutor and the entire group of guests, his later reaction to his wife’s proposition to visit west Ireland points to Gabriel’s reluctance to the patriotic propaganda and the obsessions of the citizens with the national movement.
However, Gabriel cannot express his true feelings of despair and frustration openly, as the majority of the party’s attendees will not support him. The character uses passive-aggressive methods of articulating his ideas that mask his eagerness to break the vicious circle of stagnation and paralysis. At the same time, in his annual speech, Gabrielle tries to cover the theme of inflexibility and lack of novelty in the Irish society. He tries to trigger the discussion of the most topical problems overwhelming the citizens. Gabriel claims “we are living in a skeptical and a thought-tormented age: and sometimes I fear that this new generation will lack those qualities of humanity, of hospitality, of kindly humor which belonged to an older day” (Joyce 110). The character is afraid that living in the “spacious days” may end one day and the new generation will fill Ireland with novice experiences and traditions. At the same time, it is possible to assume that Gabriel does not feel like that and designs his speech particularly for the amusement of the guests.
Further on, it is possible to see that Gabriel’s relationship with his wife is in the state of paralysis as well. While he admires and loves her, is unable to make any connection with Gretta. He is fed up of dullness and usual routine that, according to Gabriel, made their relationship still. The main character feels like the annual celebration was almost as if “they had escaped from their lives and duties, escaped from home and friends and run away together with wild and radiant hearts to a new adventure” (Joyce 118). Gabriel is willing to love and feel loved by his wife, but it is if they had a wall between them in terms of emotional and spiritual connection. Gabiel eventually learns about Gretta’s love and realizes that he has never been loved by his wife in the same manner. In the moment when Gretta tells his husband about the tragedy of her love, Gabriel paralyzes himself for the possible future actions because he feels he cannot compete with such strong feeling.
However, the main problem in Gabriel’s paralysis is not his wife’s love interest, but rather the absence of the capability to feel the same strong feelings. Joyce emphasizes this moment by illustrating Gabriel’s feelings by stating that “he had never felt like that himself towards any woman, but he knew that such a feeling must be love” (Joyce 120). While the main character is looking for emotional warmness with his wife, he cannot feel passion and what appears to him a true love. At the same time, the problem of Gabriel is not only in shyness and inability to express his strong feelings, but in the crisis of identity. In the beginning of the story Gabriel claims that Irish is not his native language and he feels detached from his roots. Although the reasons for such feelings are unknown, it is quite clear that Gabriel represents a tormented country, whose citizens cannot identify how they are different from the usurping Britain. Joyce does not make this parallel straightforward, but the entire story refers to the state of stillness among the guests.
Joyce made very clear parallels between the state of the party and the social realities of Ireland during the days of national movement. The author proposes his characters a way out through painful situations that trigger eventual epiphany. For instance, once heard of Gabriel’s lack of love towards is country, Miss Ivors leaves the party abruptly; once realizing that his wife did not love him the way she did his lover, Gabriel is falling asleep trying to forget about this revelation. For Joyce, it was the entire problem with the country, as the citizens were both detached from the roots by the politics of another country and were willing to fight for their identity. At the same time, according to Joyce, the Irish people struggled with identification of their true identity, so as Gabriel did. They were holding the parties, singed national songs, gave patriotic speeches, yet the development was far away from happening. The author saw this stagnation as the crisis of national identity, but not the problem of economic, political, or cultural domains. Joyce started a discussion about the emotional and psychological state of Irish citizens in order to make the parallels with the Ireland in general.
It was emphasized by Eric Paul Meljac that the last phrase in James Joyce’s work “upon all the living and the dead” is usually followed by a blank space in the book that represents the mental and physical silence in “The Dead” (Meljac 297). According to the researcher, Joyce pushes the reader to reflect on the dead silence within the entire story, as the words and feelings unexpressed by the characters matter more than the events illustrated in the book. The things written between the lines and expressed by Gabriel mainly to himself determine the entire core of the story, as the main character is not allowed to say out loud his inner feelings. At the same time, Gabriel’s inability to open up is not the result of societal taboo, but the self-infliction of the main character to act in this manner. Gabriel is particularly reserved as a person and his attempts to be in tune with the society are not always successful. Apparently he requires more versatility in his life, as he strives for change by going to other countries. At the same time, Gabriel does not realize that he craves for alterations in his daily routine and relationship with his wife more than in other areas of his life.
The method of epiphany is used by Joyce for a reason, as he thought that the entire country as well as his characters in the book need it in order to go on with their lives and to finally find their place on Earth. According to Roger T. Briggs, in “Dubliners” and especially in “The Dead” epiphany as the main literary tool has become prominent for Joyce because “extraordinary divine experience comes from the vulgarity of the ordinary” (Briggs 35). The researcher emphasizes that Joyce wanted to show the process of development and personal progress that could be achieved only through the epiphany (Briggs 33). For instance, in “The Dead” Gabriel has a chance to change his life by expressing his feelings of frustration to his wife and his personal feelings to her. Yet still, despite the fact that the author did not write about it, it is possible to assume that Gabriel will not pursue this agenda.
Conclusion
Joyce’s “The Dead” as well as the entire anthology is full of epiphanies and revelations, yet the actions of the charters serve as the precaution. People illustrated in the short story cannot break the circle of repetitiveness and stillness due to their loss of true self. With the nationalist movement on the rise, Joyce’s Dubliners cannot realize where they are going and where they actually should go. They are lost and paralyzed in the everyday routine and the need to revive the national spirit that seems to be dead. Gabriel tries to point to the same fact, as he gives a speech. To his point of view, the new generation will not take care about the traditions and customs, as they were born and raised in different circumstances. Gabriel’s personal fears relate to the fact that he never felt love or loved, which does not unfortunately, encourages him for action. He will remain still and paralyzed as well as the other characters of the story due to their inability to see a different direction.
Works Cited
Briggs, Roger T. Dubliners and the Joycean Epiphany. Wichita: Wichita State University, 2003. Print
Joyce, James. Dubliners. London: Penguin, 1968. Print
Joyce, James. Letters of James Joyce. Ed. Stuart Gilbert. New York: Viking, 1957. Print
Meljac, Eric Paul. "Dead Silence: James Joyce's "The Dead" and John Huston's Adaptation as Aesthetic Rivals." Literature/Film Quarterly 37.4 (2009): 295-301. Print
