Oresentation

Good afternoon, every one. We are glad here to introduce “the Dead” for you. Our group members are Sara and me. As we know, “The dead” is written by James Joyce. James Joyce is a great writer in the 20 century. Because the last group already introduced him at large, today we just highlight some events in his life. James Joyce was born on February, 2, 1882 in Dublin, Ireland. His first book, Dubliners, a collection of 15 short stories was published in 1914. His landmark book is Ulysses, which is published in Paris in 1922. And he is good at using stream-of consciousness technique and examining of big events trough small happenings in daily life.

Today we talk about “the dead”, which is the last story collected in his first book “Dubliners”. "The Dead" is the main key that presented Joyce's concepts of isolation, miscommunication and the wish to escape. This story’s protagonist is Gabriel Conroy, who wishes to escape.

Firstly, let me introduce the plot of “the Dead”. With his wife, Gabriel Conroy attended the annual dancing party hosted by his two aging aunts, Julia and Kate Morkan, and their niece, Mary Jane. At the party, Gabriel experienced some uncomfortable confrontations. They are from Lily, Miss Ivors and his wife, Gretta respectively. Finally, He sadly contemplated his life.

The first confrontation was that Garbriel met lily in the pantry during the annual dancing party. He tried to chat with lily when she took his coat. However she was unhappy to talk about her love life. Gabriel ended the unhappy conversation with giving lily a “holiday tip”.

The second confrontation was that Gabriel met Miss Ivors who is his dance partner. Miss Ivors is a fervent supporter of Irish culture. She embarrassed Gabriel by labeling him a “West Briton” because he wrote literary reviews for a conservative newspaper. Gabriel wanted to dismiss the accusation; however Miss Ivors pushed the point by inviting him to visit Aran Isles, where Irish is spoken. Gabriel refused for a...