This short story opens up a new perception of the world to the reader.  Probably vague and unclear to certain extend, but vivid and stable on the other hand.  Not everyone will understand the true meaning of this peace of literature, as far as, I imagine it was not meant to be that understandable, and only the ones who actually have their finger on the pulse of life will get the main idea, the idea of life and death, of living and dead.  These two spheres, life and death, are inseparable, they are two sides of our existence, connected too strongly to be divided or ignored, attached to our memory and life perception by indissoluble threads.  This idea shows up in every sentence of the story, going through it like a snake through the rocks, though not everyone will notice it.  So let us try to put some light on the secret meaning of this writing and prove the point that I have deliberately stated here.

The protagonist of the story is Gabriel Conroy, who is somewhat blind in a sense that he never realized what life he led.  He was blind with people around him, and more importantly he was blind with his own wife.  The story begins with Gabriel and his wife Gretta coming to the Morkan sisters’ evening, which I think, is not that essential in the story, as far as only sets the tone for the further actions, that take place in the hotel room.  We can see Gabriel’s awkwardness when he tries to make a joke on one of the maids saying “I suppose we’ll be going to your wedding one of these fine days with your young man, eh?” (“The Dead”).  We can see that Gabriel tries to be part of the society that he lives in, but he certainly cannot.

However, as I have already stated all these factors do not actually mean too much.  Indeed, they only prepare the reader for the culmination of the story.  Gabriel finds his wife sitting on the stairs deeply in her own thoughts.  He thinks that after their dance, after the whole evening she remembers the good times that they had together, and this makes her sad, as far as the dull life they are leading now is an exact opposite of what was before.  “Moments of their secret life together burst like stars upon his memory” (The Dead).  He wanted her physically and emotionally as well.  “He longed to recall to her those moments, to make her forget the years of their dull existence together and remember only their moments of ecstasy. For the years, he felt, had not quenched his soul or hers” (The Dead).  Nonetheless, Gabriel was lying to himself, which, of course, he did not realize.  He was a good person, and wanted all the best to her wife, though he could not possibly give it to her.  He was alive, and probably he loved her, but that was not the love that she needed. “He longed to be alone with her,” but she did not, or even if she did, their purposes were different.  He wanted to be her master, he wanted to have her and overpower her, because he thought that that will make them both happy.  Therefore, when “…suddenly raising herself on tiptoe and resting her hands lightly on his shoulders, she kissed him,” he considered that she was thinking about the exact same thing as him, thus she wanted to be his.  He was mistaken.  She was never his.