Response Paper on "The Dead"
...ings of others. The evening gets off to a sour start when he mentions marriage to the caretaker’s daughter, Lily. Lily responds negatively about men and leaves Gabriel feeling uncomfortable. Later, he is again taken aback by the comments of Molly Ivers, who criticizes his writing for a paper that supports the English. Finally, he is completely astounded when his wife tells him that a young man named Michael Furey died for her when he was only 17. He feels, for the first time, as if he has not been the only man in her life and begins to think lowly of himself. The theme of the story is one of egoism and self-centeredness. Gabriel expects his speech to be too advanced for the guests at the party and feels as if his wife should share in his lust despite the fact that she is obviously troubled. He finally realizes that he is not as wonderful as he thought and that he will someday die and be nothing. I think that reflects on society’s attitude even today. We often are left feeling small and unimportant by the world around us. In a critical of the story written by Eric Rapp, he question...