Consequently, this displays a hypocritical Gabriel, revealing the further problems of the Irish. He does not align his emotions with his words, and ultimately fails to respect Gretta when she has this sentimental flashback. He is hypocritical because later on in the story, when Gretta, his wife, reveals a fond memory of her and a boy, he is outraged and he “began to glow angrily in his veins” (2532). Towards the end of Gabriel’s speech, he demonstrates hypocrisy by stating “cherish in our hearts the memory of those dead,” (2523).

As a result, this contributes to the core idea of Ireland’s frozen state. By praising themselves to be hospitable while the English are controlling them displays their lack of control and deprivation of leadership. At the time, England was in control of Ireland and Ireland did not act in defence. Furthermore, this “hospitality” is ironic in contrast to the time period in which this story was published. This is ironic because he uses “our” when he refers to Ireland however, he is not completely loyal to Ireland because he writes for an English newspaper, and is labelled a “West Briton” by Miss Ivors, another guest at the dinner. In the beginning of the speech, Gabriel exhibits irony when he says “our country has no tradition which it does so much honour as that of its hospitality,” (2523). Ultimately, it is Gabriel’s climatic speech that becomes the bridge to the main idea of “The Dead,” where Ireland is essentially “dead.” In the speech, Gabriel’s words become a reflection of Ireland’s frozen state of mind, where irony and hypocrisy is displayed in both Ireland and in Gabriel therefore, this speech links to the core idea of Joyce’s work: the idleness of Ireland, and its inability to act.

This is especially prevalent when the protagonist, Gabriel Conroy, gives a speech during dinner in the presence of family and friends at an annual gathering. Cox in Modern Literature: An Introduction and Survey describes as “the themes and patterns of the work as a whole” (8). In James Joyce’s “The Dead,” every scene contributes to what Andrew E.

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