readers, especially those who are familiar with the political situation in

Ireland at the time about which the Joyce wrote the final story in

Dubliners. In exploring the meaning of James Joyce's long short-story,

"The Dead", there are many critical approaches to take. Each approach

gives readers a lens, a set of guidelines through which to examine and

express ideas of the meaning of "The Dead." Joyce himself said that the

idea of paralysis was his intended them of all the stories in The Dubliners

of which "The Dead" is the final story.Of all critical approaches, reader

response works best for me. This approach examines the images, symbols,

point-of-view, characterization and setting of "The Dead" in such a way as

to reveal the theme of paralysis that Joyce intended. The two characters

that appeal to me are, Gabriel and his wife Gretta who are invited every

year to a family gathering by Gabriels two aunts on New Years eve. Gabriel,

who is a university professor, does not want to be identified with Ireland.

He wants to be identifies as a citizen of the world.

His arrogance is revealed in his interaction with others. A

The images reflect Gabriels ego in a sense, at the same for his

implied that at that very moment he was reborn. "A few light taps upon the

spiritual. Gabriel who is tallish and stout symbolizes authority and also

plays a major role as it interprets the reader to be on the alert, as

symbolization of snow. In the story, snow has a major role as it

we are limiting ourselves to reading in the sense of uninflected recitation,

This can also signify Joyce's intended theme of paralysis as Gabriel is

believe that he is more superior and different than others are. He's built

As Peter J. Rabinowitz informs one that in reader response

Some common words found in the essay are:
Peter Rabinowitz, Dubliners Dead, James Joyce's, Ireland Joyce, Dead Joyce, Cornell University, reader response, wife gretta, theme paralysis, Bestron Pictures, Ithaca Cornell, Scwarz Daniel, reader response criticism, cornell university 1994, snow story, response criticism, critical approaches, university 1994, joyce's intended, intended theme paralysis, joyce's intended theme, intended theme, cornell university,
Approximate Word count = 1040
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)