Authors frequently write stories to parallel situations they
have experienced in their own lives. In James Joyce’s “The Dead,” Joyce uses
the main character Gabriel to create parallels to similar situations Joyce went
through. The story was written to
explain how Joyce experienced self-knowledge which describes how he has come to
realize his status in the world and how it is different from the way he had
originally perceived it.
Joyce
never considered himself an Irish nationalist and had no interest to preserve
the old Gaelic language. The Gaelic language was not of any importance to Joyce
because “Joyce, foreseeing the decline of Gaelic and not fired by nationalism,
refused to have anything to do with the revival” (Hogart 16). Joyce preferred to move forward with
the times, while the country was trying to preserve the old language. The
language was so important to the rest of the country because the number of people
who practiced the Gaelic culture and language greatly declined after the Battle
of the Boyne in 1690 (Hodgart 16). The Gaelic League wanted to preserve the language so they
actually created an exam that everyone had to pass if that person wanted to
hold a position in the Irish Republic (Hodgart 16). The Gaelic League feared
that after the Battle of Boyne, the Gaelic language would diminish and they
wanted to preserve as much of their old Irish roots as much as possible.
However, Joyce wanted to move forward and stay with the English language that
he is familiar with as opposed to trying to learn the Gaelic language to
support the old Irish culture.
Old
Irish culture exists mostly in the eastern part of Ireland whereas the people
that prefer not to speak the Gaelic language are considered a “West Briton,” which Joyce takes offence to and comes to realize how
rejected he is in society. In “The Dead,” “Joyce for the first time is trying
to say something important about the whole of Ireland: the east-west axis which
is not only geographical but cultural and historical is fundamental to the
story” (Hodgart 53). The Gaelic language is part of the culture in eastern
Ireland and anyone who does not want to learn the language is considered an
outsider and are typically put down for this decision. Joyce uses Gabriel in “The Dead” as a
symbol to represent how he is now becoming aware of his self-knowledge” (Litz
58). The self-knowledge is the feeling Gabriel expresses after Miss Ivors, who
is part of the Gaelic League, call him out for being a “West Briton” at the
dinner party. Gabriel is very saddened by this statement and no longer things
of himself so highly anymore. The story “The Dead” enables Joyce to use Gabriel
as the character who experiences all of these feelings that Joyce had for being
considered an outcast simply because he did not want to learn the old language
and wanted to move forward. In the end, Gabriel feels “dead” because of how he
has now realized the way people actually view him as opposed to the way he
thought people viewed him and is depressed to come to this conclusion by the
end of the story.
On
the larger scale, why would a change in the language of a country cause such
controversy? Do you blame Joyce for not wanting to conform to the old Gaelic
language?
Works Cited
Hodgart, Matthew. James Joyce: A Student’s Guide. London.
Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd. 1978. Print.
Litz, Walton A. James Joyce. New York. Twayne. 1966. Print.
I do not blame Joyce for wanting to separate himself from his own culture that was considered by many to be "in the past" and not as cosmopolitan as the rest of Europe. Joyce wanted to travel and gain knowledge of the world that would come with being an influential writer, but he struggled with his national identity, with his own culture.He struggled with the urge to step into the "new' world, but felt guilty about leaving his "people" behind.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Maggie, I don't think in anyway that Joyce is to blame for not wanting to conform to the old Gaelic language. His writing tends to reflect more or the "new" world. This also gave him the ability to spread word around to the ones reading his works. I never truly thought about how much controversy can be created simply from the changing of a language. Language is universal so all, therefore understanding the language of your culture is essential. This controversy could have easily been from a communication failure. The more difficult it is so communicate with people from your area, the more problems it may reveal. Joyce simply wanted to become a significantly powerful writer, even if it reasoned him to be the first to leave the old world.
ReplyDeleteI do not blame James for wanting to "move forward" and for not conforming to the old language. It is only natural to want to do something different and be different. In fact, it is always the ones who are different who really stand out and James Joyce is just that type of game changer with his controversial stories. The controversy that would arise from a change in the language would obviously be change versus tradition. The young people would probably want change and the old people would probably want tradition. That topic is such a controversial one because it is always split rather equally amongst who wants change and who wants to keep tradition.
ReplyDeleteI believe that a change in the language of a country would cause a huge controversy regardless of what country it took place in. To make a change as large as this many people that support their country would strongly object. With this in mind I don’t blame Joyce what so ever for not wanting to conform to the old Gaelic language and to become and remain a strong writer it would be very difficult to remain successful if the language changed.
ReplyDeleteI slightly blame Joyce for his decision to not try to learn the Gaelic language because even though this language is thought to be dead (like Latin) he still should learn it or atleast some of it to full expirence his culture. Your culture is something you're born with and can't be changed so theres no point in trying to hide from it since it will always be there. Embrace your culture and your heritage and be proud of who you are
ReplyDeleteI'm also on the fence. I believe Joyce should have spent more time in becoming knowledgeable about the Gaelic language because it is a part of his history and while he may continue to move away from it, understanding the language and it's history would be important information for Joyce to possess. If after he's learned about his culture he's still not interested in being part of it I'd have no problem with his dissociating himself with his ancestral history.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting topic, as I had no idea that Joyce used his writing to express his own personal life. To answer your first question, the complexity of the Northern Ireland conflict is extreme and has been going on for a long time. It pretty much is old traditions versus newer ones, tied with religion and Britain meddling in. When Miss. Ivors called Gabriel a "West Briton" it kind of shocked me because it was obviously an insult and not particularly nice in any way. My family is Mexican, and there's a word for that kind of term and being called that isn't fun, especially because it makes you feel like an outsider and like you don't belong. I feel as if Joyce shouldn't be to blame because although keeping your traditions is really important, so is looking to the future. I believe in keeping the best of both worlds, and if Joyce should drop the Gaelic language, then he can. I probably would want to learn it but not necessarily be 'all about it.' It's all about perspective.
ReplyDelete