Cultural Conflict and Joyce’s “The Dead” - Part 2

Irish history views the period of 1900-1916 as one of growing nationalistic spirit. James Joyce was not a participant in this rise in patriotism for Ireland. On the contrary, he was almost critical of its brashness. This is strange considering many of his closest friends in his twenties were pround nationalists. These men included the feminist Francis Sheehy Skeffington, Thomas Kettle, and George Clancy. On a side note, all three of these men would die in combat.

This illustrious author, known widely for being Irish, was never much for his own country (though he often said Dublin was the only place he was truly comfortable). Joyce would not participate in the Irish theatre or show his support for the Easter Uprising in 1916. His indifference to the Gaelic Revival and the growing base of nationalism is reflected in his writing from this period. His character Gabriel Conroy mirrors these opinions, though he has a hard time expressing them in public, just as Joyce did.

This personal history and the fact that many of Gabriel opinions are shared by the author foreshadow that Mr. Conroy does not concern himself with Irish matters. Joyce is very comparable to Gabriel in situations such as these. Neither of the men concern themselves with Irish affairs and attempt to avoid discussing them in public situations. Similar to his character, Joyce traveled around much of Western Europe. He too was "sick of [Ireland]".

Gabriel, an intellectual, but not of the Gaelic persuasion, converses with Miss Ivors, a fellow academic at his aunts’ (also Joyce’s aunts) party. During this conversation, she states that she is "ashamed" of Gabriel and charges that Mr. Conroy is a "West Briton" for authoring a column in the pro-British Daily Express. This term is particularly offensive to an Irish nationalist, as it implies that rather than considering yourself Irish, you fancy yourself British, except for geography. Rather than be miffed by the comment itself, Gabriel is disconcerted by the public manner in which the lady went about approaching him.

The conversation goes on with Miss Ivors inviting the now disgruntled Gabriel to attend a getaway to the Aran Islands. This place, off the West Coast of Ireland was regarded as an ideal world by members of the Gaelic League. WB Yeats and Maude Gonne often spent long periods of time in the Arans. This group of islands contained a small native Irish speaking population and all the beauty of mainland Eire. It was revered as the utopia for Gaeilge fanatics. Gabriel expresses his distaste with the West of Ireland by telling the lady that he already has plans to participate in a cycling tour in Europe. Miss Ivors is obviously angered by this, that an educated Irishman would rather visit foreign countries than learn more about his own homeland. She expresses as much by asking, "And why do you go to France and Belgium...instead of visiting your own land?" Gabriel answers that he likes to "keep in touch with the languages" and just to get out of Ireland. The lady retorts that he should first keep in touch with his "own language", meaning Irish Gaelic. Obviously not considering Gaeilge at all, Gabriel flat out states that Irish is not his language.

Since Jonathan Swift, many of the greatest Irish literary figures wished nothing to do with Gaelic. Swift, Shaw, Wilde, and Joyce are the most obvious people this applies to. But it is interesting to note that did Joyce studied Irish as a student, as reflected by Daedalus in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, but did not identify it as his native language.

With age Joyce becomes softer with his opinions of the Irish. Ellman quotes him as writing in a letter to his brother, "Sometimes thinking of Ireland it seems to me that I have been unnecessarily harsh."(Ellman, 231) This type of reconciliation is typical of Joyce’s writing, as demonstrated by the conclusion to "The Dead." As closure to his story, Joyce ends with the ambiguous line: "The time had come for him to set out on his journey westward. This statement indicated that Gabriel, much like Joyce, has somewhat accepted his Irishness, and the west as a part of Ireland. Joyce himself struggled with this problem, but he too was cured of it by his wife. Nora had a fierce love for her region, no matter its reputation among the Dublin elite. Joyce eventually visited this Gaelic haven after being pulled by Nora, making the ending of "The Dead" a type of self-prophesy.