During a dinner party at his Aunt Julia and Aunt Kate's home in Dublin, he is in a cheerful mood to begin with, but as soon as he speaks with Lily, his mood is shaken. He didn't mean to make Lily rebuff, he was merely joking with her, but as Dublin is seen as dark and oppressive in the other stories, it is still oppressive in The Dead as shown by Lily who complains about the men in the city, which in turn ruins Gabriel's mood. ...

• Word Count: 884
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

He is self-conscious about Lily's bitter remarks on marriage and about what he should say in his after-dinner speech. ... Akers explains here that the awkward confrontations with other people of the party such as Lily and Miss Ivors are instilling a form of self-consciousness in Conroy especially when it came to Lily's regards towards marriage. ... Because of the regards Lily makes towards marriage and the love that Michael Furey has towards Gretta, Gabriel becomes self-conscious which leaves him paralyzed and oppressed by his inadequate feelings towards love and marriage. ...

• Word Count: 1621
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate