Gabriel Conroy is a very intelligent man with very high expectation from his.
He is very well respected and controls some of the flaws that are brought out in the family. When Gabriel first shows up at the party, there is an intense nervousness between Lily and Gabriel. It is as if he had forgotten how to converse with people of a lower status, without becoming nervous and stumbling over his words. In his aunt's eyes, Gabriel is like a savior to them; he makes sure that when Freddy comes in screwed, he won't make a scene, he carves the goose, he gives a speech to explain, each year, the feelings of the moment, and he waits to leave until the majority has gone. The responsibilities Gabriel carries throughout the story are also what contribute to his epiphany. With action after action, things become more difficult for Gabriel to handle. The once strong and contained man begins to stumble into a man whose whole life seems to be not as it were before. His wife has an intense story about her lost love that he had never known, and feels as if he hasn't lived up to her expectations since. The every-year-celebration turned into an eye opener to Gabriel, making him more aware of his surroundings, thus turning him into a stronger being. Gabriel's urge to fulfill everyone's needs around him are sincere and honest, but his blindness of the things most important, and the resistance of trying to help people with their personal problems, keeps him lacking the inner completeness that helps people through their everyday lives. Gabriel's shading glasses had been blocking him from seeing the obvious and exploring the inner frustrations of the beings around him. His nervousness to open up to others adds up to the point where things ha had never noticed appears and life becomes finally clear.
When Gabriel is being described in detail, it says, ".and on his hairless face.
there scintillated restlessly the polished lenses and the bright gilt rims of the glasses which screened his delicate and restless eyes.
