"The Dead" - response

In this post I will be discussing the similarities and differences between Joyce's "The Dead" and Ibsen's A Doll's House.

It is difficult to tell when "The Dead" is set, but it seems to be around the late 1800s in Ireland, which is the same time period as A Doll's House, except that that was set in the Netherlands.

The male main characters of these two works are also very similar. Gabriel is a successful, intellectual, upper-class man with a seemingly happy marriage, a patriarchal view of women (mostly his wife), and a desire to travel to the more sophisticated Continent. Torvald is a successful, upper-middle/upper class man with a seemingly happy marriage, a patriarchal view of all women, and a high moral code. Both men love and think of their wives in accordance with their societies' traditions: that she is in charge of the household, doesn't have complex thoughts, and exists for no other purposes other than to be his wife and to be a mother to his children (this last piece is very explicitly shown in Torvald). Due to their similar time periods and classes, both Gabriel's and Torvald's societies are similar as well. Both of them express something similar to Victorian age morality, with one of the gravest errors a person can make is lying, as expressed through Torvald's sentiments on the subject, and the lyrics to the song that the party guests sing to the aunts after Gabriel's speech.

The wives too, are very similar to each other (although not nearly as similar as their husbands). Both Nora and Gretta are not understood by their husbands and harbor secrets from their husbands that are revealed at the end of the work. However, their goals are very different. Nora wants Torvald to treat her as an equal, or at least as a fellow human being. She leaves her husband and children in order to discover herself.  It is hard to discern what Gretta desires, but I think she would like to be respected by Gabriel as an intellectual human being. She does not do anything but tell Gabriel the story of the boy she loved when she was young.

As similar as these characters, and the works they are a part of are, there are major differences in aspects not relating to the characters. "The Dead" takes place at Gabriel's old aunts' party, whereas A Doll’s House takes place in the Helmer family home over several days. "The Dead" alludes to political conflicts in Ireland and human mortality (hence the title), in contrast, A Doll's House seems timeless in terms of allusions to events and discusses illusion vs. reality of many things, as well as feminist ideals. "The Dead" as a whole is a much simpler plot structure than A Doll's House, but is much more dense than Ibsen's play and has complex themes concerning morality and patriotism (though A Doll's House has complicated themes in its own right, but due to the style of the play, they can appear to be much more transparent than Joyce's short story's themes).

"The Dead" - word

Mechanical.

"The Dead" - question

What was the "secret life"  that Gabriel mentions several times towards the end of the story?

When I first read about this "secret life", I was very confused, but I thought that it could mean that they really were in love (many couples at the time this was set weren't due to arranged marriages/status marriages). However, by the second time it appears in this short story, I wasn't so sure that it was a happy "secret life". I thought that it could be saying that they really hated/disliked each other, and maybe even lived separate lives under the outward-facing image of a happy marriage.

After thinking about "The Dead" for a little while, I am still very confused about what this "secret life" really is, but I have a couple more theories. One of which is that maybe their "secret life" is their history together; perhaps they were lovers first and got married out of obligation, or that there is some other complication (or even several complications) in the past that Gabriel can define as a "secret life". My second, and final, theory is that their "secret life" is nothing so dramatic as lost love or a complex history, but instead is just that they have a life away from their young children, the elaborate social gatherings, and his aging aunts; a life just as a married couple, however unhappy or happy they might be.

"As I Lay Dying"- clues into Darl's instability

In the last few chapters of the book, we learn that Darl set Gillespie barn on fire and that he is not well psychologically. The only possible reason for why Darl did what he did is in Cash's second to last chapter: that Darl set fire to the barn to burn Jewel's horse (take away its trade value). Darl's actions that were confusing in earlier parts of the book (for example, laughing at Addie's coffin) are now closely replicated (crying after the barn burned and laughing after he has been exposed) and can signal his instability growing. Darl is also described as a little odd earlier in the book, meaning that he could have been mildly unstable or even just different, in general, not just psychologically. His elevated vocabularly suggests an education that none of the other characters recieved, which is puzzling because Cash would have been educated first, thus probably gone father as the eldest son of a southern family in the early 20th century. It is interesting that Jefferson is the place they burry Addie, the home of the new Mrs. Bundren, the largest town closest to the Bundren's home, and the name of the prison/insane asylum (as they would have called it) that Darl is sent to because using only one name makes it seem that they are all the same thing: death, containment, and renewall. By his last chapter, Darl sounds incredibly like Vardaman. Readers can assume that he is in his cell in the Jefferson asylum/prison for insanity (that probably isn't what he had, but they really only had one mental health diagnosis in those days -- though mental illness diagnosis was slowly getting better). 

Perhaps, the philosophy of The Things They Carried had too much of an influence on me and this di super out-there, but Darl's omniscience, his intersection of his language into other's chapter (particularly Dewey Dell), and his comment to Jewel when he asks about who his father is ("your mother is a horse..") that matches exactly what Vardaman thinks/says, and his complete change in diction and syntax to mimik Vardaman's makes me wonder if this entire story was real or if only the basic facts and some of the people were real, or if all of this is what Darl expierenced and is recounting in his mind as he sits in Jefferson. The characters, who are probably real, could be talking as he views them and they change their diction, etc. when Darl's mind goes back to the way that he thinks, not the way the characters think; or the characters could all be real to an extent, but Vardaman's story isn't his but Darl's "insane" one because their syntax and diction are so similar. 

"As I Lay Dying"- the ending

The ending of this novel was very sudden and vague, complementary to the rest of the book. Anse's sudden remarriage to a woman, whom he only met twice as far as we know, reflects accurately on his personality and the dynamic of the Bundren family. Anse needs a wife figure in his life to take care of him and for him to work for. He doesn't need love from his wife, as evidenced by his first marriage. The new Mrs. Bundren seems very similar to Addie in a way. She seemed to have a comfortable (as is evidenced by the phonograph-- a luxury item during the time immediately following the Great Depression), but probably lonely, life, and marries Anse for seemingly no other reason than to have a change of lifestyle and status (it probably wasn't for love or because of his looks). Society was not kind to single women in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly after they reached a certain age and were still unmarried, so both Mrs. Bundrens had incentive for marrying so quickly. Anse's quick remarriage suprises Addie's children, because he remarries the night of Addie's burial. Anse's matter of fact manner, the sudden news, and the additional shock of Darl's mental instability/criminal nature can only have a negative effect on the children, particularly Vardaman, who is so unstable since Addie's death, the journey, and Darl's departure. 

"As I Lay Dying"- Addie's chapter

In this post I will be discussing Addie's chapter and its purpose.

I was initially very confused by Addie's chapter because she is dead and that would make it hard for her to narrate the present. As her chapter continued, it became apparent that it was not the present, but a flashback of her married life. I am still confused about why Addie married Anse if not for love because she never really seems to love him during their marriage. They are a partnership, they are each other's family, he provides for her, she cares for his household and gives him children. Addie doesn't seem to truly love her children either, which in broken marriages is often the only thing that the wife/mother does love. Cora calls her sinful in her previous chapter because Addie likes to wish all of them -- Anse and her five children away into nothingness when she goes to sleep. Addie agrees with Cora in her sin, and considers Jewel her punnishment, even though Darl remarks earlier in the novel that Jewel never loved her either. It is confusing trying to figure out what is wrong with Jewel that makes everyone think of him as a "punnishment" (other than he is abusive towards his beloved horse and doesn't like his family).

I think that Faulkner writes Addie's chapter because it helps explain Anse's devotion because it was only a matter of duty for them, a simple sense of honor and responsibility that held their relationship togehter. This chapter also puts everyone's varied feelings and opinions of Addie into perspective because Addie seems to have been very different to certain people or groups of people than she was to others. Addie cares for her children, perhaps a little more to Jewel than the others, as she is supposed to, respects Anse as she is supposed to, acts pious around Cora most of the time, and all the while she follows her father's advice, "the reson for living is getting ready to stay dead." (169) Addie never enjoyed her life because she thought she would be happy in death, making sure her family would be able to function without her when she does die, and making sure that she would get what she wanted when she died (to go home to her family who are all buried in Jefferson). She spent her entire married life satisfying the needs and desires of others, or repaying debts she thought she owed (like having Dewey Dell and Vardaman to "negative Jewel... to replace the child I had robbed him of.) (176) I think that the last line shows the division of family loyalties: Dewey Dell, Vardaman, and Jewel seem to "side" with his wishes/mentality, as much as they "side" with anyone other than themselves, and seem to think of their mother as a stranger that they love. Cash and Darl, the oldest and the seemingly most loved by Annie as infants, seem to truly love Annie and "side" with her wishes. Anse feels the responsibility to return Addie to the family that raised her and, hopefully, loved her more than this family did. Anse is repaying his debt to Addie because she gave him happiness at the expense of her own. I think Addie's chapter is used to give context to the living characters and their motives and explain the true nature of this family. 

"As I Lay Dying"- word post 1

Balance.