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The Role Of Life After Death In The Dubliners, By James Joyce

Decent Essays

Sabina Trejo-Garcia
Brian Richardson
ENGL346
18 November 2014
Life After Death Death is terrifying. Almost everyone is afraid of the uncertain, and what happens to each of us after we die is ironically one of the many unanswerable questions of the living. Despite various explanations from different religions and other theories, there is no definite answer regarding an afterlife. However there can be some validation in saying that there is life after death because the memories of a person remain alive among those who live. The dead affect the living. The dead cast a shadow on the present, and force people to reflect on their mistakes. So even after death, someone can have an impact on the actions of those they leave behind, and this is where life and death intersect. There are many different ways in which the dead affect the living, but perhaps the best examples can be seen through literature. James Joyce was an Irish novelist, and no doubt one of the most influential writers of the early 20th century. Joyce explores the intersection of life and death in, The Dubliners, a collection of short stories. He begins with the story, “The Sisters,” and ends the collection with, “The Dead.” In both of these stories, Joyce uses the stream-of-consciousness to show the reader observations of big events through small details in the everyday lives of the main characters. Joyce explores themes such as paralysis, to ultimately show how death impacts the main character of each story and

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