The goal of life is death. Many wish to see just 100 years, but only 0.0173% of Americans reach that age. On average, females only live to 86 years old and men to 84. Every day 153,424 people die: most without any notable accomplishments or success to remember them by. Billions of people have come before the present day, but only a small fraction of them are still spoken about and remembered. Life is short. Too short to waste. Gabriel in James Joyce’s short story “The Dead” comes to this emotional realization through his wife’s first love Michael Furey.
At the beginning of “The Dead,” Gabriel is hard-hearted. He criticizes everything at the annual dance. He thinks the wordless music is boring, and at one point he is even irritated with the glittering floor. He also says he’s “sick of [his] own country” and denies everyone including his wife who asks him to go and visit there. Instead of seeing the good in his life, he only focuses on the negative. By doing this, Gabriel is unknowingly wasting his short life.
Unlike Gabriel, Gretta’s first love Michael Furey, who died at a young age, lived his life to the fullest. Gretta claims he died for her. While he was sick, he went out in the cold to see Gretta before she left town and told her he did not want to live anymore. About a week later he died. Michael Furey only lived a quarter of 84 years and less than half of Gabriel’s lifetime yet he lived a more accomplished life than most, including Gabriel.
After Gretta reveals Michael’s story, Gabriel realizes that he has not been making the most of his life. He says “better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.” He sees that Michael Furey experienced true love, as he willingly risked his life to see Gretta one last time. Gabriel then realizes that he has never felt any emotion as bold as Michael felt or been as passionately devoted to someone as Michael was.
One thing connects every person: past, present, and future. Death, No one escapes it; it suddenly steals the young and the old willingly answer its call. Every one finds themselves six feet under eventually. No one knows when they’re next in line, so be like Michael Furey. Live life boldly and passionately, not wasting a single moment.
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