"The Dead" by James Joyce is a short story of a New Year's eve party held by two sisters,
Miss Kate and Miss Julia. Friends and Family attend the party. They have dinner and
dance and sing and share memories with each other. Some memories bringing out the
good emotions in people, and others bring out the bad.
Through experiences people make memories. People attach things to those
memories emotionally that lets them remember how pleasant or painful those memories
where. Some people attach such things as songs, sounds, pictures, sights or even the
weather to memories. If someone was to fall in love while being at the beach then the
sound of the waves crashing against the sand could bring back pleasant memories. If a
couple was voted king and queen of there senior prom then the song that they danced to
would bring back pleasant memories. If you attended your first professional baseball game
at Camden Yards then a picture of the stadium might bring back pleasant memories.
All things that are emotionally attached to memories don't always bring back
pleasant memories. If someone was involved in a car accident and they were hit by a red
car. Every red car that person saw could bring back painful memories. Or if it was
raining when the accident happened then every time it rained it could bring back
unpleasant memories. People attach things to memories to help them remember even if
While everyone attending the party is eating dinner. Conversations of the opera
come up. Freddy Malins and Mr. Bartell D'Arcy are talking about singers when Freddy
begins to talk about a Negro chieftain who he thought had one of the finest tenor voices
he had ever heard. He asked Mr. Bartell D'Arcy for his opinion but didn't like his careless
attitude. Freddy wanted to know why no one at the table was agreeing with him and
asked "why couldn't he have a good
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