plotsummary-thedead（死者的整篇概述与中文的理解）.doc

Plot summaryThe story centres on Gabriel Conroy on the night of the Morkan sisters' annual dance and dinner in the first week of January 1904, perhaps the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6). Typical of the stories in Dubliners, "The Dead" develops toward a moment of painful self-awareness; Joyce described this as an epiphany. The narrative generally concentrates on Gabriel's insecurities, his social awkwardness, and the defensive way he copes with his discomfort. The story culminates at the point when Gabriel discovers that, through years of marriage, there was much he never knew of his wife's past.Upon arriving at the party with his wife, Gabriel makes an unfunny joke about the maid's marriage prospects; and he fidgets, adjusts his clothing, and offers her money as a holiday present. Not long after that, he gets flustered again when his wife pokes fun at him over a conversation they had earlier, in which he had forced her to wear galoshes for the bad weather. With such episodes, Gabriel is depicted as particularly pathetic. Similarly, Gabriel is unsure about quoting a poem from the poet Robert Browning when he is giving his dinner address, as he is afraid to be seen as pretentious. But, at the same time, Gabriel considers himself above the others when he speculates that his audience would not understand the words he uses.Later, when giving the traditional holiday toast, Gabriel overcompensates for some of his earlier statements to his evening dancing partner Miss Ivors, an Irish nationalist. His talk relies heavily on conventions; and he praises the virtues of the Irish people and idealizes the past in a way that feels contrived and disingenuous especially considering what the past will mean to him once he hears his wife's story. In fact he hurts Miss Ivors by mistake so much that she rushes away even before dinner is served.As Gabriel is preparing to leave the party, he sees a woman absorbed in thought, standing at the top of the staircase. He stares at her for a moment before he recognizes her as his wife. He then envisages her as though she were the model in a painting that he would call "Distant Music". Her distracted and wistful mood arouses sexual interest in him. He tries indirectly to confront her about it after the party, in the hotel room he has reserved for them; but he finds her unresponsive. Trying to make ironic, half-suggestive comments, Gabriel learns that she was feeling nostalgic after having heard Mr. D'Arcy singing The Lass of Aughrim at the party.Upon being pressed further, Gretta says that the song reminds her of the time when she was a girl in Galway and in love with a boy named Michael Furey. At the time, Gretta was being kept at her grandmother's home before she was to be sent off to a convent in Dublin. Michael was terribly sick and unable to see her. Despite being bedridden, when it came time for her to leave Galway, Michael travelled through the rain to Gretta's window; and, although he was able to speak with her again, he died within the week.The remainder of the text delves further into Gabriel's thoughts after he hears this story, exploring his shifting views on himself, his wife, the past, the living and the dead. It is ambiguous whether the epiphany is just an artistic and emotional moment or is meant to set the reader pondering whether Gabriel will ever manage to escape his smallness and insecurity.对于重写这种做法，欧茨在重写的《死者》中，借女作家伊琳娜之口这样说：“我希望通过重新构思已故作家的作品与情感来向他们致敬……就像女人与男人联姻那样，嫁给他们、加入他们……无论是在精神上还是在情欲上……”（and I want to honor the dead by reimagining their works，by reimagining their obssessions……in a way marrying them，joining them as a woman joins a man……spiritually and erotically……“在两篇《死者》中，均通过出色的技巧表现了人类灵魂的瘫痪——在乔伊斯作品中是都柏林人，在欧茨的作品中是纽约人。

乔伊斯在《死者》中对加布里埃尔的“顿悟”的设计，也被欧茨借用乔伊斯让加布里埃尔经历了一场冗长的宴会，在层叠翻涌的冲突之后，通过“顿悟”让他明白自己其实没有爱的能力，还不如一个死去的人而在欧茨的作品中，伊琳娜也经历了一场宴会，但这场宴会并不长，倒是在这场宴会上，她得知了从前一个迷恋她的学生因肝脏衰竭而死，这个消息犹如一把刀，在她本来已经疲惫不堪的心上刺了一刀　　伊琳娜得知这个消息之后，已经陷入了崩溃的边缘，出现了幻觉，而此刻窗外大雪纷飞，就和乔伊斯的的版本一样，大雪成为死亡的意象，暗示着伊琳娜精神的死亡在欧茨的版本中，“死亡”所指向的精神瘫痪并没有乔伊斯所指向的广阔，但却更为沉重小说结尾是非常简单的一句话：she could not speak.她连生存的能力都失去了这自然有其缘由：　　小说中的伊琳娜，曾是一名天主教学院的教师，但是在一次冲突中被迫离开，到了纽约法布罗，并出版了畅销小说《死亡之舞》这是她最不满意的作品，却获得了极大的成功，让她名利双收于是她被邀请回原来任教的学校参加聚会，却得知了一个学生曾为她而死的消息在昔日情人戈登送她回酒店的时候，她已经陷入了疯狂在欧茨的笔下，伊琳娜作为一个与世界格格不入的形象存在。

她在丈夫与情人身上，都没法得到情感的满足；在事业上，频频受到打压，《死亡之舞》的成功甚至让她的工作停滞不前；越南战争、肯尼迪遇刺像梦魇一样干扰着她她只能求助于药物，但药物并不能解决她的痛苦，她到医院检查，得到的只能是“正常”的结果一开篇对死亡气息的描写，最终在死亡中终结　　但在我看来，通篇所营造的死亡气息，反而没有乔伊斯所营造的顿悟所带来的心理落差更让人震撼不过，这种写法自有独特的感染力在《死者》中，乔伊斯并没有使用意识流，有时我会想：如果他用了，会是怎么样呢？——欧茨在《死者》中，则使用了意识流的手法，时序自由变换，捕捉人物一瞬而过的感觉，像放大镜一样刻画出了伊琳娜的心理状态但，就如《死者》体现了乔伊斯的伟大与局限一样，《死者》在很大程度上也体现了欧茨创作中的局限她对现实层面的过度关注使她没能更深入地探讨那些永恒的东西而且，在她的很多作品中，女性形象们深陷困境，却没能认识到自己的问题，更别说解决问题了但这篇《死者》，还有乔伊斯的《死者》，真正的价值在于向我们揭示了一个贫瘠的时代，让我们关注到我们爱的贫瘠，让我们看到：我们都生活在大雪冰封的死寂当中，却不自知我们像伊琳娜那样，总是感到疲惫，其实这并不是疲惫，而是近乎死亡的空虚。