As in many of Dubliners stories written by James Joyce，but in “The Dead" most of all, the protagonist's epiphany is of great significance. According to Joyce，a perception of the ordinary is changed into the extraordinary and significant. For instance，a trifling dialogue between the citizens suddenly signifies a profound and significant meaning to a listener.‘Epiphany' is his chosen word for such moments of vision borrowed from the Catholic tradition in which he was educated. The protagonist Gabriel Conroy in “The Dead" experiences the epiphany at the ending of the story. Gazing at his wife Gretta asleep after her confession of hergrief over the loss of her young lover in her girlhood and hearing the snow falling faintly and faintly falling in darkness，Gabriel becomes conscious of setting out on his journey westward，“that region where dwell the vast hosts of the dead." This climactic epiphany suggests the coexistence of the living and the dead，their strange association with each other. This paper proceeds to discuss this striking feature of the idea about life and death in “Celtic Irishness."
"The Dead"
all becoming shades
the snow falling softly and faintly in darkness
the journey westward and toward epiphany