“The Dead” is written in the close third-person perspective, with narration that often directly expresses the thoughts of the story’s protagonist, Gabriel Conroy. At the same time, the narration provides objective descriptions of the narrative action—separate from Gabriel’s point of view—as well as descriptions of Gabriel himself. This multiplicity of perspective affords the reader many points of entry into the story. The reader can follow along with Gabriel’s thoughts and emotions as they shift and progress throughout the story, while simultaneously witnessing him move through the world and observing the way other characters respond to him.
Moreover, Joyce’s prose in “The Dead” is notable for the sense of breathlessness and movement it conveys. Though the story doesn’t eschew punctuation or complete sentences in the way Joyce’s 1922 novel Ulysses does, Joyce frequently employs compound sentences, or long sentences with lists or multiple clauses (sometimes punctuated with exclamation points, which add to the sense of breathless excitement). For example, as Gabriel and his wife, Gretta, leave the party and return home, he watches her walking and experiences a number of different emotions, described in quick succession through a list of adjectives: "The blood went bounding along his veins; and the thoughts went rioting through his brain, proud, joyful, tender, valorous." These sentences contrast with short blocks of dialogue—set off with dashes instead of quotation marks, like lines in a play. Joyce's rhythmic prose helps to carry the reader through a fairly simplistic narrative with little external dramatic action, and his use of long, effusive sentences mirrors both the upbeat frenzy of the Christmas party and Gabriel's own overwhelming, complex feelings.
