Snow Symbol in The Dead

Throughout the text all manifestations of winter—cold, the color white, snow, and the season itself—usually represent mortality. The fact that snow falls indiscriminately “on both the living and the dead” all over Dublin highlights the fact that many Dubliners are living meaningless lives and are essentially dead while alive. As Gabriel enters the house there is “a light fringe of snow” on his coat and galoshes. This use of snow and cold in relation to Gabriel’s body accentuates his relationship with death. As we later learn, Gabriel feels (or learns himself) that it would be better to die young for passion, as Michael Furey, than to live a long empty life, as he is doing.

This indiscriminate quality of snow, which is said to be falling all over Ireland, highlights the fact that mortality is universal, and also serves to unite the living and the dead. Some of the living, like Gabriel, have not really lived, and some of the dead, like Michael Furey, hold significance equal to that of the living, as in Gretta’s mind. So the living and the dead are not really that different, and the snow is a reminder that everyone will end with the same fate.

Snow Quotes in The Dead

The The Dead quotes below all refer to the symbol of Snow. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Their children, his writing, her household cares had not quenched their souls’ tender fire. In one letter that he had written to her then he had said: Why is it that words like these seem to me so dull and cold? Is it because there is no word tender enough to be your name?

Related Characters: Gretta Conroy, Gabriel Conroy

Related Symbols: Snow

Page Number and Citation: 214

Explanation and Analysis:

Gabriel has this thought when he is experiencing a wave of nostalgia for the beginning of his relationship with Gretta. He rejects their current life together, which consists of “their children, his writing, her household cares” in favor of their early days together, which he remembers as being filled with passion. This passion is symbolized by “their souls’ tender fire,” which remains unsatisfied by their adult life. The symbol of snow appears when Gabriel refers to his words as “cold.” He sees even words as dead, compared to the passion he felt for Gretta at the time when he wrote Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusan

Yes, the newspapers were right: snow was general all over Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the Bog of Allen and, farther westward, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves. It was falling, too, upon every part of the lonely churchyard on the hill where Michael Furey lay buried. It lay thickly drifted on the crooked crosses and headstones, on the spears of the little gate, on the barren thorns. His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.

Related Characters: Gabriel Conroy

Related Symbols: Snow, Light and Dark

Related Literary Devices:

Page Number and Citation: 225

Explanation and Analysis:

At the last, Gabriel’s epiphany ends up being less about love and more about death. He realizes the snow, which symbolizes mortality, is indiscriminate, just as death is universal. Everyone must die, regardless of who they are or what they accomplish in life. Furthermore, many of the dead characters in the text prove to be more important to the living characters than the other living people, and conversely, many of the living seem to be leading passionless lives like Gabriel’s, as though living in a death-like state. The snow unites the living and the dead, then, as the narration expands Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iust

Snow Symbol Timeline in The Dead

The timeline below shows where the symbol Snow appears in The Dead. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...finally arrives, along with his wife Gretta, Lily takes his coat, which is covered with snow from outside. Lily asks if it is snowing, and Gabriel confirms, suddenly noticing that Lily... (full context)

Ireland, Anti-Nationalism, and the Foreign Theme Icon

...a hotel rather than taking a cab home, and Gabriel explains that Gretta got a cold from the cab ride last time, and then adds jokingly that she would willingly walk... (full context)

...go socialize and Gabriel’s attention turns toward the window, where he can see that the snow has covered everything outside. He imagines how pleasant a solitary walk along the river and... (full context)

Nostalgia and the Past vs. the Present Theme Icon

...Kate requests that someone close the door so that Mrs. Malins does not catch a cold and die. Mary Jane explains that the door was open because Mr. Browne is outside,... (full context)

...and Miss O’Callaghan. Aunt Julia and Miss O’Callaghan remark that they both love how the snow looks, but Aunt Kate adds that Mr. D’Arcy doesn’t like the snow. Gabriel watches his... (full context)

...reflecting back on their early memories together, such as when they stood outside in the cold watching a man making bottles in a furnace. Gabriel wishes to forget their dull present... (full context)

...the dead, and feels his own identity fading into this “grey impalpable world.” He hears snow falling against the windowpane and turns to see “silver and dark” snowflakes contrasting with the... (full context)

Snow Symbol Analysis

Snow Quotes in The Dead

Section 3 Quotes

Snow Symbol Timeline in The Dead