Joyce’s writing style in “Two Gallants” is primarily literal and minimalist with moments of rich figurative language. The minimalism in the story comes across in simple and direct sentences like, “[Lenehan] was glad that he could rest from all his walking,” and “His friends talked very little.” This simple, unadorned style is intentional, as Joyce hopes to capture the boredom and alienation of the two men at the center of the story as they wander aimlessly through the streets of Dublin.
The moments in which Joyce changes his style—using evocative figurative language—are intentional as well. Take, for example, the language in the following passage as Lenehan looks up at the moon:
Lenehan offered his friend a cigarette. As the two young men walked on through the crowd Corley occasionally turned to smile at some of the passing girls but Lenehan’s gaze was fixed on the large faint moon circled with a double halo. He watched earnestly the passing of the grey web of twilight across its face.
This passage starts out with the same minimalist style—“Lenehan offered his friend a cigarette”—but then Joyce makes an unexpected move. As Lenehan’s gaze moves toward “the large faint moon circled with a double halo,” Joyce’s language becomes more emotive, describing how Lenehan “earnestly” watched “the passing of the grey web of twilight across [the moon’s] face.”
This moment suggests that it is only when Lenehan is able to take himself out of the banal drudgery of his everyday life in Dublin—by looking up at the moon, for example—that he can tap into more human emotions. This descriptive language also suggests that Lenehan is someone who notices the world around him, but that he has to suppress this part of himself in order to survive amongst his brash and unkind friends in a society in decline.
