Gabriels Defense Mechanisms in James Joyces "The Dead"
In this paper, we will deconstruct the defense mechanisms of the character Gabriel Conroy in James Joyces "The Dead". In this work, we find that Joyces technique of free indirect discourse is at work. Gabriel Conroy is the viewpoint character, and so we will examine the passages where he is "thinking to himself," but in a way that may contain subtle criticisms of which he seems unaware We will construct this analysis by identifying the main defense mechanisms which Gabriel seems to be using., and by describing ways in which the narrator's contributions to the free indirect discourse exposes and criticizes those defense mechanisms, though without Gabriel fully understanding what is going on. In sum, we will demonstrate how both the defense mechanisms and their critiques can operate simultaneously in the same passage.
