“James Joyce began his first book in June or July of 1904, invited by the Irish man of letters “A.E.” (George Russell) to submit a short story to his paper The Irish Homestead. Joyce began writing the series of fifteen stories that were published in 1914 called Dubliners. In letters to London publisher Grant Richards about his conception for the short stories, Joyce wrote that he planned the volume to be a chapter of Ireland’s ‘moral history’ and that in writing it he had ‘taken the first step towards the spiritual liberation of my country’” (pg 1205). Richards, a London publisher, almost refused to publish the Dubliners because he thought parts were too vulgar and exhibited realism too stark. However, James Joyce was desperate to have the book published. He wrote to Richards, “ I seriously believe that you will retard the course of civilization in Ireland by preventing the Irish people from having one good look at themselves in my nicely polished looking-glass”(Pg 1205). James Joyce wrote “The Dead” while he was in exile from Ireland. He writes “The Dead” to show how awful he finds the Irish aristocrats and to teach the reader about the history of the Irish aristocrat in the post-famine revolution days. It is well known that Joyce set out to expose the 'paralysis' of Ireland. In The Dead he does that in a variety of ways, but most prominently through a subtle emphasis on routine and monotony. In doing so, he in fact casts his net over a much wider lot of the population than the aristocrats.
Restrictive routines and repetitive monotonous details of everyday life mark the lives of Joyce’s characters in The Dead and trap them in circles of frustration, restraint and violence. Every year for the last thirty years, the Morkan’s held the same annual dance. Joyce writes, ...