How does Joyce change your expectations as a reader throughout the story? e.g. your idea of what the story is about and what kind of story you are reading might have changed at a few points throughout the story.
In the short story The Dead, the author, James Joyce, changed my expectations as a reader. For example, Joyce started the story by introducing a character, Lily, and describing her. By doing so, Joyce has caused me to assume that Lily will be the protagonist of the story. Therefore, I expected the story to be about how Lily’s character is developed and how her life changed. However, that was not the case. As I continued reading, I tend to notice that the majority of the story is revolving around another character, Gabriel. Lily was mentioned often at the beginning of the story; however, as the story progresses, the focus tends to shift to Gabriel. After realizing that Gabriel might be the real protagonist of the story, I expected the story to be about Gabriel’s life and how Lily helped develop his character. However, I noticed Gabriel’s wife, Gretta, played a more significant role because of the song The Lass of Aughrim that caused her to remember what happened in the past.
I agree that Joyce does take time to shape the whole plot for the readers. But I feel that’s what makes the story more interesting. Also reading “The Dead” is like opening a gift box and within that gift box, you would find another box. Although the most important thing is the gift lying within the boxes; however, the process of opening the boxes is inevitable because if the gift box was never opened the gift will never be discovered. Similarly to the way “The Dead” is played out I think each character’s development is to lead readers into discovering the message of the story.