How does Joyce depict the differences between Gabriel and the other characters in the story? How are they similar and different?
Joyce makes clear every character’s personality, by describing them in details. for instance, in the beginning of the story he mentions that “Julia, though she was quite grey, was still the leading soprano in Adam and Eve’s, and Kate, being too feeble to go about much, gave music lessons to beginners on the old square piano in the back room. Lily, the caretaker’s daughter, did housemaid’s work for them”(Joyce 1). Same as Gabriel, he has a self-deceptive personality and he is always disappointed. He does not believe in himself. Anytime there is a conversation, his intention is to hide something from others, or the other way around. If someone wants to tell him the bitter truth he tries to avoid it. In my idea, Gabriel is a weak person who does not or cannot tolerate the reality. however, through the end of the story he understands that he should not be always running away from the truth, he realizes that avoiding the truth does not change anything. and he listens to the most bitter truth and secret of his wife patiently. I would say that his wife’s character is more similar to him because she hid something very important from him, all these years she just pretended that she loves him and she is happy.