Joyce changes one’s expectations by subtly shifting the narrative from one character to another. He starts out the story by focusing on Lily and describing the apparent rush that she’s in trying to do various things. Based on this it seems that the story will be focusing on Lily and possibly her life as the housemaid. But then Joyce shifts the story onto the Misses Morkans and their party. From this transition I figured that an issue might arise from the party affecting the three sisters, but as the story progresses it then shifts onto Gabriel. As the story starts to focus more and more on Gabriel it becomes apparent that he’s submissive in thought and emotional expression. Knowing and starting to understand his personality based on his interactions at the party foreshadow how this could be an issue later on in the story, of which it is. Once the party comes to an end the story shifts focus from solely Gabriel and onto his wife, Gretta, as well. While I wasn’t expecting Gretta to reveal the love she still had for the guy from her hometown, it did add an interesting twist to the story. This twist also being one that mentally and emotionally challenges Gabriel in a certain way because of his personality.
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I have come to a similar conclusion when I finish reading the entire story. Joyce’s introduction seems to be misleading when it comes to figuring out who’s the actual protagonist of this story. She did inserted several transitions going from character to character, which made the plot turn out to be more intertwined. Indeed, Gabriel is kind of submissive to others in conversations but he does try to advocate for himself or comfort others. Furthermore, Gretta was portrayed as a devoted and happy wife but in reality, her life was miserable and she has always loved Michael. This was a well-written post and I really like how you touch upon your thoughts to make this post sound even better.