Read the following passage from James Joyce's short story "The Dead" carefully:
Gabriel, leaning on his elbow, looked for a few moments unresentfully on her tangled hair and half-open mouth, listening to her deep-drawn breath. So she had had that romance in her life: a man had died for her sake. It hardly pained him now to think how poor a part he, her husband, had played in her life. He watched her while she slept as though he and she had never lived together as man and wife. His curious eyes rested long upon her face and on her hair: and, as he thought that she must have been then, in that time of her first silly head, a woman, a strange friendly pity for her entered his soul. He did not like to say even to himself that her face was no longer beautiful but he knew that it was no longer the face for which Michael Furey had braved death.
Perhaps she had not told him all the story. His eyes moved to the chair on which she had thrown some of her clothes. A petticoat string dangled to the floor. One boot stood upright, its limp upper fallen down: the other lay on its side. He wondered at his riot of emotions of an hour before. From what had it proceeded? From his aunt’s supper, from his own foolish speech, from the wine and dancing, the merry-making when saying good-night in the hall, the pleasure of the walk along the river in the snow. Poor Aunt Julia! She, too, would soon be a shade with the shade of Patrick Morkan and his horse. He had caught that heartbroken look on her face a moment before when she was singing Arrayed for the Bridal. Soon, perhaps, he would be sitting in that same drawing-room, dressed in black, his silk hat on his knees. The blinds would be drawn down and Aunt Julia would be...
The air of the room was growing cold. He stretched himself cautiously along under the sheets and lay down beside his wife. One by one they were all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age. He thought of how she who lay beside him had locked in her heart for so many years that image of her lover’s eyes when he had told her that he did not wish to live.
Generous tears filled Gabriel’s eyes. He had never felt like that himself towards any woman but he knew that such a feeling must be love. The tears gathered more thickly in his eyes and in the partial darkness he imagined he saw the form of a young man standing under a dripping tree. Other forms were near. His soul had approached that region where dwell the vast hosts of the dead.
A student writing an essay on this passage develops the following thesis statement:
In the passage, Gabriel's transition from egoistic resentment to a universal connection with the dead is catalyzed by a recognition of physical decay and mortality in his immediate surroundings.
Which of the following best explains how the third paragraph ("The air of the room... did not wish to live") functions in the student's proposed line of reasoning?
- AIt summarizes the physical actions of Gabriel cautiously crawling under the sheets to avoid waking his wife and remembering her story about Michael Furey.
- BIt establishes the cold temperature of the bedroom to explain why Gabriel feels physically uncomfortable and regrets staying at the hotel.
- It shifts the focus from concrete physical details of the bedroom to an abstract acceptance of shared mortality, illustrating how Gabriel's personal ego dissolves into a broader recognition of human passion.Answer
- DIt argues that Gabriel's desire to 'pass boldly into that other world' demonstrates his resolve to end his marriage and pursue a more passionate life.
- EIt confirms Gabriel's realization that Michael Furey's dramatic death is the only genuine form of love, validating Gabriel's self-pity and sense of inadequacy.