er, and he is trapped, literally by the window, but figuratively by his strict adherence to what is expected of him. Snow appears once more in the closing paragraph of the novella. After the Conroys arrive at the room they have rented for the evening, Gabriel feels an inexplicable lusting for his wife. Gretta’s thoughts, however, are of a different nature as her mind lingers on thoughts of Michael Furey, a lover of long ago. Gabriel, not realizing that she is not thinking of him, asks what is on her mind and is shocked at the answer. For Gabriel, this reveals a whole new side of Gretta, and he realizes that throughout their marriage, she has been consistently comparing him to the deceased. At this point Gabriel finally sees how little he knows about his own life, and how much he and those he believes to be his closest friends and relatives, hide from truth. After Gretta falls asleep, Gabriel returns to the window and notices that “It had begun to snow again.” (p. 236) Here the story implies that the snow had ceased as Gabriel finally began to see the truth. Joyce speaks of the snow as it covers “the hill where Michael Furey lay buried”, (p. 236) and continues to fall “through the universe”. Once more the covers that Gabriel hides behind fall back into place. There is one character, however, who appears to go against the grain of the story. This is Miss Molly Ivors, a young Irish nationalist who is not afraid to say what she believes. Though many feel that this adds a dimension of hope to the story, the treatment of her seems to make it all the more tragic. While dancing with Gabriel, she calls him a West Briton, having found out about an anonymous book review column he had been writing for a paper with a British slant. His first reaction is embarrassment and later anger, and he feels that they both should simply have ignored the topic. Her perseverance and strong character are evident at one oth...
