Gabriel Conroy in the short story “The Dead” from the masterpiece novel The Dubliners by James Joyce undergoes an incredible transformation. Gabriel is initially self-centered and selfish towards those around him, and in particular his wife. He constantly worries about what those around him think of him and his superiority over others. Gabriel treats his wife, Gretta, like a child and only sees his relationship with her through himself. However, thanks to his wife's confession about her ex-lover Michael Furey, Gabriel has a revelation that changes his entire outlook on life. At the end of the story, Gabriel's "generous tears" reflect a changed and better man. Gabriel, throughout the story, sees himself as superior to those around him. In Gabriel's first quote in the short story, he states, "I suppose they did," said Gabriel, "but they forget that my wife here takes three mortal hours to dress" (153). Gabriel here dictates superiority over women on two occasions. The first time, Miss Kate and Miss Julia are expected to be worried about his arrival because he is so important to them. The second example is directed at his wife in that she takes so long to get ready, as if she is just a child to him. Moments later, Gabriel again supports this narcissistic assertion: “Gabriel smiled at the three syllables she (Lily) had given to his last name and looked at her” (154). The smile indicates pleasure at Lily's accent, which is indicative of her lower class than Gabriel's, something he takes pride in. To develop this socio-economic hierarchy that Gabriel is so fond of, he will later think: "The indelicate clicking of the men's heels and the beating of their soles reminded him that their level of culture differed...... middle of paper ... this does not is no longer the face for which Michael Furey had braved death" (193) and we can see that Gabriel knows that Gretta did not die in all the glory of a passion, but that she withered miserably with age . Gabriel's generous tears were those of grief and sadness towards his wife, which is completely contradictory to his aforementioned personality. Gabriel, stuck in his egocentric and narcissistic mind, had his eyes opened by his wife Gretta and began to feel emotions towards others. Gabriel heard the story of Furey and his wife and realized that he was no different from others thanks to the epiphany of death. Death is inevitable for Gabriel, Gretta, Julia and everyone he came into contact with. Gabriel is a changed and better man at the end of the novella. Just as the snow fell outside Gabriel's window, it covered the ground in which Michael Fury was buried..