The Dead
One night around Christmas time, Gabriel Conroy, a youngish writer with gilt-framed round glasses, goes with his wife Gretta to the Christmas dance held at the home of the Misses Morkan: his aunts, Kate and Julia, and their niece, Mary Jane. A cheerful chaos reigns at the old women's house, with Lily, the caretaker's daughter, scampering about, and Gabriel's aunts worrying whether Freddy Malins will turn up drunk. A piano plays in a parlor full of dancing couples. Gabriel tells his aunts that on account of the cold, he and Gretta will be staying in a hotel nearby rather than returning home that night. Gretta laughingly confides to the old women that Gabriel has made her wear galoshes to the party and that he makes their son Tom lift dumbbells. The women laugh merrily. Freddy Malins arrives slightly drunk but not disastrously so. Gabriel goes downstairs to check on him, and Freddy heads into the parlor to talk to the gregarious Mr. Browne. The group assembles to listen to Mary Jane play a difficult piano piece, and Gabriel's mind wanders to his mother, who had opposed his marriage and described Gretta as "country cute." Gabriel remembers how Gretta nursed his mother through her long and ultimately fatal illness.
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Michael Furey, Miss Ivors's, Freddy Malins, Malins Browne, Gabriel Gretta, Mary Jane, Miss Ivors, Aunt Kate, Commentary Dead, Misses Morkans', michael furey, miss ivors, freddy malins, story book, snow falling, love michael furey, hopelessly severed, love michael, gabriel baffled, dead story, song lass aughrim, mary jane,
Approximate Word count = 1494
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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