the dead Essay -- essays research papers

â€Å"The Dead†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some say that people never change. They may be right, but no one really knows. What people do know is that every living person has one thing in common, something that will never change. Everyone will die, there’s no way around it. Every â€Å"new† and â€Å"old† generation will succumb to the same ghastly fate. The differences in the â€Å"old† generation and â€Å"new† generation sometimes collide in life. The contrast between generations in James Joyce’s â€Å"The Dead† is similar to the contrast in the generations today. The â€Å"baby boomer† generation is the old fashioned generation preoccupied with hospitality and tradition, where as, â€Å"generation x† is the new generation, preoccupied with knowledge and intellect.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The â€Å"old† generation that James Joyce writes about is a generation of â€Å"humanity, of hospitality, of kindly humour†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (pg 127). The qualities of this generation seem to be fading away. The older generation mentions that they no longer know of any singers that were as good as those of the present time. The old generation is to be remembered with â€Å"†¦pride and affection†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (pg 127). The memories of the old will never die and will always be cherished. The old generation is good at keeping in touch with their past. They are proud of their heritage, one of which they mention is their good old Irish hospitality. The qualities of the past are qualities of passion and humanity, differing greatly from the qualities of the new generat...