Foot in mouth

I found the speech to be kind of ironic by the end of the story. Gabriel-a conceited man-begins to talk about the dead as a kind of memorial for hospitality, traditions and change, thus unknowingly bringing about an inevitably "unlucky" night with his wife. Don't get me wrong, he was doomed well before the speech after the not-so-friendly conversation with Lily left him gloomy. Then there was the issue of being labeled a "West Brit" thanks to his lack of Irish pride as Miss Ivors so blatantly spit at him in a loud whisper. I can't really blame her though, Gabriel is a man making a whole host of poor word choices all night. When he finally gets to the speech, he ends up rekindling his wife's love for a dead man after a spouting a dose of reminiscing over "the past, of youth, of changes, of absent faces that we miss here to-night". For how aware he was of the music and his wife's desire, respect and emotion for her own blood and tradition, he really misses the big cues of her sarcastic remark to Mrs. Malins, and distant behavior after hearing his speech and most importantly the Irish song. Quite frankly, he wasn't remembering shit about the past when giving his speech and I can't believe that he didn't know about his own wife's past. I wouldn't think too much of needing to know something like that about someone close to me, but it is rather obvious that she is still "paralyzed" in thoughts concerning the "lost love" of her life. Gabriel is definitely no charmer, and yet, he did finally produce a kind of lovely Ah of a moment after his emotions had settled down into the clarity needed for an epiphany. Kinda funny how easy it is to say the wrong things, and how hard it is to find a way to reconcile for our rash words.