The story centres on Gabriel Conroy, a teacher and part-time book reviewer, and explores the relationships he has with his family and friends.

Gabriel and his wife, Gretta, arrive late to an annual Christmastime party (in fact, it is Twelfth Night) hosted by his aunts, Kate and Julia Morkan, who eagerly receive him.

When Freddy Malins arrives drunk, as the hosts of the party had feared, Aunt Kate asks Gabriel to make sure he is all right.

As the party moves on, Gabriel is confronted by Miss Ivors, an Irish nationalist, about his publishing a weekly literary column in the Unionist newspaper The Daily Express.

He becomes more disaffected, when he tells his wife of the encounter, and she expresses an interest in returning to visit her childhood home of Galway.

When they arrive at the hotel, Gabriel's aspirations of passionate lovemaking are conclusively dashed by Gretta's lack of interest.

After telling these things to Gabriel, Gretta becomes overpowered with emotion, heaving great sobs as she lays down on the bed, falling asleep crying.

Gabriel stands at the window, watching the snow fall; and the narrative expands past him, edging into the surreal, and encompassing the entirety of Ireland.

[6] Cornell University Joyce scholar Daniel R. Schwarz described it as "that magnificent short novel of tenderness and passion but also of disappointed love and frustrated personal and career expectations".

[7] On the centennial of the release of Dubliners, Dan Barry of The New York Times called "The Dead" "just about the finest short story in the English language".

The original production starred Christopher Walken as Gabriel Conroy and won a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.

It is extensively referenced; and in one scene, a terminal cancer patient, aware of her coming end, reads out verbatim the last lines of "The Dead" describing the snow falling on Ireland.