"He stood on the mat, scraping the snow from his galoshes, [ ]" (Joyce 175) The snow on Gabriel's galoshes is symbolic of the shield that he has placed around himself in order to protect his true feelings of inferiority. Gabriel tries to suppress his feelings of inadequacy by escaping to the window to be at one with the snow. .
Gabriel's warm, trembling fingers tapped the cold pane of the.
window. How cool it must be outside! How pleasant it would .
be to walk out alone, first along by the river and then through.
the park! The snow would by lying on the branches of the trees.
and forming a bright cap on the top of the Wellington Monument.
How much more pleasant it would be there than at the supper.
table! (Joyce 186).
Gabriel has convinced himself that if he can be outside in the snow, he will be free of the dead existence that has enveloped him. To the protagonist, gazing at the snow through the window represents an awakening to a new life, independent of the social pressures and emotional bondage. As the party is winding down and Gabriel and Gretta are preparing to leave, there is a major shift in Gabriel's interpretation of the snow. "It was slushy underfoot, and only streaks and patches of snow lay on the roofs, on the parapets of the quay and on the area railings." (Joyce 199) Now that Gabriel is finally outside with the snow, he is able to understand the actuality of its meaning. This is the representation of Gabriel's world, a dreary and dull existence, absent of the visions that have played in his mind. The snow at the end of the story takes on yet another meaning for Gabriel. "It had begun to snow again. He watched sleepily the flakes, silver and dark, falling obliquely against the lamplight. [ ]" "His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, [ ]" (Joyce 206) For Gabriel, this final vision of snow signifies his impending mortality, along with that of his fellow man.
