“[T]he usefulness of the various theories in interpretation does not imply the simultaneous truth of all the statements in the theoretical inventory,” states Roland Garrett in a final statement explaining how more than one theory must be used to fully interpret a single text (Garrett 124). James Joyce's short story "The Dead" is used to describe this statement in Garrett's article "Six Theories in the Room of the Dead". As the title of the article points out, Garrett analyzes the story of James Joyce using more than one literary theory and a "general reflection" at the end to summarize his work (Garrett 123). Garrett takes the time to explain why each theory can and cannot work for "The Dead," using historical and textual evidence to support his claims. The theories in question are: deconstruction, structuralism, feminism, Marxism and psychoanalysis. The author uses theories that are very different from each other. However, Garrett explains that each theory needs the other to explain why it works or doesn't work for the story in question. The author summarizes his work in one sentence: "The structuralist can cite Joyce's biography, the Marxist can draw lessons from psychoanalysis, [and] the feminist can study the impact of the incompleteness of meaning on the status of the woman” (Garrett 125). Garrett explains that literary theories depend on context, biographical and historical theories, as well as other theories to remain coherent for the reader; however, the article would benefit from more information on psychoanalysis with a more detailed explanation on the importance of context and a more precise title for better understanding. The explanation in Garrett's article on psychoanalysis is true; however, it would have been helpful if......in the middle of the article......more was also added to the section regarding psychoanalysis, which would help the reader understand the mind of the character(s) . The author would also have benefited from a closer look at the importance of background information and historical context. Information about the past helps contextualize the story, thereby helping the reader better understand the text. Finally, a change or modification of the title would allow better understanding for the potential reader and could even allow a greater number of readers to read the entire work. Work CitedJames, Joyce. “The Dead.” Read and write about literature. Ed. Philippe Sipioria. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2002. 297-322. Print.Garrett, Roland. “Six theories in the chamber of the dead.” Philosophy and Literature.16 (1992): 115-127. ProjectMUSE. Internet. February 4 2012.