Much of this story is told in stream-of-consciousness style, following first the flow of the maid Lily's thoughts and then the flow of Gabriel's thoughts. When Gabriel arrives at the Christmas party and offends Lily, he feels awkward, self-conscious, and in need of validation. He views the world around him in terms of his own ego. He worries about making his Christmas speech, thinking:
He would fail with them just as he had failed with the girl in the pantry. He had taken up a wrong tone. His whole speech was a mistake from first to last, an utter failure.
Later, after his speech, he feels better, and his eyes are bright with happiness. He feels loving towards his wife, Gretta.
He sees himself in a mirror in the hotel room when he and Gretta are alone together. This is significant because initially, he seems at peace with what he sees, a figure in a "broad, well-filled shirt-front." Significantly, too, he is "puzzled" as he "always" is by his expression. This suggests he lacks self-knowledge.
After he hears Gretta tell of her first love, Michael Furey, he mentally rearranges the self he just saw in the mirror. He becomes filled with self-loathing, mentally describing himself in scathing terms as "ludicrous," "nervous," a "sentimentalist," a "fatuous" object of pity and full of "clownish lusts." He moves from not understanding himself to interpreting himself as someone who other people find laughable and contemptible.
Through Gabriel's changing perceptions of his reflection in the mirror, Joyce shows how much Gabriel depends on the opinions of others, especially his wife, to validate his self-worth. Like a good modernist, Joyce also shows the subjectivity of external reality, such as the reflection in a mirror, which is dependent on our moods, perceptions, and frailties.
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