How does the character of Gabriel in "The Dead" change throughout the course of the story; that is, how does his role change?

Before the narrator provides the beautiful image of the falling snow, he tells us that Gabriel’s “own identity was fading.” One reason his identity “fades” is that he understands his wife a good deal more after she tells him her story about the man who had “died for her sake.”  His compassion enables him to merge with her rather than understand her only in relation to himself.  In other words, he learns empathy.  In this context, his “role” in their marriage changes (we surmise0 so that in the future he will be more humble and understanding.  In the context of the short story, he experiences an epiphany, enabling him to “see” more than he did before—this, too, suggests a change in role, from that of one who does not understand (which the reader perceives through dramatic irony) to one who does