When I read this story, the first thing I thought about was reading this story as a Marxist and looking at the class structure. This quote declare that even around the upper class, such as Miss Ivors who is undoubtedly a nationalist, Gabriel see's himself as better than them. But it is not just the people who are at that party, but he see's himself better than all Irish folk. Other clues that points to this is even the way he view his aunts. They are regarded as having no class, but that is only in comparison to himself. Also, the conversation with Miss Ivors shows him having little or no respect for the Irish at all.
I believe James Joyce showed this very well by the language and techniques he uses to describe Gabriels situation. First, he sets Gabriel u for an encounter with the maid. His assertiveness with the maid lets the reader see that Gabriel just does't fit in with that crowd. Nearly everyone Gabriel encounters, he says something offensive and/or rude. When Gabriel gives his toast at the dinner table, the sophisticated language that used gives the reader the sense that he is trying to make u for all his past encounters.
Altogether, I get the sense that Gabriel does want to fit in and be regarded to as Irish. On page 152, when Ms. Ivors calls him a ' West Briton', Gabriel doesn't believe that that actually makes him a West Briton simply because he writes for 'The Daily Express'. Though he wants to fit in, Gabriel does not want to live as the stereotypical Irishman.
I definitely think the quote on page 145 is very telling with regard to Gabriel's position in relation to the rest of the party-goers. It relates back to his conversation with Miss Ivors and her accusatory statements about his being a West Briton and being disloyal to true Ireland. This indicates a kind of superiority that Gabriel has in the eyes of the other characters, but the line pointed out here signals that Gabriel has these feelings as well. By saying that he would "only make himself feel ridiculous" by referring to quotations the other characters would not know implies not only that he assumes they are less educated than himself, but that he doesn't take responsibility even for his own embarrassment. He would be made to feel ridiculous because the others are inferior to him in some way, not because of any fault of his own.
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