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READ THIS
Jackie is a young Irish boy who is being forced to make his first confession.
He is terrified of the ordeal because he has several sins which he feels he must hide but this would
constitute a "Bad Confession".
The punishment for a "Bad Confession" would be an eternity in hell.
His confession, however, proves to be very different from what he expected.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Frank O'Connor was the only child of Michael O'Donovan and Minnie O'Connor. He was born in Cork
(Ireland) in 1903 and was baptised Michael O'Donovan.
His was a poor family, his father being a brutal drunkard. Because his mother was forced to look after
the family, O'Connor fell heavily under her spell.
He would later choose to publish under his mother's maiden name -- hence Frank O'Connor -- rather
than bring honour to his father who despised his literary abilities.
O'Connor was thoroughly Irish, and fought for a time with the Irish Republican Army in their 1918 rebellion
again the British.
Later he became a school master and librarian, and wrote numerous short stories and some novels --
although this literary activity was always as a hobby.
Many of his writings were based upon his own experiences.
He taught for a time in America, and it was while he was at Stanford University that he had a stroke in
1961.
He thereupon returned to Ireland but died of a heart attack in Dublin in March 1966 at the age of 63.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
What is a "first confession"? Why would it be so important in the Catholic Church? (4)
[Need help?]
In the Catholic Church, it was deemed important to confess one's sins prior to receiving Holy Communion
so that one's soul would be in a state of grace.
This was especially so if one had committed a mortal sin -- i.e. a sin that was considered so serious that
one's soul would go straight to hell if one died without confessing it.
At the time this story was written, a Catholic child would have made his or her first communion at "the
age of reason", i.e. at about seven.
Receiving holy communion for the first time was a major event in the child's religious life where he or she
would be dressed like a young bride or groom.
Before this could happen, however, the child had to confess his or her sins for the first time. This was
called a "first confession".
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Jackie found his granny terribly embarrassing.
- What was it about his gran that was so embarrassing? (4)
[Need help?]
Jackie's gran had a number of quirks which the boy would find embarrassing.
In the first place, she drank "porter" and would be seen sneaking a jug of the beer into the house,
trying to hide it beneath her coat.
Second, she had disgusting eating habits. She would eat with her fingers, having first placed her food --
usually potatoes -- on the table instead of on a plate
It seemed that she never washed her hands which meant that Jackie hated it when she cooked for them.
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- What was wrong with the gran's cooking which made Jackie reluctant to eat it, a reluctance so great
that he was prepared to defend himself even with a bread knife? (4)
[Need help?]
Because Jackie's gran never washed her hands before cooking or eating, it meant there was always dried
food and slobber on her fingers.
Would you like such a person to cook for you?
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What word BEST fills the space in the following sentence:
- "Nora sucked up to her gran solely because of the money that the old woman gave her each Friday.
She therefore had a ___________________ nature." (1)
[Need help?]
What about "mercenary" or "pecuniary"?
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Comment on Jackie's divided family. Who supported whom? (6)
[Need help?]
It seems that Jackie and his sister were always at odds with one another.
Because his sister sucked up to the gran for the money she could weasel out of her, it meant that there
tended to be some form of an alliance between the gran and Jackie's sister.
Jackie's mother, on the other hand, tended to side with Jackie. Note that she does not punish him for
disrespecting his gran and she takes Jackie's side when he gets punished by his father.
The father, however, gives Jackie a "flaking", and then for days does not speak to the boy or his
mother. Remember that the gran was Jackie's father's mother.
In short, then, there was an alliance between Nora, the father and the gran while Jackie and his mother
have some form of a partnership.
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This short story is clearly set in Ireland.
- Can you quote some expressions which would appear to be peculiarly Irish? (4)
[Need help?]
There are many expressions used in this story which are peculiarly Irish. Can you spot any of them?
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Refer to the story of Mrs Ryan:
- Comment on Jackie's claim: "I was tempted to volunteer, but I thought it might look
greedy." (4)
[Need help?]
Jackie was desperately afraid of placing his finger in the candle flame for five minutes but he would never
admit it.
He therefore told everyone that he didn't really want the money because he wasn't greedy.
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- What is the purpose of Mrs Ryan's story of the man who went to hell? (4)
[Need help?]
Mrs Ryan was tempting to instill into the children's minds the idea that one must NEVER make a bad
confession.
She did so by narrating the macabre story of a man who did make a bad confession, died and then went
to hell but kept returning as a ghost to seek out a priest so as to confess.
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- What was so wrong about not confessing a particular sin? (4)
[Need help?]
The church always stressed that one had to confess every sin that one could remember -- especially if
it were a serious or mortal sin.
If one deliberately withheld confessing a sin, then there would be no absolution for that sin.
Since such a sin was presumably a serious one -- one would surely not deliberately withhold confessing
a minor sin -- it meant that one still had the stain of mortal sin on one's soul and would go to hell if one
died without confessing it.
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- Comment on the significance of the cock crowing in the morning. (4)
[Need help?]
There is possibly a reference to the cock which crowed after the Apostle Peter denied Jesus Christ three
times: see the gospel story in the Christian New Testament.
More importantly, however, is the idea that evil spirits can only make their appearance into the world at
night.
A cock crows each morning to announce the arrival of dawn and the new day. With the cock crow,
therefore, the evil spirit would vanish from this world, retreating again into hell.
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