Option One – Cultural context


The only note of hope comes from Triona and Bobby’s marriage. Their stories start and end the book and they present us with the view that a strong, loving relationship can overcome anything life throws at it. Triona understands that Bobby is a gentle, vulnerable man who still suffers from his father’s abusive treatment of him and his mother. She doesn’t push Bobby to talk about his problems but lets him know that she is there to help him. Their love is so strong and pure that Bobby is not even remotely tempted by Réaltín’s flirtation and Triona knows that Bobby would never cheat on her. This faith in her husband’s loyalty means that Triona can ignore the rumours that fly about when Bobby spends a lot of time helping Réaltín fix up her house. Later on, when Bobby is charged with his father’s murder, Triona says she doesn’t care if he is guilty or not, she will stand by him. After all, she asks, what matters only love?


Gender roles


Men in the world of the text are under pressure to behave in a traditionally masculine way. Brian admires Bobby Mahon because he believes he is a ‘pure bull’ who sleeps with lots of different women. He also looks up to Bobby for his physical strength and sporting prowess. The men feel under pressure not to show their gentler side as it might be perceived as weakness. Josie Burke says he laughed when he heard his first employer died in poverty outside a pub, even though he ‘felt sick’ inside. The important thing, however, is that his laugh was ‘heard and noted’ because it meant he was viewed as a hard man. Josie worries now that he might cry ‘like a fool’ when he tells his son Eamonn about Pokey’s actions. Brian worries that he might cry when his parents drive him to the airport because Kenny will laugh at him and tell the ‘sexiest airhostess’ on the plane all about it. He imagines Kenny asking her to give Brian ‘a lend of your make-up’ and laughing at him for ‘Crying like a child!’ The implication is that emotions are for women and children, and men who show their feelings are subject to mockery and scorn.


Men like Trevor, who don’t fit the masculine norms of the world of the text are viewed with suspicion. Kate is delighted to find a trained Montessori teacher who will work for low wages but her husband believes she is ‘mad for taking on a fella’ in her crèche. Denis is not alone in his attitude: Mags Burke also thinks that ‘It doesn’t seem natural for a young man to be a Montessori teacher’. It is surprising that Mags should be so judgmental of others and prejudiced about gender roles, as she still obsesses about her father’s inability to accept that she is a lesbian. Kate suspects Trevor prefers working with women and wants ‘a job where he wouldn’t have to be near manly men’ behaving crudely and treating one another with casual cruelty. Kate believes that ‘Men working together shouldn’t be allowed’.


Kate thinks her husband may be jealous of her success in business because men ‘can’t bear to be second to a woman in any way’. When Denis was out of work, it was Kate’s profits that kept them going but this ‘nearly killed him’. Kate is impatient with Denis’s old-fashioned attitude and wishes he would snap out of his sulk. Although Kate blames Denis for much that is wrong in their relationship, there is no doubt that she plays into the very gender stereotypes she claims to despise. For example, she says she used to think Denis’s body odour was sexy ‘because it meant he’d been doing physical work and was strong and manly’. Now that he is older and less successful than when they first met, she is repulsed by that same smell. The last time Denis tried to have sex with Kate, she rejected him harshly and cruelly and they have not slept together for over four months as a result. The strict gender roles in the world of the text leave many of the men emotionally stunted and deeply unhappy, but there seems little hope of any real change.


Leaving Certificate English 359 Excellence in Texts


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