Mother Ireland, Blood-Mother, and the Lost Young Men In Selections of Modern Irish Fiction

Abstract

This paper examines the crisis of three Irish young men whose lives are devastated by both their motherland and blood-mother. The discussion of this paper will be into three areas. First, how Ireland itself is portrayed as a fragile, subjugated female figure in several Irish literary works. Second, the attributes of three Irish mothers as mirroring the image of Ireland itself. Third, the dilemma of three Irish young men as products of both motherland and blood- mother. The scope of discussion will be on Cormac in O’Faolain’s No Country for Young Men, Willie in Trevor’s Fools of Fortune and Cal in Mac Laverty’s Cal. Irish people have been victims under the heavy hand of British colonialism. The merciless hand of the arrogant colonizer turned Irish people against each other, with an inner inclination towards sectarianism and animosity. Throughout such bloody history of occupation Ireland has been pictured by both British imperialists and Irish nationalists as a helpless, poor and humiliated femaleor a mother who is completely overwhelmed by her perpetual miseries, who needs help to be saved. While the British portrayal of Ireland as a weak female seeks to keep Ireland in subjugation, the Irish description of Ireland as a humiliated female aims to motivate the Irish people to defend their country. Such features of mother Ireland are transferred into the blood mothers in the three selected texts. Grainne, Cormac’s mother in O’Faolain’s No Country for Young Men, is responsible for Cormac’s escape where she cares more about her womanhood than her motherhood. Also, Eva, Willie’s mother in Trevor’s Fools of Fortune turns to be a reflection of mother Ireland, a victim of fortune that is full of rage. She, consequently, killed herself with bitterness and despair and led her son into the abyss of loss and escape. Though Cal’s mother, Garcia, died when he was young and didn’t act as an intensifier to his endless course of loss as in the previous cases, Cal was also victimized and after the burning of his house he stopped to believe in Ireland anymore. Cal’s father, who survived the burning of the house, turned out to be like an old female who laments her destiny. So Cal, like Cormac and Willie, couldn’t escape loss.