I haven’t completely finished the novel (about half way done) but this is by far the most powerful piece of Irish literature that we have studied throughout this course (at least for me).
I feel a sort of kinship with Veronica that I can’t describe. After the death Liam, she is in shambles. In Chapter 4, Veronica explains that everyone has lost someone that they love. Everyone has lost someone. But it affects us all differently, in ways we may never understand.
“There is something wonderful about death, how everything shuts down, and all the ways you thought you were vital are not even vaguely important. Your husband can feed the kids, he can work the new oven, he can find the sausages in the fridge, after all. And his important meeting was not important, not in the slightest” (27).
After Liam’s death, his suicide, Veronica obsesses over Lambert Nugent and her grandmother, Ada. After Liam is gone, Veronica stays awake at night, writing and re-writing the meeting of Ada and Nugent at the Belvedere Hotel. This story and initial meeting between Nugent and Ada, determines the fate of Veronica, and her family (like the butterfly effect). I wonder if Veronica had given Nugent much thought prior to her brother’s death.
In the beginning of the book we learn that Nugent virtually sexually abused his own sister. (Am I reading into that right?) We know that she is dead. We don’t know how she has died. At least I haven’t gotten to that part in the story. We later learn, (I flipped ahead a few chapters because the suspense was killing me) that Liam was also sexually abused by Nugent.
“There are things I do, actually know. I know that my brother Liam was sexually abused by Lambert Nugent. Or was probably sexually abused by Lambert Nugent” (224).
I think we can conclude that Liam’s past led him to commit suicide. The entire book Veronica has to make sense of what led him to take his own life. She has to put together remnants of the past.
For this blog, I watched the Youtube video of Sinead O’Conner on SNL. I had never seen the clip before, and I was stunned to see how powerful its message was. Upon some research, I discovered that Sinead O’Conner had experienced abuse as a child and his known for her protests over the sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.
Fairly recently (last month) Sinead appeared on Anderson Cooper to speak out about the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in Ireland.
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/27/video-sinead-oconnor-on-the-catholic-church-abuse-scandal/
I hope I don’t offend anyone, but I agree with Sinead O’Connor in this particular interview. How can these particular priests consider themselves to be holy or moral Christian people? And the scandal of the clergy trying to cover up the cases is just making them look worse.
Just recently, Pope Benedict XVI released an apology to the people of Ireland. The Pope said he was "truly sorry" for the harm done to Catholics who suffered "sinful and criminal" abuse at the hands of priests, brothers and nuns. He acknowledged the "serious mistakes" made by the clergy. S
Sinead also recently had an opinion piece in the Washington Post about the sex abuse scandal and commented back towards Pope Benedict’s apology. She believes that the Pope is mocking the Irish peoples’ intelligence.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/25/AR2010032502363.html
Child abuse seems to be very prevalent in Ireland. The Prime Minister of Ireland, Brian Cowen recently apologized to victims of child abuse for the government’s lack of interference in sexual abuse and severe beatings in Irish schools. He also promised reform for Ireland’s social services. Further investigation will take place against members of the Roman Catholic Church. Something definitely needs to be done to stop this horrible issue. I don’t know how the government has let it get this far.
To end back with the novel, it is sad to think that in cases of poverty, such as Veronica and Liam, little is done to prevent the issue.
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Lucy,
ReplyDeleteI don’t want to comment too much on your take of the reading because I don’t want to spoil anything for you! So I’ll comment on the research you did on the Catholic church & such. I like when you wrote, “I hope I don’t offend anyone, but I agree with Sinead O’Connor in this particular interview. How can these particular priests consider themselves to be holy or moral Christian people? And the scandal of the clergy trying to cover up the cases is just making them look worse.”
I could not agree with you more on the subject. As a Christian myself, the skewing of what the religion really is bothers me, and I realize that even I don’t know very much about my religion myself. So obviously a lot of other people don’t know either. To go against (in any religion) what the beliefs are of your religion that you’re a part of, shows that you are not committed to the religion as much as you say you are. These priests that have been accused of sick things shouldn’t even be allowed to be priests and preach the word of God to other humans who are eager to be considered holy themselves. It’s very contradicting. It’s like, okay, the Catholics can have set rules for their religion, and they can tell average people that what they’re doing is wrong, but just because they are priests and higher people so to speak, they can go ahead and do it like it’s not wrong? Well, it IS wrong, and I think that it’s very sad how people abuse their religion so arrogantly. I hope that all made sense, I've typed an 8 page paper today, so my fingers are a little fried, along with my brain. But good subject that you brought up!
Hey Nicole,
ReplyDeleteIn regards to Veronica’s obsession with Ada and Nugent, I believe that before Liam’s death she had suppressed the memories of what she witnessed as a child and that now that Liam had killed himself and she has rediscovered what she had buried in her unconscious, she is now fixated on the past and how it all led up to Liam’s death.
“In the beginning of the book we learn that Nugent virtually sexually abused his own sister.” I was really surprised when I read this because I did not get that from reading the novel. I am curious though as to what passage from the book led you to that conclusion?
I love the SNL video of Sinead O’Connor that you posted. I have always found it very interesting. I think it may just be because I am a huge fan of Bob Marley (who’s song War she is singing), but also because I find it to be such a powerful performance. The aftermath of the performance is very interesting, especially the rage of most Catholics for what she did to the picture of the pope. (Frank Sinatra said he wanted to punch her in the face!) While O’Connor was using the performance as a way to voice the problem of child abuse that was taking place within the church, her use of the pope as her target put all the attention on her and not to what she had intended it on.
I am a little confused as to the meaning behind your last comment in the blog, “To end back with the novel, it is sad to think that in cases of poverty, such as Veronica and Liam, little is done to prevent the issue.” From what I remember, Veronica was not poor. In fact, I remember reading a part of the book when Veronica goes to the store and is unsettled by the fact that she is able to buy whatever she wants. I was also wondering what you meant by “little is done to prevent the issue.” Are you talking about in the book or in general, and in what ways do you believe that little is being done to resolve the issue of poverty.
Hi Fay,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. I'm sorry I was a bit unclear with some of the things I was trying to say. I inferred that Nugent sexually abused his own sister because on page 35 he describes the room they grew up in and when she saw him, "she looked right through to his bones"
at the bottom of the page it says,
"That when he holds his penis in the night-time, it feels like her thin skin, always damp, never sweating. Because in those days, people used to be mixed up together in the most disgusting ways"
Maybe I'm reading into that way too much. Now that I read it over I think you are right. However, it stills disturbs me that he talks about his sister's breasts and his penis in the same passage.
Also, yes I do believe Veronica is wealthy now(Like I said I haven't finished the book so it is likely that my initial interpretations are wrong) but I think they were poor when she was young. If you read blog I really like how she describes that most of the character's in these novels do not desire materialistic things. So you are probably right by inferring that she doesn't like being wealthy.
What I meant by,
“To end back with the novel, it is sad to think that in cases of poverty, such as Veronica and Liam, little is done to prevent the issue.”
I was still talking about sexual abuse (sorry that was super unclear. The thoughts flow in my head but not on the paper) What I meant by that was in cases of poverty, usually sexual abuse goes unnoticed. I don't know why I just feel like that is typically the case. Does that make things more clear?
Thanks for your help!
NIcole,
ReplyDeleteYou know I love to read personal interpretations. I always think that it gives me a better idea about the person and not just the reading. Its a get to know you session without getting the chance to meet you. I also really like the effort you put into the background of your opinions and not just letting it be a simple 'I think" moment.
You cited that "Just recently, Pope Benedict XVI released an apology to the people of Ireland. The Pope said he was "truly sorry" for the harm done to Catholics who suffered "sinful and criminal" abuse at the hands of priests, brothers and nuns. He acknowledged the "serious mistakes" made by the clergy." and I'm curious where this was cited. I guess I just missed that announcement, but I also find it a little hard to believe the earnestness of an apology only offered due to current scandal. It makes a horrible impression and really does make them look more guilty. Serious how did they get away with claiming that they didn't know it was happening for so long... but now I'm rambling.
And I know all about misunderstandings of things said in type. Its probably the worst thing that happens when you're commenting about anything on the internet. Everything makes sense in your head, not so much when it comes out of your fingers.
WS
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI hadn’t gotten far enough in the book yet to know about the sexual abuse of Liam, but I had suspected it was something like that. I too read the passage,
“That when he holds his penis in the night-time, it feels like her thin skin, always damp, never sweating. Because in those days, people used to be mixed up together in the most disgusting ways"
You are not alone in thinking that this was a telling sign that Nugent had molested his sister. Like you said though, maybe I’m reading into this too much. No matter what the imagery is disgusting.
I also liked your comments about the “butterfly effect”. I’m a firm believer in the events that happen in your life go on to shape the rest of your experiences and the person you become. Personally, I’ve had some horrible things happen in my life that are probably too similar to this book than I would like to remember, but it has made me the independent, loving, and resilient person I am today. So I try to take the bad and think of it all as learning lessons, unfortunately not everyone is able to do this and move beyond what’s happened to them or their loved ones.
I also agree with your comments about the link between poverty and child abuse. It is such an unfortunate situation and so often people in that situation either don’t know differently (they were raised in a similar environment) or they just don’t have the tools and resources to help them change their behaviors. And because of the poverty these kids live in either the abuse goes un-noticed, or worse, ignored. Interesting points in your blog this week. Thanks.