We know it sounds crazy, but for a smart kid with absent parents in old-timey Dublin, learning about "how complex and mysterious were certain institutions of the Church" (The Sisters.29) might be sort of fun.
Is this a little much for a prepubescent possible orphan? Maybe.Īfter this revelation, the boy remembers his relationship with the priest, which is sort of halfway between teacher and friend. What this tells us is that our narrator is attuned to events (like the priest's death), and to his reactions to those events (feeling free), and even his reaction to those reactions (being annoyed). Shouldn't he be a bit more bummed? And when he's not, not only does he "discover" something about himself, he's "annoyed" to have that discovery. I found it strange that neither I nor the day seemed in a mourning mood and I felt even annoyed at discovering in myself a sensation of freedom as if I had been freed from something by his death. The next day, our narrator thinks a bit more about his old friend's death: It's a major role reversal and it gives us a vague idea that there really is something wrong with the boy's relationship to the priest after all. He dreams that priest is confessing his sins to the boy. His dreams don't help to bolster his side of the story. The narrator holds his tongue again and goes to bed. To be honest, Shmoop thinks he has a point. But dinner just goes downhill from there, and things get really bad when Old Cotter says that his relationship with the paralyzed priest might not have been so hunky-dory: he thinks boys his age should play sports, not sit in dark rooms with old men. He's a smart kid, though, and his first response is to "continue eating as if the news had not interested me" (The Sisters.12). He's not exactly supportive when he deals the blow.Īnd the worst part is that he knows everyone's going to be watching him for a reaction now. It's bad enough that his fears come true, and the priest dies, but what really stinks about the whole shebang it is that Old Cotter, an annoying family friend, breaks the news to him. So much that he walks by the house every night to see if there's been any change.
Bad News from a Bad MessengerĪt the very beginning of the story, the boy knows that the priest is going to die soon, and he's been way worried about it. It's all a little strange, but we'll figure it out. We learn about his thoughts about his-let's call it like we see it- weird relationship with a priest who has just died. What the story does dig into is the boy's inner world. We also don't know why he lives with his aunt and uncle, but that's how his cookie crumbled, so there's no use digging into it. We don't know exactly how old he is, but our narrator's old enough to resent being called a "child" by Old Cotter. Characters in "The Sisters" The Unnamed Narrator
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