Quotes
It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the Queen of France, then the Dauphiness, at Versailles.
This is Gar Public, the public side of Gar O' Donnell, the side that people get to see, hear, and talk about. Gar's about to emigrate to the United States—to Philadelphia, to be precise. Gar has a very strained relationship with his father, little better than that between a boss and his employee. It's not surprising, then, that Gar should seek to establish some kind of mythical connection with the mother he never knew.
The above quotation comes from the Irish philosopher and statesman Edmund Burke, who was referring to Marie Antoinette. Gar's idealizing his mother in much the same way as Burke did with the Queen of France. He does this to expel unpleasant thoughts from his mind and to escape from a fraught relationship with his father by retreating into a fantasized past.
And when you think of a bugger like that, you want to get down on your knees and thank God for aul Screwballs.
At the same time, Gar does want to have a better relationship with his father, or "Screwballs," to use the less than complimentary nickname used for him. Thankfully, this task is made somewhat easier by the fact that Gar Private—the private side of Gar O'Donnell—absolutely despises the snobbish Senator Doogan for breaking up his relationship with the Senator's daughter. Gar may not have the best relationship in the world with his father, but at least he's not that "bugger" Senator Doolan.
It must have been near daybreak when he got to sleep last night. I could hear the bed creaking.
The above quote is Madge Mulhern referring to Gar's father, S. B. ("Screwballs"). It indicates that, despite his estranged relationship with his son, he does still harbor some concerns about Gar's imminent departure for America. The fact that S. B. only managed to get to sleep around daybreak suggests that he's been lying awake in bed worrying about his son's forthcoming emigration.
You'll never regret it. I gather it's a vast restless place that doesn't give a curse about the past; and that's the way things should be. Impermanence and anonymity—it offers great attractions.
But if Gar's old man is worried about the big move across the Atlantic, the drunken schoolteacher Master Boyle certainly isn't. He holds out the prospect of Gar being able to make a fresh start in the Land of Opportunity, to forget all about the past and forge a whole new identity for himself. The fantasy of a mythical connection with a mother he never knew can be replaced by the reality of a new life in a new country. This is Gar's true means of escape from his life.
This place would drive anybody crazy! . . . it's a bloody quagmire, a backwater, a dead-end! And everybody in it goes crazy sooner or later! . . . To hell with Ballybeg, that's what I say!
Gar doesn't need to be reminded of why he's emigrating to America in the first place. Whatever his private reservations may be, there's no doubting that he cordially loathes Ballybeg. It's a one-horse town without any hope for the future. By reminding himself of just how dreadful the place really is, Gar's trying to overcome his nagging doubts about the wisdom of his imminent departure.
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