1

Summary
Summary of chapter 1
In chapter 1 of Bernard Mac Laverty's Cal, we get our first information about the
protagonist Cal McCluskey. The story takes place in Northern Ireland not far from
Belfast. He and his father Shamie, who are both Catholics, live in an estate of
Protestants. His father has a job in an abattoir as a slaughter. Cal doesn't like to be in
the abattoir because of the smell there, which he can't stand. Cal himself tries to get in
contact with a woman called Marcella. He goes to the library where Marcella works
only to see her. Afterwards he gets the information from his father that her name is
Marcella Morton. Cal remembers what he and Crilly, an old school friend, did to her
husband one year ago. Cal has a guilty conscience because of that. In chapter 1, Cal
and his father Shamie get the second warning from the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force,
a militant Unionist group), but it is the first warning mentioned to the reader. The
warning says that they should move away as soon as possible otherwise they will be
burned out. But Shamie doesn't want to move, he even says: "No loyalist bastard is
going to force me out of my home. They can kill me first." This statement is typical of
Shamie and his cussedness. The chapter ends with Cal lying in his bed and dreaming
of a beautiful woman falling out of the window and he cannot prevent her fall.
Summary of chapter 2
In chapter 2 Cal goes to church where he can see Marcella, the woman he is obviously
very interested in. While the people are praying, Cal thinks about his relationship to
his mother during his childhood. After the service in church on his way to Clones in
the Republic or Ireland, where he wants to watch the Ulster football final, he
experiences a feeling of freedom, which he doesn't know from Protestant Ulster.
During a break in the game he meets Skeffington, who asks him about his dad and
Crilly. On the following days he often goes to the library, where Marcella works, with
only one intention: to see her beautiful smile. One day his father tells him that he
spoke to Pascal O'Hare, a friend of his. There are a couple of dead trees on O'Hare's
land which are in his way and Shamie bought them for next to nothing. Cal's dad asks
him to drive around with the van trying to sell the chunks of wood. Cal drives to
Morton's farm. There he gets in contact with old Mrs. Morton who buys the chunks of
wood from him on the condition that Cal is going to split them up for her. On the next
day Cal does it, hoping to see Marcella. When he is paid Mrs. Morton asks him
whether he's interested in having a job on the farm. So Cal starts working there,
helping to harvest the potatoes together with a lot of other people. After a couple of
days the potatoes have all been dug up but he's offered to work on the farm
permanently. During all these days Cal hasn't seen Marcella, but he gets to know
Dunlop, the Protestant foreman on the farm.
Summary of chapter 3
At the beginning of this chapter Cal tells his father about his new job at the Mortons'
farm where he helps his foreman Dunlop. Cal thinks it to be a topic he and his father
can talk about. Cal feels nervous because he gets the news that Crilly has asked for
him. Later he visits him. Crilly and Skeffington want Cal to drive the car when Crilly
robs a shop. Cal agrees but he makes sure that he only drives the car! He gets to
know Skeffington's father. Furthermore Cal and Skeffington are talking about Cal's
intention to leave the organization but Skeffington explains to him that he will be a
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part of the problem if he gets out. Later Cal goes into the library again where he meets
Marcella. They have a short conversation and Cal borrows a book. When he wants to
go home he sees their house burning. Cal is very afraid and nervous because he fears
his father might still be in the house. After a moment he sees him and both are very
happy. This night they sleep in the house of Cal's father's cousin. Cal asks his father to
do him a favour. He wants to leave his home and does not want his father to tell Crilly
about it. In chapter 3 there is also described how Crilly shot Marcella's husband one
year before. Cal was the driver of the car. Cal has got a guilty conscience and he
knows that this deed will take him the rest of his life to purge.
Summary of chapter 4
In chapter 4 Cal continues to live in the cottage. The only thing that is left to him is to
watch Marcella from the cottage. One night he observes her through the window,
although he knows that he could lose his job and the chance to be near her. Cal feels
sad and depressed because he remembers the thing he did one year ago to her husband
and that because of this he isn't allowed to love her.
In the same night the Army invades the cottage and orders Cal to follow them to the
Morton farm-house. Someone saw him lighting a cigarette, thought of another
terrorist attack and called the police.
Mrs. Morton allows him to live in the cottage, because they have to get it bricked up
if nobody lives there. Cal is happy and from this point on he gets closer to Marcella.
She often visits him and they talk a lot or have a cup of tea together. Moreover they
talk about the death of her husband and Cal even gets some of his clothes. Cal decides
to discipline himself and wants to stop smoking. He learns that Marcella feels
unhappy and that she wants to get out of the house. Cal always listens to her. One day
he visits his father who doesn't feel well. His father tells him that Skeffington has
been there. Later Marcella and Cal have a date to collect some blackberries,
accompanied by Marcella's daughter. They spend a nice afternoon together but at the
end they hear an explosion. Cal runs to the field where it took place and sees a dead
cow lying in the grass.
Summary of chapter 5
Marcella's mother-in-law is in Belfast for a week because there the old Mr. Mortonhas
to have another operation on his lungs. Thus, Cal and Marcella are alone in the
Mortons' house and they have the time to get to know each other more intimately.
Marcella invites Cal to dinner and they have a nice evening together. For the first time
Cal kisses Marcella. At first Marcella does not know if she is allowed to love Cal but
later her feelings are changing and they are spending nice days together.
But the wonderful time goes by when Cal meets Crilly. Crilly and Skeffington want to
blow up the library and they want Cal to help them.
Just when they are planning their project at Crilly's home the police arrives. After a
long chase Crilly and Skeffington are arrested by the police, Cal succeeds in escaping
and goes back to the cottage. But a few days later the police finds Cal in the cottage
and he is arrested.

1. General information
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Basic events
Cal is very important for some illegal jobs, because he can drive a car. When Cal finds a note
one day that says that they should move out of their home, otherwise they will be attacked.
Cal and Shamie live totally apart from each other, although or perhaps that's the reason for it
they live together in a small flat. Cal even fixed a bolt and Shamie did not like it. They don't
talk much to each other, so there is always a kind of tension between them, which is
comparable to the story Father and Son by MacLaverty. (Before the son says something to his
father he thinks about it if it fits or if he shouldn't mention that at all). It becomes obvious
when the cottage has been burned down and Shamie asks Cal several times with a voice full
of shock and worries if he is in trouble and wonders if Cal tells him everything. There is also
a touch of embarrassment in the atmosphere at the beginning. Shamie got him a job at first at
the same place where he works - in the abattoir. Later Cal had to give it up, he couldn't stand
the smell and got sick all the time. Certainly, Shamie became disappointed and embarrassed,
because after Cal Crilly got the job. Crilly isn't a good friend of them at all. Already in school
Crilly was like a boss and Cal had difficulties to be on his side. Now he is involved in crimes
above all he convinces Cal to do illegal things and to help him with doing attacks which are
ordered by Skeffington , a Catholic terrorist group's boss).
Their attitudes
The relationship between Cal and Shamie is not based on political attitudes, although they
both have an opinion about the situation in their country, but therefore their behaviour
depends on all the struggles they have to live through. Cal grew up in a world of civil war and
crimes. He experiences the system of unfairness all the time, and so he was raised to blame
the Protestants to be guilty of the political conflicts. That's why he doesn't fight back when he
gets involved in illegal affairs, but fights for Catholic rights. Shamie, his father, is an old
stubborn man whose principles are so strong that it seems to be impossible that he changes his
mind, he isn't interested in friendships with Protestants at all. He swears at them, but is also
famous and knows some Protestants, who like him, because in the text they say that he is a
good man.
Ending:
Shows that Cal cannot escape the violent world he lives in.
Shows that Cal as well as Marcella and her husband are victims of the hatred in Northern
Ireland Could you give examples of this?
Shows that Cals guilt and self-hatred are so strong that he seems almost happy to be
arrested at the end again give examples of this from throughout the book.
Setting:
Created through images of the painted kerbstones, the violence of the local youths, the
burning of the house.
Leads to Cals feelings of isolation and fear.
Leads to Cals involvement with the IRA which creates his feelings of guilt and selfhatred and his need for forgiveness.
The constant sense of violence images of abattoir, the cow etc.
Conflict:
Conflict between nationalist/IRA and loyalist/protestant paramilitaries.
Conflict between characters Cal and Crilly and Skeffington.
Cals inner conflict guilt, self-hatred, need for forgiveness.

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2. Characters
Character evaluation of Shamie:
-a decent character between abattoir and the gutterShamie Mc Cluskey is fighting to live his life. For me his story is a tragedy. He is
known as a good man (page 5, ll.19 ) but he is a Catholic. The way he lives seems to
keep him alive avoiding not to get crazy about his life. His first son died in a car crash
and he hadn't enough money for attending the funeral (page 27, ll.8 ). But that is not
enough, his wife died, too, and just because of being a Catholic the UVF wants to
burn down his home (page 21, ll.22). Any other man would get his stuff together and
move house, not Shamie, he stays( page 5, line 8 ): "No Loyalist bastard is going to
force me out of my home. They can kill me first."
In this passage he seems to be very strong but the troubles just broke him. On page 10
for example we get to know that in some way Shamie accepted the civil war because
he tells Cal to ignore the "Yahoos" outside (ll. 4 ).This is a good example of the
schizophrenia of Shamie. On the one hand he can't understand it and fights for his
honor for a little fairness in his life. He said that it caused him a lot of embarrassment
that Cal quit his job at the abattoir and therefore Crilly got it (page 13 ll.11). On the
other hand however, he seems to be desinterested and it seems that he has already
given up the fight. The case which broke him was the fire in his house (page 65).
Shamie believed that he would lose his second son, too, and he would be alone.This
experience was too much for him, he started to cry, maybe he cried for the first time
in his life on the street. After this occasion he can't go on, he isn't able work on, that's
why he spends so much time at his cousin's home just sitting in an armchair and
thinking about his life. During this time he gives his fight up, caused by the fact that
Cal, his last son, left him. Although Cal didn't die, it is really hard for Shamie,
because he left without giving an address to him. Shamie is the only one who tries to
live an honest life and to fight toughly through. He is the character with whom the
author shows the violence and the unfairness of war. This war makes even a good man
break down. Shamie's story shows that nobody with good principles can survive. On
page 12 Shamie says "Waste not, want not" (line 29). War makes takes away and
therfore it is a waste. If you want to have something for the future, a house, a car, the
war will makes everything uncertain and irrelivant, sometimes even your life. Shamie
still believes in goodness after all. That's why he breaks down and ends up in Gransha
(page 126 line 22).
Character evaluation of Cal:
When you start reading this story you get the impression that Cal is a bit introverted.
One reason for this assumption could be that Cal doesn't speak much at the beginning
of the story. A bit later you discover that Cal's mother died when he was 8 years old.
You realize that he misses his mother. One night he dreams of her. The dream deals
with him being afraid and her reassuring him. A situation like that shows us how
important a loving mother is, especially when you are depressed. It doesn't matter
how old you are. After having lost his mother Cal tries to find a kind of familysubstitute. This substitute "family" are his friends Crilly and Skeffington, perhaps
even the IRA, too. Because of becoming unemployed Cal has enough time. When he
is at Crilly's house, Crilly's mother often comes in to bring tea or something else.
Then Crilly and Skeffington seem to be annoyed but Cal is always nice to her and
friendly. He likes to be near women. Contacts with women are pleasant for him.
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Later in the story he sees Marcella for the first time. He admires her and falls in love
(See: Relationship Cal - Marcella). She is Cal's first love and the only person who is
able to bridge the distance between Cal and women. Cal finds a mother and later a
girlfriend in Marcella who is a widow and has a little daughter.
When they become lovers at the end of the story, Cal becomes a father figure for the
child.The whole story and the persons' feelings deal with gaining and losing. We also
learn that the family, surroundings and the political atmosphere influence his
character.
Relationship between Cal and Shamie:
Every day when Shamie comes home from work, Cal mostly prepared dinner so they
eat together. After his tiring working-day the father wants to relax, they watch the
news on TV together or sometimes discuss about politics. At the beginning of the
story Shamie becomes angry, because for him it seems that they separate from each
other more and more. After the fire-attack Cal moves out to take distance of daily
conflicts, starts working on a farm and because he fell in love with the widow who is
the wife of the man whom Cal assisted in killing he can't get rid of his guilty
conscience. It seems like Cal isolated himself very much and can't even talk to his
father correctly. As time goes by Shamie becomes mentally ill. Resulting from his
loneliness he sits in a chair in the flat of his cousin and later he has to be taken into a
mental hospital.
Differences between Cal and Shamie:
The relationship between Cal and Shamie is not based on political attitudes, although
they both have an opinion about the situation in their country, but therefore their
behaviour depends on all the struggles they have to live through. Cal grew up in a
world of civil war and crimes. He experiences the system of unfairness all the time,
and so he was raised to blame the Protestants to be guilty of the political conflicts.
That's why he doesn't fight back when he gets involved in illegal affairs, but fights for
Catholic rights. Shamie, his father, is an old stubborn man whose principles are so
strong that it seems to be impossible that he changes his mind, he isn't interested in
friendships with Protestants at all. He swears at them, but is also famous and knows
some Protestants, who like him, because in the text they say that he is a good man.
Characterization of Marcella
Marcella's family comes from Italy. She is small, dark-haired and she has brown eyes.
About five years before the beginning of the story, she married Robert Morton, a
Protestant from Ulster. Marcella herself is a Catholic. Since her husband was
murdered by militant Catholics, Marcella lives with her little daughter Lucy in the
farmhouse of her parents-in-law. Marcella is very beautiful and attractive. She works
in a library to get out of her boring life at home. She is discontent with her life
because she feels alone with her thoughts and problems. Here you can see that she is
very sensitive. Marcella has a good character. She wants to help other people and she
is very friendly to everyone. Sometimes she thinks that she doesn't behave like a good
widow should and so she feels guilty. She has got a lot of dreams about her future and
when Cal comes into her life she finally finds a good friend to talk to. Later she even
falls in love with him but she is afraid of what other people could say about their agedifference.

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Relationship Cal - Marcella

The relationship between Cal and Marcella begins at that moment when Cal sees
Marcella for the first time. She works in the library and he is instantly fascinated by
her. At this moment he still doesn't know who she is, but the reader feels that
something must have happened in the past, because Cal is frightened when he hears
her name. Up to this point he tries to come closer to her, so he goes to the library to
see her and he talks to her whenever it is possible, but she doesn't notice him. The first
time she notices him is when he carries her groceries for her. She thanks him and then
she goes away. When he begins working on the farm of the Mortons', he has the
opportunity to get closer to Marcella. But here it also ends in short conversations.
After his house burned down he is forced to live in a cottage at the Mortons' farm.
Now Marcella helps him to fix up the cottage and they spend some time together.
Cal wishes for a real relationship, but he thinks of the past and he gets a guilty
conscience. So he has no hope because of what he did.
One day she invites him for dinner and there he takes all his courage and kisses her.
After trying to kiss her she turns him down and explains that she only likes him as a
friend. In spite of that, the reader gets the impression that she secretely longs for a
love-affair. On the other side, she seems to be unsure because of the difference of their
ages and she also feels engaged to her husband's family.
In chapter 5 their secret wish comes true and they spend some days happily together.
This book has, like many others, no happy end and so Cal has to leave Marcella.
Because of his criminal past, he is arrested by the police. But before that, he decided
to write her in a letter that he is responsible of her husband's death.
Characterization of Finbar Skeffington
Finbar is described as a teacher and a fanatical IRA member. He's dreaming of
becoming a hero of the civil war for freedom and in the war against alcohol (see page
16, l. 18: He wears a Pioneer Total Abstinence Pin). He is a small man with short legs
and rabbit-teeth (page 16, ll.19). Finbar can be seen as a preacher, a preacher of war.
He likes to convince people of his ideals and his ideals are violence, hatred and the
principles of the Old Testament. (His father was injured in a car accident and he kneecapped the boy who drove the car with an abattoir captive bolt, cf. page 128-129). A
good example of this is given ob page 55. The preacher Skeffington tells stories about
the vices and the decays of rotten people who are mostly alcoholics. He does it to
confess his attitude towards alcohol and, in a decent way, the hopeless fight for a free
Ireland. But on the other hand he tries to confess his auditory about the easy fight with
another story about his time as a teacher (see page 55, ll. 29 f.): "It's all the boys at the
runt-end of the class who are going to end up in the Army. The idiots, the psychopaths
- the one class of people who shouldn't be given a gun." With the last part of his
speech he even doubts the ability and faculty of the soldiers. But to talk about soldiers
and their abilities towards guns isn't very smashing so he changes to the alcoholic
problem, real preacherlike. The second symbol of his attitude of superiority is his
behaviour towards his father (see page 56, ll. 12 f.). He is always there to give a
helping hand and he is open to support poor people (see page 54, ll. 25 - 37). It seems
that Skeffington only accepts one part of his confession : he truly believes in charity,
but he also believes in the movement (the IRA), and for that he accepts violence and
murders.
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Characterization of Crilly
Crilly works in the abattoir in which Shamie, Cal's father, works too, and he does his
job well. He belongs to the Catholic people in Northern Ireland.
Cal and Crilly were in the same class at school. Even then Crilly was a big lad for his
age with "ears like taxi-doors". If he wanted to he could be very nasty and wicked. So
everybody was careful and wanted to be on the right side of him. Crilly is very violent
and has no compunctions about doing something bad to others (e.g. breaking
someone's leg or killing someone).
Even the authorities notice Crilly's engagement to get things done. So Crilly is a
perfect member of the IRA. Others convince him of doing the right thing when he
helps keeping "the Brits" out of Ireland. He is not afraid of killing someone. In his
opinion "it has to be done by someone" and "orders is orders". E.g. he killed a policeman but he didn't even know the man. Crilly only got the order to kill him and so he
carried out that order. Someone gives him orders, in this case it is Skeffington, and
Crilly carries them out. Crilly obeys the orders and doesn't really think about what he
does.
Relation between Cal and Crilly and Skeffington
They all are really militant members of the IRA. They want to fight against everything
that's part of the government, the 'Brits" or the Protestants. That shows that they don't
accept the whole system in Northern Ireland. They don't have any sort of guilty
conscience about using violence.

Cal knows Crilly from school. One year they were together in class. Crilly is a person
everyone is afraid of. He can be very nasty if he wants to. In school he had a number
of boys whom he had picked to borrow money from. Crilly said that they would get
their money back but they never got it back. If they asked for it he would beat the
pupils up. Cal would never do things like these. He thinks that Crilly hasn't the right
to hurt people. No one has the right to hurt somebody. Cal has to be careful all the
time because he and his father are the only Catholics left in their neighbourhood and
their neighbours want them to go away. Because of this Crilly and Skeffington are
able to convince him to drive the car for them when they commit a crime. They are
threatening Cal so that he is afraid of what can happen to him if he won't obey.
At the end of the story Marcella falls in love with Cal and both become lovers until
finally the police arrest him.

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3. Themes
The theme guilt:
Cal's feelings of guilt
In the whole book Cal is presented as an honest person but there are always illegal
things he does. The first illegal action is that he and Crilly beat up a younger boy in
school. As to be seen on pg 15 in line 15 Cal is nervous and normally doesn't really
want to do it but does it because of his "friend" Crilly. Afterwards he has a guilty
conscience because it was two against one younger boy. Cal is shown as a person who
is really decent but because of his friends he is sometimes involved in crimes. Another
example is that Skeffington and Crilly want Cal to be the driver for a crime. Cal says
he wants out (pg 18, line 5) because of his guilty conscience concerning the cruel
thing he did with Crilly: They killed Robert Morton. Cal sees Marcella Morton, his
widow, everyday because she works in the library. Cal can't stand it because she
reminds him of the event all the time. But Skeffington and Crilly persuade him so that
he drives a last time and then wants out.
The reader is confronted with Cal's guilty conscience almost all the time because
everywhere Cal goes and everything he does reminds him of the death of Robert
Morton and makes him feel guilty. On page 31 in line 2 Cal is in the church and prays.
After a while his prayers only consists of "telling him how vile he was" . It seems that
Cal wants to undo everything and that he knows that he isn't able to do that. This
makes him mad. Another example of this is to be found on pg 33, line 11: "But the
thing he had done was now a background to his life, permanently there, like the hiss
that echoed from the event which began the Universe". Cal wants to shake off his
conscience and all the things he did, but he can't. So he tells Crilly another time that
he wants out but again Crilly talks him into participating so that Cal is the driver as
before. He drives Crilly to Magherafelt where Crilly lifts a shop. Cal doesn't like the
whole thing and is really nervous because he is afraid that people get hurt or even get
killed pg 53, line 15: "Jesus, I thought you'd killed them.".Almost a year after the
death of Robert, Cal remembers every minute of that evening. It seems to hurt him
because thinking back of the crime makes it real and brings it back to his mind. Now
that he has met Marcella and fell in love with her he thinks about telling her the truth.
As to be seen on pg 79 in line 26 "..., he knew that, because of what he had done,
they could never come together." he is afraid that Marcella could hate him. Marcella
and Cal spend some time together but although Cal feels guilty he doesn't say a word
about what he did. One day they pick blackberries together and talk about bad things
they did in the past. Marcella tells him about a boy she should have had a date with
but whom she stood up. Then she asks Cal whether he has ever done anything really
bad (pg 105, line 17) but Cal does't tell her about it. He only mentions that he beat up
a younger boy. It seems that Cal tries to start a new life for Marcella because when
meeting Crilly in the library, Cal tells him that he wants out and although Crilly tries
to persuade him, Cal says that he is not interested any more (pg 128, line 4) and that
he "feels bad about what he was doing" and that it was against his conscience" (pg
130, line 32). Cal goes back to Marcella and wants to tell her everything (pg 134, line
7 to line 10) but he doesn't. They make love and Cal feels guilty again as Marcella
falls asleep beside him (pg 135, line 20). He feels worse because she shows trust
although she doesn't know what Cal has done to her husband. Cal thinks of writing
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Marcella to explain her everything but he hasn't got the chance to do that because on
Christmas Eve he is arrested by the police. Cal's guilty conscience wasn't able to win
against him in spite of the fact that it seemed to make him mad.
Cals guilt:

Involved in the murder of Marcellas husband

Leads to feelings of guilt and self-hatred
Leads to his need for forgiveness which is why he becomes obsessed with Marcella
His guilty past eventually catches up with and Cal is almost relieved as he feels like he
deserves punishment
The novel shows how guilt can cause a person to behave in a certain way self-hating,
seeking forgiveness/redemption.

Marcellas feelings of quilt in terms of her relationship to her husband and her
attitude towards Cal
Marcella hadn't a good relationship to her husband Robert, because the last years of
his life there didn't really exist a special and typical deep love to him. Perhaps she lost
the confidence in her husband, because of what he had mentally done to her. He made
her feel that he didn't really love her and that he wasn't interested in her feelings and
her body anymore (p.124). She thought that he had only sex "with some creatures of
his imagination", because he didn't make her realize it was her. In her opinion a
marriage must be a mixture of friendship and desire, but the friendship had gone out
of their relationship a long time ago and Robert's lust was only for someone inside his
head. Shortly before his death he started to tell lies, to drink, to have two or three
affairs and spent the money wherever he wanted to. Marcella she used the marriage to
keep the comfort of being held, but she distanced herself from Robert (p.124). These
negative experiences came to her mind at the end of his life, when she was frustrated
and felt inferior, because at the beginning of their relationship they started a love
affair on a difficult foundation. Although she was a Catholic woman and Robert a
Protestant man, they decided to start alife together, not to think about the devastating
results which might follow. However she can't forgive him his bad behaviour and her
inferior position in their marriage. Her experiences of her past are positive for Cal to
have a future with her, because Cal is the opposite to Robert. He's a young man, who
makes her feel younger when they are having fun together (p.101). So they are able to
build up a good and deep relationship, which seemed not to be able to exist, because
she is a widow with main problems and he is a boy nearly without (p.101). In that
way she tries to do the sensible thing for both of them, because nobody should get
hurt and regret it later on. Their friendship shouldn't be destroyed by a short love
affair. This signals the intensity of their relationship and the feelings which shouldn't
stop (p.117). It also symbolizes that she still feels guilty about Robert and perhaps
about their destroyed marriage. All in all Cal is a real friend to her and she feels awful
about hurting him. In many aspects of their short love affair she's superior and Cal
seems to depend on her mentally (p.124; l.9:" Don't love like that again. It is not
you!" "Sorry", he said.). Each time when he tries to receive an answer to the question
whether she loves him or not, she just says that she needs more time. This symbolizes
that there is always a distance left between Marcella and Cal. In the end, they spend a
nice time together and she loves him in some ways, even though it's always a love
with no future and equality.

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4. Quotes
Central Concerns: the effect of sectarianism/discrimination/hate on the individual and
guilt (these are also connected)

Explanation of quotes:
The next morning, Christmas Eve, almost as if he expected it, the police arrived to arrest
him and he stood in a dead-mans Y-fronts listening to the charge, grateful that at last
someone was going to beat him to within an inch of his life

In context:
Theme 1
Theme 2
Character:

This is the last paragraph of the novel. Crilly and Skeffington will have
informed the police of Cals involvement in Robert Mortons murder
(in revenge for informing on them for the bomb in the library).
he has been drawn into violence and is now in trouble.
he is grateful which seems ironic - but we know that CAL had
difficulty dealing with his guilt.
This is a final pathetic image of Cal. He is wearing the underwear of
his victim. You can see how this would appear to Marcella and the
police. We, the readers, understand that he does feel remorse for his
involvement but it look as if he has capitalized on the murder by
moving in on a vulnerable widow.

And they made love in an absolute and intense silence

In context:
Theme:
Character:

Just before his arrest the following morning.

This shows that Cal and Marcella can be together but only when
things are left unsaid. If he confesses, or the truth is known, their
relationship is over.
Throughout, Cal struggles to articulate his thoughts and feelings.
Because of MacLavertys narrative stance (third person, but from Cals
point of view), the reader knows what is in Cals mind even though
no other character in the novel has that privilege.

He wanted to share his guilt with the person he had wronged. To commune with her and be
forgiven p143

In context:
Theme:
Character

we are told this just after Cal has realised that Marcellas marriage to
Robert Morton was not completely happy.
This is the closest he comes to confessing the reader suspects he may
then he says: I would like another drink. The potential climax of a
confession is an anticlimax of silence.
Cal is inarticulate therefore cannot be forgiven.

Sometimes in her presence he felt like Quasimodo as if the ugliness he had done showed in
his face. The brand in the middle of his forehead would never disappear and seemed to throb
when she was near.

In context:
Theme

This is just before he goes into her room and violates her personal
possessions.
brand His guilt is permanent it marks him out. He feels as if his guilt
is visible to others. Compares himself with Quasimodo deformed and
outcast.

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Character

It seems ironic that the nearer he is to Marcella the more he is aware

of his guilt. The more it is tangible throbs. And still he is drawn to
her. This shows the root of his confusion between guilt and love.
The chapter ends with a romantic moment ruined. Marcella and Cal are friendly the
air is ripped apart by an explosion - - It was half a cow- udders, hindquarters with
muscles red-raw and still jigging chapter 4

Explanation:
This quotes links in with the imagery of the abattoir. Death and violence in N.I. were
random, sudden and sickening. For Cal, we know that the death of animals reminds
him of Robert Mortons animal roar when he died. The cow in this quote was
destroyed suddenly and without warning.
Theme:
Random acts of violence and Senselessness.
The happier Cal felt, the sadder he became. He wanted to confess to her, to weep and be
forgiven. He saw the scene in his mind of her holding him, comforting him; he saw the scene
as he knew it would be in reality and it horrified him.

Theme:

As they get closer Cal is faced with a dilemma about confession. He

needs to, but cannot. This is Cals main problem concerning his guilt.

The minute Cal saw his father, he know there had been a terrible change in him. The
man had aged twenty years in a couple of weeks.
Theme:
Sectarianism affects Shamie by breaking his spirit and driving him into
a depression.
He got a sense of a new life, a new start now that he had officially moved into the
cottage, He would discipline himself. He felt a surge of power to direct his life into
whatever path he wanted. Page 106
In context:
This could have been a turning point for Cal. He gets away from the
oppression in his neighbourhood. He has a job and a new home.
Setting:
of all the places to go to, he chooses to go to the scene of the crime.
Character:
Cal does not manage to change because of his previous expereinces
with the mentioned themes.
He got the feeling that the house was the earth and the cottage the moon orbiting
it. - - Although she was light years away from him, he felt the enormous pull of her.
And yet, like the moon and the earth, he knew that, because of what he had done they
could never come together. His sin kept them apart as surely as cold space.
In context:
This is cosmic imagery. The house like the earth is where she is
and the image associates her with life and purpose. He is
isolated in the cottage as lonely a place as the moon. He will
always orbit her go round and round at a distance never able
to touch. There is too much space to cover this distance was
created through his actions.
Theme:
His guilt has isolated him. The distance between them seems
irreversible.
Character:
He is obsessed bound to her permanently and separate from
her.This was when he was living there secretly. As we know, he
does make surprising progress towards her, as she allows and
encourages him, unaware of the cold space created by his
actions during the murder of her husband.
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Straight after the murder, Cal is already haunted by what he saw:

He saw the man genuflect again, his heel coming away from his slipper, the
astonishment in his eyes. Marcella.
Cal is reliving the incident, seeing the suddenness of the murder from RMs
perspective. He relives this moment several times in the book, particularly when he is
being intimate with Marcella. Her name seems to resonate with this memory, as that is
what he shouted as he died.
This echoes the opening of the novel when Cal first hears her name, it is not until
chapter three that we see the murder, and understand his reaction to hearing her name.
Mar-cell-a.
It was an animal roar.
This is the moment of the murder. You now sees why Cal cannot stomach the abattoir
as the animals in the novel symbolise the people and the people are described in terms
of animals (roar / brand stamped).
P78 Suddenly Cal thought of a place. If he stayed there it might save a lot of
problems.
Once he has been burned out of his home, he decides to move to the farm.
Theme sectarianism: He has had to move because he as suffered some sectarian
violence.
Theme guilt:
This allows him to follow his obsession.
The move to the cottage is a TURNING POINT in the novel.
Because he moves there: relationship with Marcella possible. Freedom from Crily /
Skeffington. Increases intensity of guilt.
p74The gun. Theyll find it afterwards
When they are burned out, they worry that the gun Crilly gave them will be found.
Theme:
Sectarianism that people are so afraid that they are drawn into
protection and therefore compromised. Crilly used their house as a safe house for
storage.
If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
Crilly warns Cal that his desire to be out of extremist activities is not acceptable.
Theme:
Sectarianism
Oh, big Crilly says youve to call down after tea. pg55
At the start of chapter 3, Cal is in a good mood having accepted work at Mortons
farm. His mood is soured when his father says this. (Sectarianism / guilt)
Cal kicked hard with his boots It was all in his head. Pain was for later. His fear
had become a kind of anaesthetic Chapter 2.
This is an incident when Cal suffers sectarian violence. He is so afraid, he cannot feel
what is happening.
He knew the road, had travelled it many times in his mind, hating every twist and
turn of it.P40

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Theme:
Guilt this is when he is on the way to sell wood at Mortons farm
we know he has an obsession with the route but at this point we are uncertain.
Your wanting to withdraw, Cahal, would make things very awkward.
Theme:
Sectarianism, Cal wants out, but Crilly and Skeffington are pressuring.
him to remain active for the cause.
If it was all to start again he would have to face up to Crilly; tell him he wanted
nothing more to do with it. It was Crilly who was largely responsible for Cals
stomach having felt like a washboard over the past year Page 15
Even although they are friends and on the same side, Crillly works against Cal. Cal
blames Crilly for his involvement with sectarianism.
He knew the sweet, warm nauseating smell of the place and he had had no
breakfast At intervals the crack of the humane killer echoed round the glass roof.
Queuing beasts bellowed in the distance as if they knew.
It is not initially apparent to the reader that this is a symbolic setting. It is only later,
when we have heard RM yell his wifes name like an animal that we associate Cals
response to the abattoir with his feelings towards the wider setting

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5. Summary of the main historical events:

4th century BC
432
1014
1066
1169

Celts settled in Ireland; high level in the fine arts and music
Romans conquered England but not Ireland
Ireland defeated Norsemen aggressors
local warlords maintained their power
Irish warlord invited help from an English Earl
1171 Royal English Army invaded Ireland; small part
around Dublin under English control; Henry II becomes
Lord of Ireland
After the Norman Invasion in 1170, Henry II of England attached Ireland to his
kingdom by establishing control in an area around Dublin. The Irish adopted English
administrative practices and the English language while receiving protection and
leadership from London. The British tried to extend their domination on the rest of
Ireland, but did not succeed until the sixteenth century. For the Irish population
England therefore became a threat for Ireland.
16th century England settled Protestants from Scotland in Ulster on the best land

In 1609, under the reign of Queen Elizabeth, England controlled Ireland, with the
exception of the provinces of Ulster. They had built an effective alliance against the
British Kingdom and their Army. After long fights Ulster was brought under English
control and the leaders of Ireland left Ulster for Europe. By 1703, barely 5% of Ulster
was in the hands of Catholic Irish. The native Irishmen were then excluded from the
towns and had to settle in the mountains and bogs on the margins of the land they had
owned. The plantation of Ulster was the beginning of a new culture in Ireland with
different languages and several foreign communities. Mainly, two hostile groups
occupied the region. That's why the situation then could be called the beginning of the
conflicts today.
1650 Oliver Cromwell invaded Ireland; population nearly halfed within 10
years; Irish shipped to America
1801 Ireland under British control; Irish language forbidden;
In 1801, Westminster abolished the Irish parliament and government to gain more
direct control over the Irish. The Act of Union created the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland. During the next century movements were attempted to overthrow
the Union. Some of these movements were parliamentary, some of them took place
with physical force.
1845 ff. Great Famine; more than 1.000.000 people immigrated to the US
1916 Easter Rising in Dublin
During the Easter week of 1916 an armed rising was attempted, but did not succeed.
The leaders were executed which created a wave of sympathy for the IRA and Sinn
Fein.
In 1918, Sinn Fein replaced the old Irish Parliament and established its own Irish
Parliament. The resulting Anglo-Irish War between Republicans (IRA) and Britain
was ended by peace treaties. From then on, Ulster Protestants succeeded in their
position to exclude Northern Ireland (Ulster) from the Home Rule arrangements.The
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Government of Irish Act recognised and confirmed their suggestion by partitioning the
island.
The following Civil War in 1921 saw two positions. Those, who were willing to
accept the treaty and those, who thought that living in Northern Ireland was a
betrayal. Northern Ireland consisted of six county administrations which could be
easily held by the British Union.
For the security of Northern Ireland, the British MPs established a police force and a
police reserve to prevent the Irish from beginning another civil war.
1949 Republic of Ireland (Eire) founded; Ulster remained British
Civil Rights Movement after 1969
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was founded in 1967 to demand liberal
reforms including a policy change of the discrimination in the allocation of jobs and
houses. The resulting civil disorder could not be managed by the local administration,
therefore the British government sent in troops to enforce order and imposed Direct
Rule on Northern Ireland.
Around 1969-70 the militant fights between the IRA and the British Forces started,
reaching a sad top in 1972 with 468 people killed.
On January the 30th 1972, the British Army's first Parachute Regiment opened fire on
unarmed civilian demonstrators in Derry, killing 13 of them. This day is also known
as Bloody Sunday. It still is one of the key-events of 'The Troubles' which actually
were rather a civil war.
Peace Talks & The Agreement
It took another 22 years on the long road to the talks table until the first Ceasefire
Declaration on August 31st, 1994 was announced by the IRA. This marked the
beginning of the Peace Process which in April 1998 resulted in an "Agreement
covering civil rights issues and relationships".
The next months will show, whether this agreement can be put into practise despite
the neglecting attitude of fringe groups on both sides. The old thinking still prevails
with people like Ian Paisley and his Ulster Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), cf. their
statement "10 ways in which the Union is fundamentally weakened"
The Main Parties
Unionists:
Unionists are the successors of those who opposed Home Rule in the 19th century.
The two main parties are:
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) with party leader David Trimble.
The UUP formed the government from 1921-1972. The UUP is rather unwilling to
share the executive power with non-Unionists parties and is opposed to the
involvement of the Irish Republic in Northern Ireland.
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) with its party leader Ian Paisley.
The DUP holds all positions much more extremely than the UUP. Ian Paisley,
Reverend of a Free Presbyterian Church in Belfast, is an absolute opponent of the
Catholic church.
Nationalists:

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The main party of the Nationalists is the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SLDP),
led by John Hume. The main aim of the Nationalists is to unite Northern Ireland with
the Republic of Ireland.
The Paramilitary Organisations
"The republican paramilitary organisations, of which the IRA is by far the most
important, believe that only force will remove the British from Ireland. Initially they
saw themselves as defenders of the Northern Catholic minority, but later spread their
military activities throughout Northern Ireland, Britain and Europe. There is
disagreement about whether loyalist violence is essentially reactive, but certainly the
pattern of loyalist violence has shadowed republican violence. There has been a major
shift in the form of violence since 1990, with loyalists for the first time killing more
victims than republicans. It has been speculated that this rise in loyalist violence may
be connected to the failure of recent political talks."
Skeffington on Bloody Sunday in "Cal"

In chapter 3 Cal talks with Crilly and Skeffington as he

wants "out". Skeffington refers to different events in the
Irish history, trying to change Cal's intention:
"I know what you're thinking. But I was in Derry that day.
They had us cowering behind a wall. There was an old man
lying in the open. In the rush one of his shoes had come off
and was lying on its side. There was a big hole in the heel of
his sock. Can you believe that? Will that be recorded in the
history books? I could hear him dying, Cahal, I could see
the blood running out of him over the paving stones. Then a
priest came, waving a white hanky, and gave him the Last
Rites." Skeffington continued to stare at Cal as he talked.
His bottom lip dropped, showing his lower teeth. Cal looked
away but heard him say, "And we were all Irishmen living
in our own country. They were the trespassers."
from: Bernard MacLaverty, Cal
What happened?
On Sunday, January 30th, 1972 there was a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
march against internment in Derry (or Londonderry?). The march left from Creggan
towards the Bogside area of the city. Most of the marchers followed the organisers
introductions and turned right into Rossville Street to hold a meeting at 'Free Derry
Corner'. However a section of the crowd continued along William Street to the British
Army barricade. A riot developed. Later, away from the riot and also out of sight of
the meeting, soldiers in a derelict building opened fire.
At the same time Paratroopers requested permission to begin an arrest operation. An
order was given for a 'sub unit' of the 1st Battilion Parachute Regiment to move into
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William Street to begin an arrest operation specifically stated that the soldiers were
"not to conduct running battle down Rossville Street". The soldiers of Support
Company were under the command of Ted Loden, then a Major in the Parachute
Regiment (and were the only soldiers to fire at the crowd from street level). Then
soldiers of the Support Company of the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment began to
open fire on the marchers in the Rossville Street area. The shooting ended with 13
people dead and a further 14 injured from gunshots.
Don Mullan, eyewitness to the events, remembers 'Bloody Sunday' in the book: "A
boy on Bloody Sunday", Mullan was 15 years old when he witnessed Bloody Sunday.
It was the first Civil Rights demonstration that he had ever taken part in and he had
never expected it to become such a riot "which would leave 13 civilians dead, 14
wounded, a community deep in shock and a nation in turmoil."

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6. Biography Bernard Mac Laverty

He was born in 1942 in Belfast. On leaving school (A-levels in English and
Chemistry) he worked as a laboratory technician in the anatomy department at
Queen's University, Belfast. When he was 28 he left that job to become student of
English Literature at Queen's University where he graduated and also gained a
teaching qualification. He moved to Scotland where he taught at various schools in
Edinburgh and Glasgow until 1981 when he gave up teaching in order to write full
time. MacLaverty began to write at the age of 19, as something to do "after the dot
disappeared on the TV set." His breakthrough came in 1977 with a collection of short
stories: "Secrets and Other Stories". Love and family matters, particularly the fatherson-relationship, are a central topic in MacLaverty's writing. His own father died
when he was only 12. He lived for some time on the Isle of Islay, but has now
returned to Glasgow. He is married with four children.
His first collection of stories, Secrets and Other Stories (1977) won the
Scottish Arts Council Book Award. In 1980 his first novel Lamb was published. It
won the Scottish Arts Council book Award and was runner-up for The Guardian
Fiction Award. Lamb has also been made into a film by Channel 4. In 1980 My Dear
Palestrina, a short story, was adapted for both TV and radio. It won the Pharic
MacLaren Special BBC Award and was runner-up for the Pye Radio Award. The story
presents a view of Ulster Catholic bigotry and offers background information about
the peculiarly venomous character of Northern Ireland politics.This story and others
were published in 1982 in A Time To Dance, which again won the Scottish Arts
Council Book Award. A second novel Cal (1983) was made into a major film, starring
Helen Mirran and John Lynch and produced by David Putman. It won the Evening
Standard Film Award. Two short story collections followed, The Great Profundo
(1987) and Walking the Dog (1994). Grace Notes (1997) is his first novel in 14 years
and is shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
"Bernard Mac Laverty's work has been consistently well reviewed. The Spectator said
of Cal: 'Mr Mac Laverty describes the sad, straitened, passionate lives of his
characters with tremendously moving skill'; the New Statesman commented of Lamb
that 'It has the gently quickening pace of a the best thrillers and the remorselessness of
tragedy'; and reviewing The Great Profundo in the Daily Telegraph Kenneth McLeish
described it as 'The sort of writing, you feel, that fiction was invented for.' "

7. Practise
Exercise 1 - - A mindmap
Cal has many problems. Many of Cals problems are interlinked
Produce a mind map of Cals problems. On the lines between the problems, say how
they are linked.
Exercise 2 - Describe how Maclaverty wants the reader to feel about Cal, in relation to these
problems: Unemployment - - bad friends - - guilt - - obsession - - living as a minority
- - difficulties with communicating, ............? Support your answers with
arguments, quotes and examples!
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Highlight important information in your notes, ppts and studyguide to prepare for the
test. Be able to discuss them in class.

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