Cal is a 19-year-old Irish living together with his father Shamie as the only Catholics in the whole estate. He is unemployed and usually spends his leisure by doing nothing. On account of the Protestant surrounding he lives rather reclusive. His shy and withdrawn character is also presented in his outer appearance (e.g. uses his hair as curtains). His behaviour is not very self-assured and it seems that he has psychological problems which you can see by his smoking. These are not only caused by the surrounding but also because of the situation in his family. When he was a boy of 8 years he lost his loved mother. A few years before his brother had died in a car accident in Baltimore. Living alone together with his father, they have to cope with many conflicts. On the one hand, Shamie is embarassed about the fact that Cal was not able to do the job at the abattoir. On the other hand, they are arguing because Cal wants to move away and his father wants to stay.
Cal’s gloomy, monotonous life begins to change with meeting Marcella Morton whom he finds very attractive. He is reminiscent of her because he is one member of the IRA who killed her husband, a Protestant Police Reserveman. He is fallen in love and often follows her and visits the library to meet her. Cal wants to get out of the IRA, is sick of doing the driver’s job but he cannot quit because he does not want to risk his father’s security. Despite of that the IRA gave Shamie a present, namely a gun, to protect themselves from the “rotten” Protestants. He would like to move to England in order to get a job but on account of these reasons he is unable to do that. So Cal is more and more drawn into the IRA.
He often misses his mother Gracie with whom he had a good relationship. Cal is longing for love and a person who tells him how to conduct his life. But by fooling around at home day by day, his ideals can not be fulfilled. He is frightened, has nightmares and is tortured because of his bad conscience concerning Marcella.
However he changes his mind and is full of energy and happines on account of the new job he has on the Mortons’ farm. Suddenly he feels useful, important and knows that he is needed. He even changes his opinion concerning moving. He wants to stay although three Protestants have beaten him up before and he could hardly escape. Work has a “cleansing effect” on him. He is praised and has the feeling that he is “something” and not an isolated outsider in society.
But soon Cal’s happiness is destroyed by a call from Crilly who wants him to drive again (p.49, l.19). He is sick of working for the IRA and indicates his feelings towards this organisation very plainly to Skeffngton whom he has met after the robbery in Magherafelt. However, Skeffington threatens Cal and intimidates him (p.57, l.10: “If you’re not part of the problem…”). At the beginning of his new work on the Mortons’ farm Cal also has difficulties with the worker Cyril Dunlop who is, from his point of view, a show-off, and just wants to show his being the boss. They have some arguments because Cyril is not satisfied with his work. Also, Cal is frustrated because his hopes of meeting Marcella on account of his work on the farm are not fulfilled (p.61, ll17-18: “Each time the yellow Anglia passed them on the road Cal’s frustration grew…”). Cal tries to impress Marcella by borrowing a highly intellectual book (p.64, ll21-23). After the house has burned down, he tries to calm Shamie and even takes away the gun, the present of the IRA and symbol of violence. Now he decides really to leave the IRA. He has a very detailled flashback of the murder of Robert Murder and feels like a murder who has to purge for his sins all life (p.78, ll 19-21).
Cal flees into the Mortons’ cottage illegally. Day by day he watches Marcella and feels atracted by her like the moon to the earth but he knows that they will never touch. Only his sin keeps him apart from Marcella. He is despaired about the hopelessness of the situation (p.81, ll 5-10). With his officially living in the cottage his relationship to Marcella gets more intense. While she is talking about her life, Cal refuses to talk about the past. When he gets Robert Morton’s clothes, he is deeply shocked and does not move. But he has to accept the clothes to be not revealed (p.89, ll 5-9). His friendship to Marcella grows but also his feelings of guilt distances himself more and more. He wants to confess but he is not able to. The exploding cow is a symbol of his hopes which will always be destroyed (p.106).
Cal is proud that Marcella gives him a lift to mess on Sunday and afterwards sends Lucy back to the farm in order to talk to him alone. On account of Mr Morton’s physical condition, the Mortons have to go to Belfast for a week. Making sure he is alone he goes into Marcella’s room and reads her diary. Cal is not able to stop his voyeurism. They have dinner together and talk about their feelings and their life. Afterwards Cal knows that he is accepted as a friend. A few days later Marcella visits him in the cottage and they make love. But at first Cal is impotent because he remembers Robert Morton all the time. Marcella is from his point of view a kind of a Sleeping Beauty. He knows that they can never be together but he is unable to prevent himself to near her. In order to buy Christmas presents he meets Crilly who takes him to Skeffington. At Skeffington’s house Cal plainly states his attitude towards the IRA. Skeffington calls him an informer (who he later becomes). He informs the police about the bombs in the library so his feelings towards Marcella win about his dependence to the IRA. He is lucky when the police arrests him because he does not bear living together with Marcella on account of his sin anymore. He is now ready to purge.
Marie
