A Cultural Study of Storytelling in Ireland as Seen in Reading in the Dark
Reading in the Dark
 "Reading in the Dark " is a story about stories. Seamus Deane delivers artful prose
and flowing narratives that capture your attention and take you on a journey
through post occupied Ireland and the trauma and crisis of such a time. I am
going to focus this paper on the stories he presents throughout the novel. These
stories involve ghosts, policemen, informers, exorcisms, IRA skirmishes and
magic disappearances. Each of these stories have some sort of symbolism or moral
to them and a very specific purpose to be included in the novel.
Each story brings the unnamed narrator closer to finding the truth of his own
family story. He has a “sense that his own family’s story remains unsatisfyingly
incomplete.” (O’Hehir) An obvious connection is made between this decaying
family and the political situation in Northern Ireland at the time. There are so
many secrets trying to escape, so many untold stories and so many people who are
being haunted by events that occurred or people that have gone missing.
According to the senior editor at Spin, “Seamus Deane understands that Ireland's
endless ability to spin stories, to tell lies, to make tragedy into comedy and
history into drama, is its all-in-all, both the prison and the key.” (O’Hehir)
Thus he uses these stories and folk tales to tell us a tale of conflict and
ensnarement among the country lands of Ireland.
Katie’s Story
The first story I would like to talk about is “Katie’s Story.” This is a story
of a young girl who is sent away to care for some orphaned children. As she
stays alone with these children, not allowed to leave the house, she realizes
they are haunted by their dead parents. This relates to Ireland’s political
struggle. All the future generations will be haunted by the ghosts of those who
died fighting for their country or died as a result of an “unfortunate
incident.” The children swap hair color, eye color, even gender without
realizing, thus bringing Katie to madness. This brings up questions related to
the “Troubles,” because the island of Ireland was separated into two sections, a
free state and an occupied state. When did they become separate entities? When
did they begin to look and act different from one another? Did they ever switch
places in look and action? How did all this separation and defining differences
affect those living in the areas?
Policeman
The next story I would like to discuss is that of the policeman thrown over the
bridge in retribution for a murder. This policeman, Billy Mahon, supposedly
killed a man as he was leaving work. A friend of this man planned his revenge on
Billy Mahon. As he threw him over the parapet and into the water, the man said,
“This is for Neil Mclaughlin, may you rot in the hell you’re going to, you
murdering…” (Deane 22) This shows the incredible corruption and injustice of the
policemen of the time. They took out any frustrations on the occupied people of
Northern Ireland and got away with it. The occupied people are not all willing
to stand for it though, and take their revenge upon the "Others" invading their
land. We come to find out that the man who murdered Billy Mahon is the
narrator’s grandfather who was caught up in several misdeeds of the time.
Up to the Hill with Two Names
The last story I would like to discuss is of Larry Mclaughlin. He went “up to
the hill with two names.” (Deane 86) This in itself is probably a reference to
the English occupiers renaming the areas of Ireland to make them more
“standardized” and English. Larry takes a shortcut crossing over a brook, which
happened to be the border between the occupied northern part of Ireland and the
Free State in Southern Ireland. We learn later in the novel that Larry is
actually the executioner of Uncle Eddie and the day this story takes places is
the day Eddie is killed. Therefore it seems that these IRA members took Eddie
across the border into the Free State to dispatch him. As Larry is returning
home he is confronted by a beautiful woman. Within half a mile the two are
pressing at each other and undressing. Then all of a sudden she vanishes, which
essentially traumatizes Larry. If that is not enough he sees a fox looking at
him, which barks at him and follows him all the way back into town. This
temptress could easily represent England. When the people of Ireland are tempted
to assimilate, they “get burned,” they get exiled or worse and can go mad for a
lack of connection to the culture they left behind or the one they tried to take
on. Larry is left a hollow shell of a man, haunted by this devil woman, he
remains in the street looking back for her. This could symbolize the survivors
of the “Troubles.” They are left missing their culture, missing their traditions
and habits, missing their family members. They are left behind to carry on the
story.
 All the stories that Deane uses in his novel start out on a grand scale. They
can represent the nation in turmoil, the survivors of occupation. But he teases
us with them. He throws out a little tidbit to get us interested and then brings
the rest of the details along later. Each story shows what harm secrets can do,
and ultimately lead us back to our narrator and his own family, who have a
secret of their own. The most interesting part is that no one really knows the
whole secret. Each person has a small piece to add to the larger picture. Our
narrator ends up with the most complete story although we are still left with
unanswered questions. Once the narrator gathers everyone’s secrets and compiles
them into a story, a sordid family history, he is the one left haunted. He must
carry the legacy, the hidden truths, the ghosts and the burden of bearing it
alone.
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Works Cited
Deane, Seamus. Reading in the Dark. New York: Vintage International, 1998. 22,
86. Print.
Andrew O’Hehir. Irish Ghost Story. 1997. Web.
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Storytelling in Ireland as Seen in "Reading in the Dark" |
" is a story about stories. Seamus Deane delivers artful prose
and flowing narratives that capture your attention and take you on a journey
through post occupied Ireland and the trauma and crisis of such a time. I am
going to focus this paper on the stories he presents throughout the novel. These
stories involve ghosts, policemen, informers, exorcisms, IRA skirmishes and
magic disappearances. Each of these stories have some sort of symbolism or moral
to them and a very specific purpose to be included in the novel.
