Entry 85: Plagarism -- don't do it!
Topic: Complete randomness
OK, this really isn't an update. I am just posting my English paper here in order to copy and paste it onto a word document, just in case the email doesnt work. So I apologize. But here... and if you have read Tarry Flynn and have a paper due on him, don't read this...
In the novel, Tarry Flynn, Patrick Kavanagh uses his characters of Tarry Flynn to demonstrate the many societal problems of Ireland in the early twentieth century. Throughout the novel, Tarry Flynn and the people around him deal with day to day life of 1930's Ireland. Many social problems are brought up and demonstrated, but none more than the fact that most Irish men are stunted, emotionally, because of the hard-line of the Catholic Church. Throughout this novel, Patrick Kavanagh uses Tarry Flynn to demonstrate how Irish men were unable to mature, in the emotional sense, as much as they should have.
One of the most frequent themes of this demonstration is sexual maturity. In Ireland, the people have always followed the Church’s very strict rule prohibiting any kind of sexual contact. This results in teenage fantasies remaining long after puberty has ended. Tarry Flynn, who is well past that age, still frequently daydreams about girls. He was also notoriously nervous whenever in their presence. For example, “Could it be that girls knew that beneath his poetic appearance was primitive savagery and lust?” (Kavanagh 28) was one of his nerve-wracking thoughts. Early on in the novel, when approaching girls he would use “a number of meaningless phrases which he would astonish girls with” (30). This kind of mind-set is also immature. He set out to impress girls, not to get to know them. This would also lead to failure, shortly after trying one of these “meaningless phrases”, “...the girls at the gate separated and Tarry was left – with his dreams,” (30). This incident was almost immediately followed by another example of adolescent immaturity when he saw Molly Brady, “And for weeks in his daydreams he had been planning an approach to her,” (32). Most mature people do not daydream for weeks in planning to approach a member of the opposite sex. This attitude of Tarry’s is consistent throughout the novel. When at the Reilly’s house, he was approached and asked if he was going to the dance on Sunday night. He replied, “dancing is an eejut’s game,” (184) and denied that he was going several times. Within seconds of the conversation he was violently regretting his stubbornness, “What is the matter with me? Why couldn’t I say the right thing?” (185). He would later go to the dance and desperately try to get in. Since he had no money, he was prevented, but he still remained to gain the knowledge that “the one he really cared for had no boy friend with her,” (214). This demonstrates that Tarry was indecisive as any teenager, for he was a teenager in maturity. Since this behavior is constant, it proves that Tarry is emotionally stunted.
Tarry’s emotional growth is prevented primarily by the society he lives in, which is dominated by the Catholic Church. One of the Catholic Church’s tightest grips is over Ireland. This results in strict Church doctrine, priests being treated like royalty, and a society driven by guilt. Guilt leads to fear, which seems to be the one emotion everyone feels. The Church retains its iron grip over the people with manipulation of a spiritual presence. The Irish have always been a highly spiritual people. Mix that with the patriarchal Catholic Church and the result is a submission society. Because of that, the Church is able to call any and all sexual contact, “rape” and inspire either fear or guilt whenever a priest approaches. Tarry, right from the beginning of the novel, was “...tired of the Mass and of religion,” (14). This would help him to be stronger against Church domination, but it would not change the society around him. It was truly this that stunted specifically his emotional growth. The Catholic Church stunted most men’s emotional growth, but some would escape the direct domination of the Church, like Tarry. It would be the Church dominated society that would get to Tarry and the few others.
Emotional maturity, or a lack thereof, is not limited to one part of one’s emotional anatomy. Girls, sex, and what goes with them were not the only things that Tarry was unable to deal with. He was also childlike in other aspects of his life. For instance, he was still living at home. He did not seem to get along with his mother or sisters and all of them where hoping he would get married and leave, but he would not. He had a dependence on his family and an insecurity about the world. If the Church had not oppressed his emotional growth, he would have been able to relate with girls better, and perhaps, get married earlier. However he was prevented from doing this. The final example is that he frequently runs from his problems. He runs from girls, during the fight with Joe Finnegan, “[although] he was winning, he had a strong inclination to run,” (142), and when he is confronted by Joe and Larry Finnegan, “Tarry moved away pursued by the Finnegans. He decided to run... He outdistanced them easily, but in doing so he lost caste, he knew,” (172). This pattern of running from one’s problems is the ultimate sign of immaturity and proof that Kavanagh used Tarry Flynn to demonstrate and, perhaps, comment on the Church’s submission like stance over the Irish people.
Tarry Flynn is supposed to recreate Patrick Kavanagh’s life, growing up in 1930's Ireland. This gives a personal insight of how people lived and what difficulties they faced. Kavanagh touches on a taboo subject of Ireland, the domination of the Church. He tells his own story of Ireland and demonstrates how the society stunted his emotional growth and the growth of many others.
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All right, sorry to bother, but this is
my blog and I can do what I want with it.
But I promise I will have some really updates for you soon, including some information on a hilarious televangelist and some important information from Media Matters for America, a great watchdog website dedicated to the media.
And, of course, pictures and video clips.
That's it for now!
-Mr. Joseph
