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Aaron McGovern
Dr. Cheryl H. Duffy
ENG 446
20 September 2016
Religious Perspectives Exemplified in First Confession
Since the days of Saint Patrick, Ireland has been dominated by Catholicism. The Catholic
Church and its religious members have impacted Ireland such that many times being Catholic is
almost a part of being Irish. Although the majority of Irishmen and women have been Catholic
throughout history, the view of the Church and its teachings have not always been seen in the
same light. In Frank OConnors short story, First Confession, OConnor gives us a glimpse of
some of the perspectives people held about their relationship with the Church, its teachings, and
God. In his story, OConnor shows these different perspectives through four characters: Nora,
Ryan, the priest, and Jackie and the enlightenment the protagonist of the story reaches through
his spiritual journey.
The story First Confession takes place in the 1950s and admirably record[s] the
realities and intricacies of life in Ireland under the often heavy rule of the Catholic Church and
small-town life (Contemporary). At this time, the presence of the Catholic Church was so
prevalent that for every 593 Catholics in Ireland, there was a priest (Lux Occulta). Although the
Church no longer directly held political power, going to Church on Sunday was important and
expected of the Catholics. Also, as the title of OConnors story infers, confession was just as
imperative of a sacrament as upholding the Sabbath day. Though today the Church emphasizes
that confession is about forgiveness and redemption, some people saw it in a less loving light and

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in more of a do or die situation such as the old woman catechism teacher in the story named
Ryan.
Ryan is a good example of the Old Testament view that used to permeate throughout the
old colonial ministers like Jonathan Edwards preaching sermons like Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God. At the beginning of the story when Jackie is talking about having to receive his first
confession, he says:
Then, to crown my misfortune, I had to make my first confession and
communion. It was an old woman called Ryan who prepared us for these. She was
about the one age with Gran; she was well-to-do, lived in a big house on
Montenotte, wore a black cloak and bonnet, and came every day to school at three
oclock when we should have been going home, and talked to us of hell. She may
have mentioned the other place as well, but that could have been by accident, for
hell had the first place in her heart. (Roberts 333)
First off, from her age alone being one with Gran we know that she reflects the view of the
passing generation. Her coming to the school each day dressed in black clothing and not being a
nun also shows her stereotypical conservatism of those who focused more on Gods wrath rather
than His love. Next, her obsession with hell is another note of her perspective of religion and is
why in O'Briens overview of the story he describes Mrs. Ryan's view of sin [as] purely
eschatological. Where the Old Testament of the Bible is littered with stories of God justly
destroying those who defy his grace and will, the New Testament is one much more focused on
Gods forgiveness shown through Jesus. However, she intentionally focuses on the fire and
brimstone approach to faith in order to scare the children, like Jackie, into following Gods
commandments. She is one who takes the phrase fear the Lord literally rather than the more

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subtle approach of it meaning to respect God. Lastly, as Jackie puts it as hell [has] the first place
in her heart, she gives off more of nightmarish feel to religion than that of redemption and
salvation. Lastly, when Jackie quotes her saying, [a]ll eternity! Just think of that! A whole
lifetime goes by and its nothing, not even a drop in the ocean of your sufferings, only reiterates
her fixation on portraying religion as avoiding damnation rather than seeking loving redemption
(333). In essence, Ryan embodies the perspective of religion and faith being one of fear rather
than love and compassion. Despite the dark and gloomy view Ryan has, Jackies sister Nora has
even a more twisted perspective of religion.
In order to understand Noras religious perspective, her character as a whole must be
inspected. Throughout the story, we see repeatedly how she tortures her brother for what seems
to be no instigated reason. On top of that, she takes enjoyment in it and is always looking for a
way to hound him or twist the situation to where Jackie will get in trouble with his father who
has turned a blind eye turned towards her, but an unforgiving one on Jackie. Then, when it comes
time for Jackie to make up his missed first confession and their mother is too busy to take him,
Nora is instead sent to escort him. Here, we begin to see her perspective towards religion when
she starts antagonizing her already petrified brother by saying, [o]h, God help us! she moaned.
Isnt it a terrible pity you werent a good boy? Oh Jackie, my heart bleeds for you! How will
you ever think of all your sins? Dont forget you have to tell him about the time you kicked Gran
on the shin (334). In her devilish tone, we see how she is using religion to torment her brother
rather than bring comfort to him. It starts to come forward that rather than having a reverence
towards the Church and what it actually stands for, she just views religion as another manner in
which she can inflict her devious desires and plans. Then once the two of them reach the chapel
she shows her true colors again saying There you are! she said with a yelp of triumph, hurling

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me through the church door. And I hope hell give you the penitential psalms, you dirty little
caffler (335). Once again, this time not hidden in her sadistic tone, we see her viewing religion
as a way for her to induce punishment on her brother with her hoping that he will receive the
penitential psalms. However, not only does Nora view religion as a way to bring about trouble
for those she does not like, she sees herself as a little angel.
After Nora has all her fun dragging her brother to what he thinks is his damnation at the
time, she guiltlessly goes and does her confession. The scene starts:
Noras turn came, and I heard the sound of something slamming, and then her
voice as if butter wouldnt melt in her mouth, and then another slam, and then out
she came. God, the hypocrisy of women! Her eyes were lowered, her head was
bowed, and her hands were joined very low down on her stomach, and she walked
up the aisle to the side alter looking like a saint. (335)
Jackie hits the nail right on the head when he says hypocrisy. We see Nora acting like she is the
nicest little Catholic girl there ever was to exist, and probably sees herself as such, when in
reality we know how hypocritical and devious she is. At the end of the story when she says her
most impactful quote we get an even clearer picture of her delusional perception of faith. She
says, Lord God, she wailed bitterly, some people have all the luck! Tis no advantage to
anybody trying to be good. I might as well be a sinner like you (338). With this last quote from
her comparing herself to Jackie after he returns from confession in a uplifted mood, we see how
delusional she is in her perspective of religion and herself. Due to her misconceived ideal of
herself, her twisted view of religion embodies the hypocritical Pharisees that Jesus often
confronted in the New Testament.

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Unlike the twisted, devious, hypocritical view of religion that Nora has, Jackie presents a
much more innocent, timid, and misinformed perspective of faith, that later transitions with the
help of the priest. Due to Ryans fire and brimstone teachings and stories about religion, Jackie is
left thinking he is set for impending doom after the examine of conscience lead by Ryan when he
thinks, I decided that, between one thing or another, I must have broken the whole ten
commandments, all on account of that old woman, and so far as I could see, so long as she
remained in the house I had no hope of ever doing anything else (334). This shows how due to
her emphasis on damnation, Jackie is left feeling hopeless. Once again we hear his fear when he
is about to enter the chapel and he is admiring all the scenery and compares it to Adams last
glimpse of Paradise. Jackie also questions religious people due to all his terrible experiences
with his sister. After watching her act like a saint exiting the confession booth, he thinks, you
never saw such an exhibition of devotion, and I remembered the devilish malice with which she
had tormented me all the way from our door, and wondered were all religious people like that,
really. It was my turn now. With the fear of damnation in my soul I went in, and the confessional
door closed of itself behind me (335). Here, once again, we can see how Jackie is confused and
scared because his only two role models he has for his faith is Ryan, a woman obsessed with
hell, and Nora, who seems to be from hell yet acts so reverent in front of others. This is why he is
left asking [are] all religious people like that, really?
Then, between the chaos and confusion brought on in his thoughts from Nora and Ryan,
his childhood innocence in his religious view shows forth after climbing onto the elbow rest in
the booth and trying to talk to the priest. The priest therefore had to turn his head sideways and
look up to see him, and Jackie in turn had to awkwardly adjust himself to look back at the priest.
Despite this, all Jackie thinks is [i]t struck me as very queer way of hearing confessions, but I

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didnt feel it my place to criticize (335). This exemplifies how Jackie is simply trying to do
what he is supposed to do, but due to his previous interactions with his sister and catechism
teacher, he was more or less accepting of whatever happened and too timid to even question what
seemed awkward to him. Luckily though, after Jackie falls out of the booth and the priest saves
him from his malicious sister, the priest then introduces him to a new perspective about religion.
After the young priest fends off Jackies sister and finds out it is his first confession, the
priest tells him, [y]oud better wait now till Im finished with these old ones. You can see by the
looks of them they havent much to tell. Jackie then replies with I will father, I said with
something approaching joy (336). Right away Jackie starts to feel better from the sympathy and
comfort the priest offers, especially giving him time to relax. This here is the first time Jackie
experiences a religious member that is kind and right away it starts to affect his view. He then
feels that he can trust the priest and opens up to him about all his problems with Gran and his
sister. The dialogue between the priest and Jackie about Jackie wanting to kill his grandma is not
only humorous in that the priest plays along, but shows how Jackie now feels that he can trust
and confide in his religion, rather than fear it. Instead of threatening him with damnation as Ryan
would have, the priest talks through the scenario about why it is bad idea and wrong to kill his
grandmother in a fashion that Jackie understands. After they were done with the confession and
Jackie exits the chapel, he thinks to himself I was genuinely sorry to part with him, because he
was the most entertaining character Id ever met in the religious line I knew now I wouldnt
die in the night and come back leaving marks on my mothers furniture (337). Not only now is
Jackies view towards religion uplifted and more positive, he himself no longer fears religion but
rather feels comforted by it, wishing not to depart from the priests company.

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As we can see from the interactions between the priest and Jackie, the priest offers a more
contemporary and comforting perspective towards religion. In effect, he is the opposite of Ryan
and her Old Testament damnation and focuses instead on the New Testaments message of
salvation. Also, where Ryan tries to scare Jackie into submission of Gods will, the priest
connects and relates with Jackie on a personal level as shown through their conversation during
Jackies first confession. The priest in turn serves as the revolutionary figure in Jackies spiritual
journey that shows him the true meaning of what the Catholic Church can be when focusing on
the aspects Jesus highlighted in the gospel. Jackie even realizes how enlightened of a man he is
when he says, I knew from the moment that man opened his mouth that he was intelligent above
the ordinary (336). OBrien writes that [t]he priest is required to be an agent in the human
world, rather than an executive of eternity, such as Mrs. Ryan. In a sense, the priest acts as the
Jesus figure in the story, bringing a new message to Jackie about what the Church has to offer to
him. The priest can also be tied to Jesus in the way that he interacts with Jackie who is a child.
This quality of taking the time to comfort and educate Jackie reflects the numerous times in the
Bible that Jesus would interact with children and valued them as much as any other person. In
essence, the priest serves as an exemplary example of what a great priest looks like, comforting
and educating his entire parish.
As a whole, OConnor does a supreme job of showing the different religious perspectives
through the four characters and demonstrating how they can influence those of another.
Throughout the story, Jackie represents the young and innocent child whose faith is pure yet
confused by the hellish teachings of Ryan and the hypocritical actions of his sister, Nora.
However, as we follow Jackie through his spiritual journey, we see the priest offer a degree of
enlightenment that Jackie can understand at his age. In the end, though Jackie still has much

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growing to do physically, mentally, and spiritually, he at least is now comforted by his religion
and more sure of what it means to be a Catholic.

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Works Cited
The Irish Catholic Church in 1958 A Statistical Overview. Lux Occulta, 12 Apr. 2014,
https://lxoa.wordpress.com/2014/04/12/the-irish-catholic-church-in-1958-a-statisticaloverview/.
"Michael Francis O'Donovan." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature
Resource Center. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.
O'Brien, George. "First Confession: Overview." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle
Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.
OConnor, Frank. First Confession. Writing About Literature, 13th ed., edited by Edgar V.
Roberts, Pearson, 2012, pp. 332-38.