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Jackie is a young Irish boy who is being forced to make his first confession.
He is terrified of the ordeal because he has several sins which he feels he must hide but this would
constitute a "Bad Confession".
The punishment for a "Bad Confession" would be an eternity in hell.
His confession, however, proves to be very different from what he expected.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Frank O'Connor was the only child of Michael O'Donovan and Minnie O'Connor. He was born in Cork
(Ireland) in 1903 and was baptised Michael O'Donovan.
His was a poor family, his father being a brutal drunkard. Because his mother was forced to look after
the family, O'Connor fell heavily under her spell.
He would later choose to publish under his mother's maiden name -- hence Frank O'Connor -- rather
than bring honour to his father who despised his literary abilities.
O'Connor was thoroughly Irish, and fought for a time with the Irish Republican Army in their 1918 rebellion
again the British.
Later he became a school master and librarian, and wrote numerous short stories and some novels --
although this literary activity was always as a hobby.
Many of his writings were based upon his own experiences.
He taught for a time in America, and it was while he was at Stanford University that he had a stroke in
1961.
He thereupon returned to Ireland but died of a heart attack in Dublin in March 1966 at the age of 63.
Have you looked at the questions in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer the following questions:
Refer to Jackie's first attempt at confession:
- Why is the confessional dark inside? (2)
[Need help?]
The Catholic Church always stressed the secrecy of confession. The confessional is therefore traditionally
a dark place where the priest cannot see the penitent and has no idea who is kneeling there.
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- Comment on the bizarre happenings in the confessional. (4)
[Need help?]
You need to single out such things as:
- the boy not knowing where to confess and attempting various places in the dark;
- his mistaking the elbow rest as a kneeler and climbing up the wall of the confessional;
- his hanging upside down while attempting to speak to the priest;
- finally, his losing his grip, falling out of the confessional and being attacked by his sister.
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- The priest does not realise that Jackie is inside the confessional. Why does he not realise
this? (4)
[Need help?]
The type of confessional in that particular church had a place for two people to confess, one on each side
of the priest.
The priest would keep the second confessional closed by means of a sliding wooden shutter which would
only be slid back when the priest was ready for that person.
When Jackie entered the confessional, therefore, the shutter would have been closed and the priest would
not have known he was there.
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- Comment on the priest's sudden change of allegiance: from being angry with Jackie to defending
him. (4)
[Need help?]
Initially the priest probably believed that Jackie was playing the fool and was therefore angry with him.
When Jackie's sister attacked the boy, however, the priest's allegiance immediately switched to defending
the downtrodden party, especially since the boy was clearly no match for his fiery sister.
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Jackie at last is able to make his confession.
- Comment on the priest's reaction to all the sins that Jackie confesses. (4)
[Need help?]
Consider that Jackie was only about seven years of age. At such an age he is confessing to attempted
murder!
In a sense, therefore, the priest is humouring him.
More importantly, however, is the knowledge that this is the little chap's first confession and the priest is
therefore attempting to put him at ease while at the same time coaxing the sins out of him.
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- Why is Nora so incredulous and upset when Jackie tells her about his confession? (4)
[Need help?]
Nora is clearly aware that Jackie did indeed take a knife to her and had threatened to murder his gran.
She believed that her brother's conscience was therefore black with mortal sin.
It was expected that such sin would receive a huge penance and yet Jackie was given not only a minor
penance but also some candy as a reward.
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