Character’s Negative Opinions of Father Flynn

Lauren Jamieson

Ms. DeMarchi

AP English Literature, Period 1

4 November 2016

Character’s Negative Opinions of Father Flynn

        James Joyce uses characterization, in The Sisters, to determine the worth of Father Flynn by revealing the character’s own experiences and thoughts on Flynn’s life and explaining significant details to expose Flynn as mad and losing his mind.

        Joyce uses characterization to allow the characters to express their opinions on Flynn and illustrate that even though Flynn was a priest, he did have his faults. Priests are known to be logical and inspiring but from the very beginning of the short story Old Cotter made Flynn’s appearance clear. Even though the narrator looked up to Flynn, Old Cotter saw Flynn as a bad influence for children as he explained, “I wouldn’t like children of mine, he said, to have too much to say to a man like that” (The Sisters 2). For some reason Old Cotter feels that Flynn leaves a negative impressionable effect on the children and from that moment forward Flynn is portrayed as mysterious and questionable. Old Cotter’s opinion sets the tone for the story and hinted at how others feel later on.

        The narrator’s opinion of Flynn is slightly different compared to Old Cotter. After breakfast the next morning the narrator went down to the Drapery and reflected on his time with Flynn. The narrator thought of all Flynn has taught him such as how to, “He has told me stories about the catacombs and about Napoleon Bonaparte, and he had explained to me the meaning of the different ceremonies of the Mass…Sometimes he used to put me through the responses of Mass which he had made me learn by heart” (The Sisters 5). Each lesson Flynn shared with the narrator seemed to be a kind act and nothing but inquisitive although the narrator does share that he would occasionally feel, “Uneasy in the beginning of our acquaintance before I knew him well” (The Sisters 5). At this point in the story, both Old Cotter and the narrator show to have felt uncomfortable and uneasy at some point because of Flynn’s actions. By revealing these character’s views of Flynn readers can evaluate his worth.

        The significant moment in the story when Flynn’s character is fully acknowledged would have to be when Eliza reminisced on her time with Flynn. Eliza kept saying, “Poor James” (The Sisters 8) and presented a negative feeling of sadness over her brother’s death Eliza also reveals that priesthood may have been too much for Flynn and brought up that, “I noticed there was something queer coming over him latterly” (The Sisters 9). Eliza began to realize his increasingly odd behavior when he dropped and broke the chalice in mass, everything began to go downhill. One night some other priests went to go find Flynn as they were searching everywhere for him. The priests checked the chapel and found Flynn sitting by himself in a dark confession box laughing, at that moment the priests knew he was sick and that something was wrong with him. By explaining in detail and highlighting Flynn’s altering characteristics, the characters affirm Flynn’s degrading mental status.

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