Crilly's Living Situation
More than once in the story, Bernard MacLaverty sets up a humorous scene where Crilly and Cal meet to discuss IRA matters in the living room of Crilly's mother. While the men speak about murders, robberies, and the ongoing war between Loyalist and Republican factions, Crilly's mom eagerly waits on them, serving tea and popping in now and then to make a comment not related to these movement concerns. These moments are ironically funny, setting up an obvious contrast between the tough guy image Crilly likes to give off and the reality of his living situation, where he is still quite bound to his parents. The humor is milked further through the embarrassment Crilly shows every time his mother interrupts their serious conversations.
Religious Warfare
The historical backdrop of Cal is the troubles between Republicans and Loyalists, who are also aligned with Catholics and Protestants respectively. Among other things, the two factions disagreed on the role of the Roman Catholic Church in Irish governance. Thus the conflict was also seen as a religious war and effort on each side to assert the superiority of their denomination. This is of course ironic considering that Christian scripture teaches compassion, brotherhood, and humility. To harm others in the name of religion is absurd, especially as Jesus Christ was such an advocate for pacifism, even advising his followers to "love thy enemy." That self-described Christians reversion to violence displays a deep hypocrisy and ironic misunderstanding of their core philosophy.
Cal's Actions
Cal knows he is responsible for murder, but it was previously possible for him to keep his crimes at a distance and somewhat ignore the humanity of the casualties—that is, until he met and fell in love with Marcella and realized that his crime literally tore her life apart, leaving her a widow. Furthermore, Cal's obsession with Marcella leads to him securing a job at her in-laws' farm, thus inserting himself into the family of Robert, his victim. Such close contact with the grief he caused would seem to most people unbearable, but ironically Cal seeks this out, as somehow he desires to punish himself and atone for his sins by coming face-to-face with the consequence of his own actions.
Cal's Aversion to Gore
In the beginning of the novel, we learn that Cal has turned down a job at the slaughterhouse that his father went out of the way to get him. Thus right away the theme of violence is introduced, with the protagonist initially painted as a sensitive and non-violent young man. But as the story progresses and we learn of Cal's own participation in terrorism and murder, the irony of his repulsion to gore becomes apparent. His simultaneous aversion to violence and his choice to take part in it reflects Cal's contradictory and tumultuous inner life.
