Summary
In the second chapter, Keegan provides a background on Furlong's upbringing, saying that he "had come from nothing. Less than nothing." His mother got pregnant at sixteen years old while working in the household of a Protestant widow named Mrs. Wilson. Although Furlong's mother's family abandoned her upon finding out about the pregnancy, Mrs. Wilson allowed her to keep her job and raise her son at the big house. Mrs. Wilson drove Furlong's mother to and from the hospital on the day of the birth.
Furlong spent the majority of his infancy in a mobile wicker basket and later a baby carriage he was strapped into. He remembers the serving plates, a black stovetop and oven, and a shining square-tile floor. Mrs. Wilson played an active role in Furlong's upbringing by giving him little jobs and supporting his literacy. Without heeding any local gossip, Mrs. Wilson went about her life in a calm and composed way. She received her dead husband's pension and earned a small income from her herd of cattle and sheep. A farmhand named Ned also lived on the property. Mrs. Wilson lived without conflict due to the way she managed her affairs, tending her land well and avoiding debt.
Although Mrs. Wilson and Furlong's mother attended different places of worship on Sundays, their religious differences caused no tension due to them both being "lukewarm" practitioners. Ned drove them respectively to a church and chapel every week, but they left their prayer books and Bibles untouched until the following Sunday or holy day.
Furlong experienced bullying in his childhood because of the circumstances of his birth and family. People (likely schoolchildren) jeer, insult him, and spit on his coat. However, the adult Furlong reasons that his "connection with the big house" buffered him from worse bullying. He attended a trade school before working in the coal yard doing the same labor that he now pays other men to do. His orientation toward business, dependable relationships, and disciplined habits led him to rise in rank until he became a business owner.
In the novella's current day, Furlong lives with his wife Eileen and their five daughters in town. The couple married after a typical courtship consisting of going to see movies and taking long evening walks at the waterside. What attracted Furlong to his wife was her shiny black hair and blue-gray eyes, as well as her pragmatic and flexible mind. Mrs. Wilson gifted Furlong a few thousand pounds when he got married, leading to speculation about the identity of Furlong's father. People wondered whether "it was one of her own that had fathered him."
Despite the gossip, Furlong does not know who his father is. When he requested an official copy of his birth certificate from the registry office, the space where his father's name should have been written simply read, "Unknown." His mother died when Furlong was twelve years old due to a brain hemorrhage. She "keeled over" and quickly died while transporting a harvest of crab apples to the house to make jelly.
Furlong focuses his attention on the present moment, where he is committed to caring for his family. His five daughters (Kathleen, Joan, Sheila, Grace, and Loretta) take after their mother in terms of being black-haired and pale. Furlong describes his daughters as bright girls who show academic and artistic promise. Kathleen helps her father manage his company's accounts. Joan (who attends the secondary school St. Mary's alongside her sister) has good judgment and sings in a choir. Sheila and Grace (close in age) memorize multiplication tables, solve long division equations, and can name Ireland's important geographical characteristics. They also take accordion lessons once a week at the convent. Furlong's youngest daughter Loretta appears to be the shyest of the sisters, but this does not prevent her from studying hard, reading books, and winning a prize for her art. Furlong feels a deep sense of joy witnessing his daughters accomplish what needs to be done.
Furlong remarks on the family's luck one night to Eileen, pointing out that many people don't have their fortune. His gratitude for what little they have prompts Eileen to ask whether something happened. Furlong responds that he saw a person named Mick Sinnott's young son out on the road foraging for sticks. Eileen correctly guesses that her husband stopped to help out, and later states that she thinks some people are at fault for their own hardships. Furlong replies that he doesn't think the boy is at fault in this case, and Eileen says that Sinnott was seen drunk at a public phone box. Furlong wonders what ails him, and Eileen faults the man for his alcoholism by saying he would cease drinking if he really cared about his children.
Cases like these concerning people's wellbeing sometimes keep Furlong awake at night. Even if he falls asleep exhausted after work, he might wake up at night with his head spinning until he finally gets up to make tea. During these times, he sips his tea while looking out the window. He sees stray dogs foraging for scraps in the trash, litter blowing in the wind, and men straggling home from late nights at the pub. Sometimes Furlong hears the men give a sharp intense whistle and laugh, which makes Furlong bristle at the thought of these men treating his daughters this way. Furlong does not understand his perpetual anxiety, but he knows how easy it would be to lose everything that he and Eileen have. Because he drives around town during his workdays, he has seen the various misfortunes that plague people. Some of the town's residents can't pay their bills, heat their houses, or are stuck in low-paying jobs. Out in the country, farm workers emigrate to England for better opportunities, and the cows that were under their care are left without being milked. Furlong sees a young boy drinking milk left out for a cat behind the priest's house.
Furlong catches wind of local and national affairs as he makes his rounds, including about the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Unionists in Northern Ireland protest the notion of their southern neighbors having a say in their national affairs. On a more local level, a great deal of businesses close or reduce their operations, including the shipyard company, the fertilizer factory, and the florist. Despite these "raw times," Furlong remains determined to focus on providing for his family. Specifically, he envisions his daughters completing their education at St. Margaret's, the only quality school for girls in the town.
Analysis
In her narrative structure, Keegan balances between describing Furlong's inner motivations and demonstrating his character through depictions of his actions. This second chapter provides Furlong's background story as well as a wider picture of the economic and political context of the book's present day. Furlong's upbringing clearly influences his adult decisions. His mother had "fallen pregnant" at age sixteen while working in the private household of a Protestant widow named Mrs. Wilson. The word "fallen" places all the responsibility on Furlong's mother without acknowledging his father. The word also has sinister connotations because it is reminiscent of the term "fallen women." By the end of the 19th century, this term expanded from solely referring to sex workers to include those who birthed children out of wedlock. These so-called "fallen women" were often taken to Magdalene laundries or mother-and-baby homes, but Furlong's mother was spared this fate. Mrs. Wilson allowed her to continue living and working at the household, and even played an active role in Furlong's upbringing.
The name "Magdalene" from "Magdalene laundries" alludes to the biblical figure Mary Magdalene, who for centuries was falsely portrayed as a repentant prostitute. Although Furlong's mother's family abandoned the pregnant teenager, Mrs. Wilson did not judge her according to the same (religiously influenced) standards. Furlong takes after Mrs. Wilson in that they both keep their head down and mind their business well. Furlong's mother had to work hard for the rest of her life (she died while working), but she is still depicted as luckier than most.
Economic status and religious ideals clearly play important roles in one's social standing. It was not just the unmarried mothers who faced social scrutiny; their children also encountered prejudice. As a child, Furlong was jeered at and called names, but his association with Mrs. Wilson's "big house" buffered him from more serious bullying. Even as an adult, Furlong faces judgment at the registry office when he unsuccessfully tries to identify his father. However, he avoids succumbing to poor habits by staying extremely focused on providing for his family. The care he experienced from his mother and Mrs. Wilson led him to become an extremely empathetic adult. For example, he stops to offer a ride and money to the young son of an alcoholic who stays out in the rain to forage for sticks. Furlong also loses sleep over "small things like these." In other words, he feels other people's misfortunes and afflictions on a deep personal level. This concern gives the novella its title, and specifies empathy as a thematic through line.
The novella primarily focuses on the goings-on in New Ross (specifically in Furlong's life), but it briefly touches on national implications in this second chapter. The 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement between the UK and the Republic of Ireland aimed to resolve the Northern Ireland conflict. This conflict, also known as the Troubles, was a political and nationalistic struggle between the largely Protestant Unionists/loyalists and the mostly Catholic Irish nationalists/republicans. The heart of the matter was whether Northern Ireland would remain part of the UK or join a united Ireland. The agreement signed between the Taoiseach (the prime minister of the Republic of Ireland) and the British prime minister gave the Irish government an advisory role in Northern Ireland's government. This set protests into motion because the Unionists in Belfast did not want Dublin to have a say in their affairs. These political conflicts largely remain outside the novella's scope apart from perhaps influencing the economy in New Ross.
Debt and poverty impact both people and animals in the town. Furlong is hyperaware of how unstable his success is; he could easily lose everything that he works so hard for. Keegan uses the word "raw" to describe the general atmosphere of the times, and this emotive word choice evokes the townspeople's physical and emotional trauma. Furlong's determination to "carry on, to keep his head down and stay on the right side of people, and to keep providing for his girls and see them getting on and completing their education" at the town's only quality school for girls foreshadows the troubles that lie ahead.
