Ironic Songs
The choice of popular songs act as ironic symbolic motif. The very first sound heard in the movie is the organ intro to the classic soul song “When a Man Loves a Woman.” Issues related to what makes a man and what constitutes a woman as well as what it means for a man to love a woman will be examined thoroughly before the film draws to a close. The title song and, perhaps especially, the constituted perspective of “Stand by Your Man” sung by a man that plays over the final scene all contribute to the deepening the irony of this motif.
The Hood
The hood which the cabal of IRA soldiers cover Jody’s head is not technically a mask because it does not have holes for the eyes and mouth, but it serves the same purpose. Symbolically, at any rate. The hood takes on symbolic significance as a metaphor for the mask that just about every other character wears—metaphorically—in the movie.
The Frog and the Scorpion
The story about the scorpion that kills the frog and thus dooms them both applies to humankind in general and the self-destructive tendencies that lead to the creation of armies and wars over barren plots of land, but it applies most specifically to Fergus. Fergus is the scorpion; he has no real ideology and or political view. Fergus just follows his nature—which is basically decent—no matter and sometimes that works out for the best and sometimes not.
Hair
Hair and the ability to manipulate it for the purpose of deception is a very strong symbol that pops up so often it becomes a motif. Hair is a mechanism for disguise, but also connection. Dil’s job as a hairdresser is thus situated as a counterpoint to Fergus cutting his hair when travels to England undercover. It is through the “trim” he gets in his new short-haired persona of Jimmy that he and Dil connect. Tellingly, Jude specifically asks Fergus as Jimmy what he thinks of her new “bob” hairstyle and brunette coloring and their tense and strained relationship after having not seen each other since the kidnapping of Jody briefly takes a more personal turn. When Fergus wants to hide Dil from the wrath of the IRA, he cuts off her hair and transforms Dil back into a man and even this change in appearance is not enough to break the romantic connection the previously straight Fergus has made with Dil.
Cricket
For Irish and British audiences, cricket is an incredibly resonant symbol carrying connotations of colonialism, imperialism and the essence of British-ness. For everyone else, cricket is an important symbol as a game. Fergus and Jody have a couple of lighthearted disagreements about which is better: hurling or cricket. Hurling is, as Fergus informs us, enjoyable because it moves so fast and requires speed. Implicit in Jody’s argument is that while cricket is substantially slower, it thus requires more guile and planning. After the incendiary reaction to discovering the true nature of the relationship between Dil and Jody, Fergus has a dream vision of Jody in his cricket uniform smugly tossing the ball in the air and catching. It is a devastating symbolic moment.
