CHAPTER 1 (p.7-34)
This story tells us about Cal and his father Shamie, who are living as the only Catholics in a protestant area in Northern Ireland. Cal is a young man, who is unemployed and searching for a job, after he had quit his work at the abattoir, where he worked together with his father. One day Cal visits the library to get some new tapes, and when he enters he sees an attractive woman standing behind the counter. She seems very familiar to him and he finds out that her name's `Marcella', which upsets him a lot, and he gets very nervous thinking about her and he says `I need to make it all up to her'. The day after Cal visits the library again, just to get a glance at Marcella, he gets in a little fight with his Dad and he thinks a lot about this guy `Crilly', who he went to school with, who is in the same gang as Cal and who now has his job at the abattoir. Cal wants to tell Crilly that he wants to quit the gang, because he can't take it anymore. The gang meets up at a member's house to have some teat and talk about their activities and they tell Cal that they need him as a driver. The next day Cal waits in front of the library for Marcella, and when she leaves the library she looses a package of her groceries- Cal picks it up and carries it for her to her car and so he makes contact to her again. Being back again at his house he finds a sheet of paper in his doorway, which says that he and his father should leave the house or the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Federation) would burn it down. Cal wakes his father, he shows him the threat and they prepare everything to be ready if the house starts burning. (They get out a gun, which they got from Crilly, and fill the bath tub with water.) This night Cal thinks a lot about Marcella, and about the first threat they got from UVF and about Crilly again. He can't sleep, so Cal gets up to get a cup of tea together wit his Dad and they talk about important things and the reader gets to know that Cal's mother died when he was eight years old and that his only brother was killed in an car-accident years before.
CHAPTER 2 (p.35-57)
Sundays Cal normally goes to church in his area, but this certain Sunday he sleeps in and so he has to go to a neighbouring church. There he sees Marcella and her little child again and at the end of the service he walks very close behind her, what he enjoys a lot. Cal drives to Clones, to the place he calls `real Ireland', to watch a football game and there he meets Skeffington, another gang-member. The following week Cal stalked Marcella nearly every second day, he's playing guitar, smoking and cooking for his dad. Every day his father tells him to call Crilly, but Cal refuses with a terrible feeling in his stomach. One day his Dad returns from work and tells Cal, that he's bought some trees and that Cal should help him cutting them into blocks and sell them to get some extra-money. Cal does his job and he decides to sell the blocks to the farm where Marcella lives- (that's a big deal, because he's a Catholic and the farm where Marcella lives is known as to be protestant) Cal sells all of the blocks to an old lady living at this farm and she asks him to work the next day too, to make the blocks smaller and to collect his money. On his way home Cal gets beaten up by some protestants, but he's able to flee before they hurt him really badly. Cal suggests his Dad to give in and leave the protestant area, but his Dad refuses and suggests Cal to go away for two or more weeks. The next day Cal, after taking a long relaxing bath, finishes his work, and he accidentally sees that the husband of this old lady is very sick. The day he works at the farm he meets Marcella and an old protestant friend -Cyril, who works at the farm. The lady asks Cal to help them for little money to lift potatoes at their fields. Cal agrees, because it is better than doing nothing and so he goes to lift up potatoes with a lot of other people for three days. After those three days the old lady asks Cal to work permanently at the farm and Cal agrees again.
CHAPTER 3 (p.57-89)
Cal's Dad is very happy that his son finally got a job, but then he tells him that Cal has to go and visit Crilly instantly. They are having a cup of tea while watching the news, Cal takes a bath and then he walks down to Crilly's home. Crilly tells Cal that de has to give him a ride to the other side of town to get a gun and so they start at nine o clock pm to do their thing. Crilly and Cal get a gun, they drive to a store and within 2 or three minutes Crilly robs it and gets a bag full of money. He offers Cal some for his effort, but Cal refuses to take it and so Crilly just throws it into Cal's lap. Instead of going to a pub they stop off at Skeffington's house, get a drink there and get to know Skeffingtons Dad, who is a very old and reserved man. They count 722 pounds and discuss who they should give the money to, who needs it the most. Cal is still sure that he wants to quit the gang because people get hurt, although the gang `helps' other Catholic families with their robberies. Crilly and Skeffington try to persuade Cal with arguments like `Not being part of the solution is being part of the problem.' etc. but Cal still sees no point in it. He detests killing people for any reason! Cal starts working at the farm and he likes it better than the work at the abattoir, although he doesn't know a lot about farm- work. Cal's a little disappointed because he doesn't get to see Marcella. To overcome this situation he goes to her church the following Sunday, but unfortunately she isn't there. Cal doesn't give up and goes to the library one night and there he sees Marcella again and she is able to convince him to take out a book this time and not, as usual, tapes. When Cal returns his house is burning and his father is sitting in front of it crying. Shamie is very afraid that the police will find the gun and so Cal decides to search the house. Luckily he finds the gun and brings it to his father. Cal and Shamie aren't insured and so they have nothing left, but they hope that the government will compensate them for being attacked by protestants. Cal decides this night to disappear and stay in an old cottage near the farm. He doesn't tell his father where he'll go, he just wants to be away. When he spends the first night in the cottage he thinks about that evening, when Crilly, the gang and he killed a police-man, who turned out to be Marcellas husband: After getting an alibi at a dance, they stole a car and Cal drove them to the Morton farmhouse. Crilly walked up to the door, rang the bell and shot Mr. Morton when he was opening the door. Cal heard Mr. Morton saying the name of his wife `Mar-cell-a'. After a few miles they set the stolen car on fire and Cal returned to the dance with shaking hands and white as chalk and tried to be seen for his alibi.
CHAPTER 4 (p.90-121)
Cal continues to live in the small cottage for a fortnight, without being able to take a bath, change his clothes or brush his teeth with toothpaste. He feels very dirty and he's worried about his looks, because he starts to grow a black beard, and his teeth seem to feel yellow. (Although he is brushing them with a mixture of ashes and salt, like his mother taught him). One night he sees a light in the Morton's farmhouse, and he realises that Marcella is going to take a bath. He carefully creeps to the window and watches Marcella preparing for the bath. He gets to see a part of her naked body, and he feels very guilty that he is watching her without her permission, and therefore he walks back to the cottage. Cal lights a match to smoke a cigarette. All of a sudden somebody kicks the door open and it's terrible bright in the cottage. There is screaming and yelling and some men of the police yell at Cal and tell him that the Morton's called the police, because they saw the light in the cottage. Cal tries to explain his situation to them and finally they walk him to the Morton's, where Marcella and her mother-in-law give an `ok' to the police and after signing some papers they leave. Cal explains everything to the Morton's, they tell him about their fear since Mr. Morton was killed, but in the end Marcella convinces her mother-in-law that Cal is allowed to live in the cottage. The next day he gets some old furniture from the farm and Marcella, her daughter Lucy and Cal are busy moving things around and they talk about everything and nothing. Cal gets second-hand clothes from Marcellas dead husband, she washes his clothes and at night he sits useless in his new home. Cal feels very safe from the outside world and thinks about the times, when his Mom was still alive until he falls asleep into a night filled with nightmares. The other night Marcella admits to Cal how much she dislikes seeing Mr. Morton suffering, and how she needs to get out of the farm and how it isn't easy to live with Mrs. Morton and her Parkinson disease. Sunday he goes to church with Marcella and one day he gets a lift to town to see his Dad from Dunlop and on their way Dunlop explains his idea of this `Ireland- war' to Cal. Cal finds his Dad as a broken man, who is apathetic sitting in his chair crying and Cal tells Shamie to see a Doctor instantly. Shamie agrees and tells Cal that Skeffington came one day to ask for him and that Crilly asks Shamie nearly every day if he knows where his son is. Cal's worried about his Dad and about those guys asking for him and again Cal doesn't tell his Dad where he lives. Marcella gives Cal a lift home and on their way they stop to get a drink in a bar and they get more familiar to each other. Saturday they take a walk to collect blackberries, nearly like a small family, Lucy holding hands between her Mom and Cal. Cal feels like confessing his terrible sin to her, but in fear of loosing her sympathy, he remains silent with a bad feeling in his stomach. When they return to the farm all of a sudden they hear an explosion and fall down to the earth. Marcella and Lucy run home and Cal goes to see what happened, and he finds a half of a cow, which stepped on a mine, lying in the grass.
CHAPTER 5 (p. 122-153)
Frequently asked questions
What is Chapter 1 about?
Chapter 1 introduces Cal and his father, Shamie, who are Catholics living in a Protestant area. Cal is unemployed and encounters Marcella, a librarian who he recognizes, causing him distress because of a past connection. He also struggles with his involvement in a gang led by Crilly and receives a threat from the UVF.
What happens in Chapter 2?
In Chapter 2, Cal avoids Crilly, works for extra money selling wood, is assaulted by Protestants and sells wood to Marcella's farm. He finds the husband of the woman he sold the wood to sick. He eventually gets a job on the farm and works alongside a few people including Marcella.
What are the key events of Chapter 3?
Chapter 3 involves Cal being pressured by Crilly to participate in a robbery, which he reluctantly does. He expresses his desire to leave the gang. His home is burned down, and he moves to an old cottage near Marcella's farm, haunted by the memory of his involvement in the murder of Marcella's husband.
What is the main conflict in Chapter 4?
Chapter 4 focuses on Cal living in the cottage, his growing feelings for Marcella, and his guilt. He is discovered by the Mortons, but Marcella helps him stay. He becomes more involved in their lives, forming a bond with Marcella and her daughter Lucy, while struggling with the weight of his secret.
What transpires in Chapter 5?
Chapter 5 sees Cal and Marcella grow closer, eventually leading to a sexual relationship. Cal visits his father in an insane asylum. He encounters Crilly again, who is involved in an incident at the library where Marcella works, and ultimately, Cal is arrested, his secret still unknown to Marcella.
- Quote paper
- Ann Pebbr (Author), 2000, Laverty, Bernard Mac - Cal, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/98371
