|
|
|
|
|
Cal
|
|
|
CAL Bernard Mac Laverty was born in 1942 in Belfast. On leaving school (A-levels in English and Chemistry) he worked as a laboratory technician in the anatomy department at Queen's University, Belfast. When he was 28 he left that job to become student of English Literature at Queen's University where he graduated and also gained a teaching qualification. He moved to Scotland where he taught at various schools in Edinburgh and Glasgow until 1981 when he gave up teaching in order to write full time. MacLaverty began to write at the age of 19, as something to do "after the dot disappeared on the TV set." His breakthrough came in 1977 with a collection of short stories: "Secrets and Other Stories". Love and family matters, particularly the father-son-relationship, are a central topic in MacLaverty's writing. His own father died when he was only 12. He lived for some time on the Isle of Islay, but has now returned to Glasgow. He is married with four children. Summary of the book The story "CAL" by Bernard Mac Laverty takes place in Northern Ireland (Ulster). The young Irishman Cal lives alone with his father Shamie (both are Catholics) in a town near Belfast in which mainly Protestants live. Cal's mother died when he was 8 years old. Life there isn't easy for Cal. Additionally, Cal sympathizes with the IRA (= Irish Republican Army). Together with his friends Crilly and Skeffington, who are members of the IRA, too, Cal plans criminal acts. Another problem for him is being out of work. So he has time enough to visit the library. One day when he's there to borrow a book he sees a woman, Marcella. He falls in love with her and must always think of this woman. Marcella is much older than Cal, she is a widow and has a daughter. Because of being unemployed Shamie offers Cal a little job: he asks him to sell some wood. Cal accepts and so he tries to sell as much wood as possible. Cal drives to a farm which belongs to the Mortons. There a woman buys the trees or rather logs and asks him to cut them into smaller pieces. A bit later the woman turns out to be Marcella's mother-in-law. The Mortons offer Cal a job on the farm. He has a chance to see Marcella every day! With working on the farm he gets more and more in contact with the Morton family and falls in love with Marcella. But there is something threatening in the air: Cal took part in the murder of her husband by driving the car for the murderer. Nobody knows this. Time passes and Cal tries to separate from his "friends" Crilly and Skeffington and the IRA after having been the driver for some of their illegal activities. Later in the story Shamie's and Cal's house is burned down by militant Protestants, so Cal lives secretely in a derelict building on the farm. When the Mortons discover it, he's allowed to stay there. At the end of the story Marcella falls in love with Cal and both become lovers until finally the police arrest him Something about Cal's character When you start reading this story you get the impression that Cal is a bit introverted. One reason for this assumption could be that Cal doesn't speak much at the beginning of the story. A bit later we learn that Cal's mother died when he was 8 years old. You realize that he misses his mother. One night he dreams of her. The dream deals with him being afraid and her reassuring him. A situation like that shows us how important a loving mother is, especially when you are depressed. It doesn't matter how old you are. After having lost his mother Cal tries to find a kind of family-substitute. To this "family" his friends Crilly and Skeffington belong, perhaps the IRA, too. They often spend time together, because of being unemployed Cal has enough time. When they meet at Crilly's house, Crilly's mother often comes in to bring tea or something else. Then Crilly and Skeffington seem to be annoyed but Cal is always nice to her and friendly. He likes to be near women. Contacts with women are pleasant for him. Later in the story he sees Marcella for the first time. He admires her and falls in love (cf. Relationship Cal - Marcella). She is Cal's first love and the only person who is able to bridge the distance between Cal and women. Cal finds a mother and later a girlfriend in Marcella who is a widow and has a little daughter. When they become lovers at the end of the story, Cal becomes a father figure for the child. The whole story and the persons' feelings deal with gaining and losing. We also learn that the family, surroundings and the political atmosphere influence a character. Characterization of Marcella Marcella's family comes from Italy. She is small, dark-haired and she has brown eyes. About five years before the beginning of the story, she married Robert Morton, a Protestant from Ulster. Marcella herself is a Catholic. Since her husband was murdered by militant Catholics, Marcella lives with her little daughter Lucy in the farmhouse of her parents-in-law. Marcella is very beautiful and attractive. She works in a library to get out of her boring life at home. She is discontent with her life because she feels alone with her thoughts and problems. Here you can see that she is very sensitive. Marcella has a very good character. She wants to help other people and she is very friendly to everyone. Sometimes she thinks that she doesn't behave like a good widow should and so she feels guilty. She has got a lot of dreams about her future and when Cal comes into her life she finally finds a good friend to talk to. Later she even falls in love with him but she is afraid of what other people could say about their age-difference. The relationship between Cal and Marcella The relationship between Cal and Marcella begins at that moment when Cal sees Marcella for the first time. She works in the library and he is instantly fascinated by her. At this moment he still doesn't know who she is, but the reader feels that something must have happened in the past, because Cal is frightened when he hears her name. Up to this point he tries to come closer to her, so he goes to the library to see her and he talks to her whenever it is possible, but she doesn't notice him. The first time she notices him is when he carries her groceries for her. She thanks him and then she goes away. When he begins working on the farm of the Mortons', he has the opportunity to get closer to Marcella. But here it also ends in short conversations. After his house burned down he is forced to live in a cottage at the Mortons' farm. Now Marcella helps him to fix up the cottage and they spend some time together. Cal wishes for a real relationship, but he thinks of the past and he gets a guilty conscience. So he has no hope because of what he did. One day she invites him for dinner and there he takes all his courage and kisses her. After trying to kiss her she turns him down and explains that she only likes him as a friend. In spite of that, the reader gets the impression that she secretely longs for a love-affair. On the other side, she seems to be unsure because of the difference of their ages and she also feels engaged to her husband's family. In chapter 5 their secret wish comes true and they spend some days happily together. This book has, like many others, no happy end and so Cal has to leave Marcella. Because of his criminal past, he is arrested by the police. But before that, he decided to write her in a letter that he is responsible of her husband's death.
|
|
|
|
Still Can't Find What Your Looking For? Then Try a Essay Search!
|
