Consequence Of Events In First Confession
I have included some ideas for discussion points for most questions. Please add your own.
*Read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7) for background information.
*Review the sequence of events in “First Confession” with the group. This will ensure that everyone is familiar with the story.
Jackie is a seven-year Catholic boy who must make his first confession before he can take his first communion. He is embarrassed by his grandmother who has just moved in with his parents because she drinks porter beer and eats her potatoes with her fingers, and favors his sister Norma. Jackie is prepared for his first confession by Mrs. Ryan.
Jackie is afraid to make his first confession because he is worried that the priest will …show more content…
not forgive his sins.
On the day of his confession, Jackie makes a fool out of himself by falling off a shelf in the confession booth, but the priest tells Jackie that he will hear his confession.
Jackie tells the priest about his fantasies about killing his grandmother.
The priest listens patiently and treats Jackie with kind sympathetic words.
Jackie meets Nora after his confession. Nora is shocked to hear how well the confession went.
Questions
1. In literature, characters may operate as foils, characters who contrast with one another in a way that they emphasize each other’s differences. For examples, Mrs. Ryan and the priest serve as character foils, both seeming to represent the essential teaching of Christianity.
Summarize how they [the priest and Mrs. Ryan] represent the teachings of Christ.
The priest embodies many of the values that Jesus laid out as the conduct for the followers of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7).
Christ is merciful. He is always willing to forgive a truly repentant sinner and give him a second chance. The priest is also merciful and gives Jackie a second chance. The priest demonstrates the compassion that Christ valued.
Mrs. Ryan, also, represents the teachings of Christ. In Matthew 5: 19 (King James) Jesus says:
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments; and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
She teaches Jackie the importance of the Ten Commandment through fear Also, like Christ, she uses short fictional narratives in the third person. (Burbules). She recalls the story of the priest and “the fellow who made a bad confession (O’Connor 280)
She teaches Jackie about eternal damnation “in roasting hot furnaces all eternity” (280
How does this contrast develop the theme of the story?
Different themes are present in “First Confession” such as fear and understanding as well as honesty and hypoocrisy.
Fear and Understanding
After hearing Mrs. Ryan’s visions of burning in hell, Jackie exclaims: “I was scared to death of confession.” Jackie is ready to run from the church instead of going to it.
On the other hand, the priest’s understanding and patience causes Jackie to willingly to listen and talk about his sins with the priest in the confessional booth. Jackie changes from a naïve young boy who was scared of confession to having an understanding of confession
What effect is gained by the author’s description (contrast) of these characters? Ask the group for their answers.
Note Foil: Usually a character who points ups the characteristics of another character. For instance, a foolish character shows up the character of wise character in a differnt light. Source: NCT’s Dictionary of Literary Terms. I could not find “foil” in Abrams.
What other character foil exists in the story? Jackie and
Nora
“First Confession” is filled with instances of Jackie’s displacement. He is struggling to be accepted by his family and those in his church.
b. List the examples of Jackie’s displacement.
At home, Jackie sees changes in the family by the arrival of his grandmother. Jackie says: “All the trouble began when my grandfather died and my grandmother--my father’s mother--came to live with us” (O’Connor 279).
Nora, Jackie’s sister, is favored by the grandmother. Jackie observes, “Nora, my sister, just sucked up to the old woman for a penny she got every Friday out of the old age-pension, a thing I could not do” (279).
Jackie see his mother as his only ally and protector. Instead of Jackie’s mother taking him to confession as he had anticipated, Nora went with him (280).
If there is uncertainty about the answers for 2(c) 2(d) and 2(d) , review the summary with the group. (a) State in one sentence the theme of the story.
The theme of fear and understanding is discussed in question 1 (b). The other theme could be hypocrisy.
(b) Does one character convey the theme more than another? Nora's actions, dialogue and Jackie’s view of her show Nora’s hypocrisy. (a) Who is the naive narrator ? Jackie
The naive narrator does not objectively understand the events happening around him. The narrator's inexperience causes a distorted perspective
(b) What are some examples of the naivete of the narrator? There are many examples in the story. Here are two of them.
Jackie’s reaction toward his grandmother and her vices.
Jackie’s plans for getting rid of his grandmother’s body, Underline places in the story that show a clear-sighted judgement and a more mature evaluation of the experience.
There is a change in the narrator’s tone when a more mature evaluation of experience is introduced.
Example:
Mature Narrator: “Outside, after the shadow of the church, the sunlight was like the roaring of waves on a beach; it dazzled me, and the frozen silence melted, and I heard the screech of trams on the road my heart soared” (283).
“She [Mrs. Ryan] was about the one age with Gran; she was well-to- do, lived in a big house on Montenotte, wore a black cloak and bonnet. . . “ (280).
(f) How does acknowledging the concept of the naive narrator in conjunction with a more mature narrator affect your reading of the piece?
*Read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7) for background information.
*Review the sequence of events in “First Confession” with the group. This will ensure that everyone is familiar with the story.
Jackie is a seven-year Catholic boy who must make his first confession before he can take his first communion. He is embarrassed by his grandmother who has just moved in with his parents because she drinks porter beer and eats her potatoes with her fingers, and favors his sister Norma. Jackie is prepared for his first confession by Mrs. Ryan.
Jackie is afraid to make his first confession because he is worried that the priest will …show more content…
not forgive his sins.
On the day of his confession, Jackie makes a fool out of himself by falling off a shelf in the confession booth, but the priest tells Jackie that he will hear his confession.
Jackie tells the priest about his fantasies about killing his grandmother.
The priest listens patiently and treats Jackie with kind sympathetic words.
Jackie meets Nora after his confession. Nora is shocked to hear how well the confession went.
Questions
1. In literature, characters may operate as foils, characters who contrast with one another in a way that they emphasize each other’s differences. For examples, Mrs. Ryan and the priest serve as character foils, both seeming to represent the essential teaching of Christianity.
Summarize how they [the priest and Mrs. Ryan] represent the teachings of Christ.
The priest embodies many of the values that Jesus laid out as the conduct for the followers of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7).
Christ is merciful. He is always willing to forgive a truly repentant sinner and give him a second chance. The priest is also merciful and gives Jackie a second chance. The priest demonstrates the compassion that Christ valued.
Mrs. Ryan, also, represents the teachings of Christ. In Matthew 5: 19 (King James) Jesus says:
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments; and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
She teaches Jackie the importance of the Ten Commandment through fear Also, like Christ, she uses short fictional narratives in the third person. (Burbules). She recalls the story of the priest and “the fellow who made a bad confession (O’Connor 280)
She teaches Jackie about eternal damnation “in roasting hot furnaces all eternity” (280
How does this contrast develop the theme of the story?
Different themes are present in “First Confession” such as fear and understanding as well as honesty and hypoocrisy.
Fear and Understanding
After hearing Mrs. Ryan’s visions of burning in hell, Jackie exclaims: “I was scared to death of confession.” Jackie is ready to run from the church instead of going to it.
On the other hand, the priest’s understanding and patience causes Jackie to willingly to listen and talk about his sins with the priest in the confessional booth. Jackie changes from a naïve young boy who was scared of confession to having an understanding of confession
What effect is gained by the author’s description (contrast) of these characters? Ask the group for their answers.
Note Foil: Usually a character who points ups the characteristics of another character. For instance, a foolish character shows up the character of wise character in a differnt light. Source: NCT’s Dictionary of Literary Terms. I could not find “foil” in Abrams.
What other character foil exists in the story? Jackie and
Nora
“First Confession” is filled with instances of Jackie’s displacement. He is struggling to be accepted by his family and those in his church.
b. List the examples of Jackie’s displacement.
At home, Jackie sees changes in the family by the arrival of his grandmother. Jackie says: “All the trouble began when my grandfather died and my grandmother--my father’s mother--came to live with us” (O’Connor 279).
Nora, Jackie’s sister, is favored by the grandmother. Jackie observes, “Nora, my sister, just sucked up to the old woman for a penny she got every Friday out of the old age-pension, a thing I could not do” (279).
Jackie see his mother as his only ally and protector. Instead of Jackie’s mother taking him to confession as he had anticipated, Nora went with him (280).
If there is uncertainty about the answers for 2(c) 2(d) and 2(d) , review the summary with the group. (a) State in one sentence the theme of the story.
The theme of fear and understanding is discussed in question 1 (b). The other theme could be hypocrisy.
(b) Does one character convey the theme more than another? Nora's actions, dialogue and Jackie’s view of her show Nora’s hypocrisy. (a) Who is the naive narrator ? Jackie
The naive narrator does not objectively understand the events happening around him. The narrator's inexperience causes a distorted perspective
(b) What are some examples of the naivete of the narrator? There are many examples in the story. Here are two of them.
Jackie’s reaction toward his grandmother and her vices.
Jackie’s plans for getting rid of his grandmother’s body, Underline places in the story that show a clear-sighted judgement and a more mature evaluation of the experience.
There is a change in the narrator’s tone when a more mature evaluation of experience is introduced.
Example:
Mature Narrator: “Outside, after the shadow of the church, the sunlight was like the roaring of waves on a beach; it dazzled me, and the frozen silence melted, and I heard the screech of trams on the road my heart soared” (283).
“She [Mrs. Ryan] was about the one age with Gran; she was well-to- do, lived in a big house on Montenotte, wore a black cloak and bonnet. . . “ (280).
(f) How does acknowledging the concept of the naive narrator in conjunction with a more mature narrator affect your reading of the piece?