Good Girl

Good Girl by Martia Conlon-McKenna

Some people might say that the power of love can conquer all, but when religion and other factors come into play it tends to get more complicated. Falling in love is something that happens to all of us. Love is a certain kind of strength. Whether this strength is powerful enough to keep two people together despite different religious beliefs or political opinions depends on the two lovers. Religion is love. It brings people together and offers them strength to go through life. Paradoxically, the same religion causes hate and war in the world and therefore tears people apart, as it has been said: “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”[1] The short story called Good Girl (2001) written by Martia Conlon-McKenna revolves around this issue. In this essay I am generally going to focus on the development of the main character and why her love was not able to conquer the opposition. Is love not supposed to conquer all?
The central theme in this short story is the religious conflict in Northern Ireland. In the story we meet Chrissy, who is a Catholic girl. Even though the long-term conflict between Catholics and Protestants in the area seems to be gone, hate is still lying under the surface. After meeting the Protestant boy, Ian, at the school debate, which has been organised as part of the Programme for Mutual Understanding bringing the pupils together across religion, Chrissy falls in love with him. Some of Chrissy’s contemporaries look at her as a betrayer. According to them she needs to learn a lesson and stop being a traitor.
The story takes place in Northern Ireland. In the country there has been a violent conflict for many years between Nationalists and Unionists. Nationalists are Roman Catholics while Unionists are mainly Protestants. Because of the fact that the Unionists see themselves as British, they want Northern Ireland to remain as a part of the United Kingdom. The Nationalists, however, want the country to be reunited with the rest of Ireland.[2] The conflict was caused by controversy between these two groups. “Politicians signing peace agreements and the IRA and the Loyalists talking about cease-fires and handing out their weapons doesn’t mean that things are safe and settled here in the North yet.”[3]

The story is a short story, it is lead off with in-medias-res and the end is open. The narrative technique is the 3rd person narrator, and the author manages to step back and be objective without taking side. This is what makes the story trustworthy. In some way it is an initiation story. The protagonist, Chrissy, develops through the story. At initial stage she is an innocent young girl with long hair and a clean white t-shirt. She has no judgemental opinions or prejudices against the Protestants. After being tortured her hair is cut off and her t-shirt is not white anymore. It is stained with blood symbolizing the “loss of innocence”. The perfect bubble is broken and she is introduced to the real world, which is specked with grime.
Chrissy has a lovely relationship with her two sisters. The youngest one, called Gemma, is fascinated by her. “You know, when I grow up, Chrissy, I’m going to be just like you!”[4] She supports Chrissy and she even goes on at Ian after he returns the letter and calls him a stupid proddy git. The big sister Anna is quite overprotecting and Chrissy finds her irritating. Chrissy herself is an open person with no prejudices. She falls in love with a Protestant, the arch-enemy of the Catholic people. Love is more important than religion and love can conquer the religious conflict. At least that is what she believes. It appears to be one childish illusion of hers, and although she gets tortured because of him, he leaves her perhaps out of fear that something similar will happen to himself.
Eilish Dunne is a girl from Chrissy’s school. She is the antagonist. She is jealous of Chrissy because of her boyfriend and her good looks. “’You know something, Chrissy, you’re a pretty girl.’”[5] Her father is serving a prison sentence for making petrol bombs. Out of frustration Eilish blames everyone around her especially Chrissy. “Eilish had a chip on her shoulder and blamed everyone for the fact that her father was serving a prison sentence. The fact that he’d been caught making petrol bombs in a shed at the bottom of their garden didn’t seem to matter. Eilish and a few other girls were always getting into trouble at school and gave some of the nuns a terrible time.”[6] How come Chrissy is together with someone, who put her father behind bars? “’What are ye doing, wasting your time on a fellah like him! You should have more sense. Our own lads not good enough, is it!’ ‘You’re part of a community, youse can’t go letting us down hanging round with the likes of him. We don’t take kindly to it!’”[7] She decides to get revenge on Chrissy by taking her to a shed in the woods and torturing her.
The atmosphere changes drastically through the story. In the beginning Chrissy is getting ready for her date. The atmosphere is filled with exhilaration, love and happiness. “Their eyes met. Chrissy smiled. ‘Well, Gemma! Do I look all right? What d’ya think?’ Gemma wrapped her arms around her shoulders. ‘You look dropdead gorgeous!’”[8] We can compare this to the home-out-home structure. To begin with Chrissy is safe at home. In the shed she is tortured by the elder girls. The atmosphere is tense, unpleasant and horrifying. “’Look what I found!’ she said, grinning. Chrissy tried to control the sob of fear that threatened to overwhelm her. They were going to tar and feather her, kneecap her – memories of newspaper headlines flooded her brain.”[9] The girls are cutting of her hair, beating her up, damaging her and marking her with their cigarettes. This “trial” makes her realize how the world is really put together. She returns home as an entire different person. The atmosphere at home is strained. Her family is shocked and Chrissy herself is unhappy. The atmosphere goes from being filled with love and cheerfulness to being tense and filled with sorrow in the end.
During my analysis my focus has mainly been set on the relationship between Chrissy and Ian and her development through the story. Their religious beliefs do not seem to matter in the beginning. After being tortured Chrissy realizes that the world is entirely different from what she assumed. In the end Chrissy is an entirely different person with a more realistic point of view. She faces the sad fact that sometimes love is not able conquer all. Chrissy develops through the story. She returns home as a grown up with a broken heart.

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[ 1 ]. http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090831035808AAeM5iT
[ 2 ]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles
[ 3 ]. Martia Conlon-McKenna, Good Girl, Contexts, page69 l. 37-40
[ 4 ]. Martia Conlon-McKenna, Good Girl, Contexts, page69 l. 6-7
[ 5 ]. Martia Conlon-McKenna, Good Girl, Contexts, page 72 l. 36
[ 6 ]. Martia Conlon-McKenna, Good Girl, Contexts, page 70 l. 31-36
[ 7 ]. Martia Conlon-McKenna, Good Girl, Contexts, page 71 l. 28-31
[ 8 ]. Martia Conlon-McKenna, Good Girl, Contexts, page 69 l. 8-11
[ 9 ]. Martia Conlon-McKenna, Good Girl, Contexts, page 73 l. 14-17