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Corrigan is a very complex, perplexing character for me. The author tries to show how Corrigan is religious and devoted and at a young age. The author describes how even at a young age, he attended a school with Jesuits, praying morning, afternoon, evening. Even as he is trying to fall asleep, he is reciting his prayers. Yet, even from the very onset of the story, the author tries to show that Corrigan often got drunk very young and soon became very addicted to it. However, Corrigan was a pacifist and oftentimes, Corrigan got punched and hurt when hanging around others who were drunk. Later on, when Corrigan immigrated to the United States, a similar problem developed, where one of the lady in the building Corrigan lives thinks Corrigan is addicted to drugs. He often gets into fights with the pimps and gets injured. He is also living in a place where there were a lot of prostitutes. Not only that, Corrigan also falls in love with this woman named Adelita, in a way compromising his religious beliefs. Overall, these examples show that his religious beliefs were often challenged and his faith is brought to the test. His life isn’t characterized by a smooth sailing life. He lost his mother at a young age, migrated to the United States as an immigrant, had to find a completely new place in a different country to live, got into fights with a lot of people, and unfortunately died of a car-crash. Certainly his life was not simple. He was in poverty, he chose chastity and obedience, and he was unarmed when people were against him. It’s also interesting that as a religious person, he was surrounded by very non-religious people. I wonder whether he was trying to have an influence on others, but ultimately became the victim of the negative influence of others. Even Ciaran mentions that he remembers when Corrigan was so pure and definite as a young child walking along the seashore in Dublin, Ireland, but maybe the world corrupted his purity and innocence over the years through his encounters.
I think you did a great job of analyzing Corrigan’s character. I like how you described how his religion is something that adds to his conflict. Usually religion is something that brings someone peace, and I think in a way it does so for Corrigan, but not without a struggle. I’m not sure if I would say that his purity and innocence was completely corrupted — we don’t see him breaking his celibacy, and his religiously-infused caring for the prostitutes lasts all the way up to the end, his car crash death. Corrigan always has a part of him that wants to help and care for others, even though it might be concealed.
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