In Chapter five, Furlong returns to the convent to deliver a big order of coal. It is a Sunday morning and the town is quiet as he makes his way through the convent except for the singing he hears coming from St Margaret’s next door.
He makes his way to the coal house and the bolt is stiff with frost. He has to force the door open and when he enters he senses that there is someone in the coal house. He shines his torch across the room and is stunned when he sees a young girl lying on the floor and he sees the excrement on the floor, which indicates how long she has been locked in the shed. Furlong helps the girl out of the shed and she is unsure if it is day or night.
Bill brings the girl to the front door of the convent. A young nun opens the door but panics when she sees Bill and the girl and slams the door shut. While they are waiting on the step, the girl says to Furlong, ‘won’t you ask them about my baby?’ She then explains that her baby is fourteen weeks old and has been taken away from her.
Mother Superior, the head nun, opens the door and thanks Furlong for coming to the convent so early. She says that they have been looking for the girl and they had no idea where she was. We can see the power that Mother Superior holds in this chapter, as she manages to deflect the blame onto the young girl and refuses to take no for an answer when she invites Furlong in for tea.
He follows Mother Superior into the convent and makes his way to a large room, where he is given tea as the young girl is taken away. Mother Superior returns and takes a seat beside Bill. She begins to question Furlong about his daughters, saying that she hears that they are doing well at school. ‘They carry themselves well,’ she comments before adding, ‘won’t they all soon find themselves next door in time to come, God willing.’ There is a hint of menace in his tone here as she continues, telling Furlong that it’s not easy to find a place for everyone in St. Margaret’s. There is a subtle threat here from Mother Superior that if Bill causes any fuss, his daughters might find that they would not be welcome in St. Margaret’s.
Mother Superior says that it must be a disappointment that he has no son to carry on his name. Bill is angry at this and replies, ‘sure, didn’t I take my own mother’s name, mother. And it never did me any harm.’ At this point, the young girl from the coal shed is brought in to have tea as well as she is questioned by Mother Superior about how she ended up in the coal shed. In a farcical attempt to hide the truth, the girl admits that they were playing hide and seek and the other girls locked her in the shed.
Furlong realises that they want him gone as soon as possible and he refuses to leave, asking for more tea and engaging in idle conversation. Mother Superior reaches into her pocket and hands Furlong an envelope saying that this is just something for Christmas. Despite being reluctant to take it, Furlong stretches out his hand and puts it in his pocket. Mother Superior knows she can maintain power through her control of St Margaret’s and her ability to hand over large sums of money.
On the way out, Furlong tries to get the young girl to tell him if something is wrong. He enquires about her name and she replies, ‘I go by Enda in here.’This illustrates how the nuns rename these women after saints so they are not connected with the ‘sins’ associated with their own name. Furlong eventually finds out that her name is Sarah Redmond and he tells her, ‘that was my own mother’s name.’ He tells the young girl where he works and that if she ever needs help, she can come to the yard and ask for him. Furlong leaves and he can hear the ominous sound of a key locking as he walks off, symbolising the idea that the nuns are keeping their secrets locked in the convent.
Questions:
- How does the writer create an ominous mood in the opening of chapter 5?
- Describe the situation that Furlong discovers when he opens the coal shed.
- What is your impression of Mother Superior?
- How does Mother Superior deal with the threat of Furlong revealing what he found? What does this show about how people in power maintain their power?
- Why is the young girl’s name significant? Will this have an impact on the story going forward?
- Furlong is brave in this chapter. Discuss this statement providing relevant information from the chapter.