Small Things Like These (Quotes)

“Furlong had come from nothing”.

Shows Furlong’s childhood was not easy and also highlights how far he had come.

“As he grew, Mrs Wilson, who had no children of her own, took him under her wing”

Shows Mrs Wilson’s kind and helping character and also where Furlong got his moral courage from.

“He imagined his girls getting big and growing up, going out into that world full of men”

Clear theme of gender portrayed as Furlong is aware and afraid of how the men would be like to his daughters.

“It was 1985, and the young people were leaving, emigrating for London and Boston, New York”

Shows the cultural context and timeline of Ireland at the time of the novel.

“What would life be like, he wondered, if they were given time to think and reflect about things”

The lack of freedom and also hardship of the world is shown as we see there’s hardly a time to slow down.

“Always they carried mechanically on, without pause, to the next job at hand”

The robotic nature of life is seen there as it is mundane and repetitive.

“It was easy to understand why women feared men with their physical strength and lust and social power, but women with their uncanny intuitions were so much deeper”

Ideas of men and women are portrayed here. Men are characterised by strength and lust and power whilst women are characterised by their uncanny intelligence and intuition.

“What was it all for, Furlong wondered”

Furlong ruminates on why he’s doing all this. Shows how introspective he is which is a glaring anachronism to the world around him.

“The convent was a powerful-looking place on the hill”

Foreshadows the idea of how powerful the convent and the nuns are, and the hill symbolising them to being on a different level of status.

“If you want to get on in life, there’s things you’ll have to ignore, so you can keep on”

• Eileen’s advice against Furlong overthinking what he saw at the convent. She brings the idea that turning a blind eye is how they survive in this world.

“The ordinary part of him wished he’d never come near the place”

Shows the internal conflict — the regular ordinary Furlong is like his world, ignorant and just wants to get on with his simple life.

“You’ll come in, she said. I‘ll not have it otherwise”

A pretty basic but effective example of the power the nuns as Mother Superior pressures Furlong into entering the convent.

“He was encouraged by his queer, new power. He was, after all, a man amongst women here”

Gender dynamics are present. Furlong feels a sense of social power in the moment as he’s the only man in the scene.

“Easy knowing you’re related”

The woman’s remark initially baffles Furlong. But, he dwells on the possibility and it being the answer to the lifelong question.

“The worst was how the girl had been handled while he was present”

The morally courageous Furlong shows he regretted doing nothing at the convent and how he just let it all happen.

“These nuns have their fingers in every pie”

Mrs Kehoe tells this to warn Furlong. It sums up the level of power and authority the nuns have.

“Matched by the fear of what he could not see but knew he would encounter”

A foreshadow into Furlong potentially facing consequences for saving Sarah and also the mysterious wrath of the nuns.

“Was it possible to carry on along through all the years, and decades, through an entire life, without once being brave enough to go against what was there”

Scene clearly defined Furlong’s courage and his belief in doing the right thing even if it means going against those who have authority over him.