Frank OConnors First Confession
... Frank O’Connor’s First Confession display’s the horror of a young boy’s initial acknowledgment of his sins. ... Frank OConnor grew up in Ireland in the 1900s. ... OConnors drunken father is reflected in Jackies attitude when he observes his grandmother drinking porter. ... She knows Jackie’s unease about confession, and uses this opportunity to inspire fear in him. ... ” [Genesis 3:23] Jackie believes he will never return to his home, and that this confession is the end of the world for him. ... This is emphasized when Nora goes to make her confession. ... O’Connor uses this comparison to demonstrate how much Jackie believes the completeness of Nora’s confession. ... It is ironic that she tells Jackie this, because she herself committed a bad confession. Nora torments Jackie “with a devilish malice all the way from [their] door,” [pp220] and with the short confession that she gives to the priest, it is unlikely that she confessed any of this. ... Jackie learns that when going to confession, he is not being judged, but absolved of his sins. ... First Confession displays the seemingly woeful life of a little boy bogged down by his sins, ironically more innocent than those who would judge him guilty.