Small Things Like These (Leaving Cert English): Revision Notes
Plot Summary
Setting and main character
The story takes place in New Ross, Ireland, during the winter of 1985, just before Christmas. The protagonist is Bill Furlong, who operates a coal and fuel delivery business. Due to the cold temperatures and snowy weather, his business experiences high demand during this period leading up to Christmas. Furlong's work involves long, physically demanding days managing materials and making deliveries throughout the town.
Bill Furlong has an unusual family background that shapes his character throughout the story. Unlike most men of his social class, he was raised by his unmarried mother Sarah and educated by Mrs. Wilson, a wealthy Protestant widow. This upbringing gave him both education and moral values that set him apart from his community.
Bill Furlong grew up as an only child, raised by his unmarried mother Sarah after she became pregnant at sixteen. They lived with Mrs. Wilson, a wealthy Protestant widow who took Sarah in and helped raise young Bill. Mrs. Wilson taught him to read and instilled strong Protestant moral values in him. This upbringing was significant because it provided him with education and moral guidance that many in his social class didn't receive. Tragically, Sarah died when Furlong was just twelve years old, and he never knew his father's identity, which leaves him with ongoing questions about his own background and place in the world.
As an adult, Furlong is married to Eileen, and together they have five daughters: Kathleen, Joan, Sheila, Grace, and Loretta. The girls are actively involved in school and religious activities, and while Furlong takes pride in them, he constantly worries about their futures. He's particularly concerned about the poverty that affects their community and questions his own life's purpose and meaning. These worries often keep him awake at night, though Eileen frequently dismisses his concerns and encourages him to stop overthinking their situation.
The discovery at the convent
Overlooking the town from the hilltop sits a convent operated by the Good Shepherd nuns. This institution has a troubling reputation among the townspeople, with persistent rumours circulating about the mistreatment of the girls who live there. The girls are widely considered to be "troubled and unholy," though most people, including Furlong initially, dismiss these rumours without much thought.
During one of his delivery runs to the convent, Furlong witnesses something that deeply disturbs him. He sees girls with shaved heads scrubbing floors, their appearances suggesting harsh treatment. One desperate girl approaches him, begging for help and expressing her desire to escape. She tells him she wants to "drown herself," indicating the severity of her desperation. However, Furlong feels unable to help her at that moment and leaves, troubled by what he has witnessed.
When Furlong tells Eileen about what he saw, she insists it's not their problem and argues they should focus on their own daughters. This creates the central tension of the story - the conflict between social conformity and moral responsibility. Eileen represents the community's willingness to look the other way, while Furlong struggles with his conscience.
The Christmas deliveries and deeper involvement
In the days leading up to Christmas, Furlong continues making his regular deliveries. During another visit to the convent, he discovers a young girl shivering in the coal shed. When he offers her his jacket and tries to help, the nuns quickly intervene, acting indifferent to the girl's obvious distress. The Mother Superior invites Furlong inside for tea and casual conversation, during which she coerces the girl into admitting that her presence in the coal shed was merely part of a game of hide-and-seek with the other girls. The Mother Superior dismisses the situation as meaningless and presents Furlong with a Christmas card containing money before having him escorted from the premises.
Before leaving, Furlong learns that the girl's name is Sarah - the same name as his deceased mother. This coincidence adds emotional weight to his encounter and strengthens his connection to her plight. He offers her help if she ever needs it, showing his growing concern for her welfare.
The shared name "Sarah" creates a powerful symbolic connection between Furlong's mother and the girl he will eventually rescue. This parallel helps explain why Furlong feels so compelled to act - he sees in Sarah's situation what could have happened to his own mother in different circumstances.
Family connections and Christmas Eve
Furlong attends Mass with his family, though he misses the first service and joins them for the second. At home, he mentions to Eileen his plans to visit Ned during the holiday season. During this visit, a woman informs Furlong that Ned was recently hospitalised with pneumonia and is now recovering in a nursing home. She assumes Furlong is related to Ned due to their physical resemblance, which leads Furlong to wonder whether Ned might actually be his father - a possibility that has clearly occurred to him before.
On Christmas Eve, Furlong works only half a day before joining his crew for a Christmas celebration meal at Kehoe's. Mrs. Kehoe specifically advises him to stay quiet about the convent, reminding him of the nuns' significant influence throughout the community. She thanks him and leaves him to run errands around town.
While moving through town, Furlong takes time to look into shop windows and listen to Christmas music playing through the street speakers. He visits a toy shop where he asks Mrs. Stafford about a 500-piece farm jigsaw puzzle similar to one he had wanted as a child, but she only has simpler puzzles available. He purchases a bag of lemon jellies and continues with his errands.
The final decision and rescue
After getting a haircut, Furlong visits Hanrahan's to collect patent shoes he bought as a Christmas present for Eileen. As he crosses the bridge, he recalls a local myth about the river claiming three lives each year - a story his mother used to reference as having some truth to it. He walks towards the hill, passing festive homes and observing people in their windows as he heads towards the convent.
Upon opening the coal shed once again, Furlong finds Sarah in an even worse condition - weak and shivering. This time, he makes the decisive choice to help her escape. During their walk back to his house, he briefly considers taking Sarah to the priest but ultimately decides against it, believing the clergy are likely complicit in the convent's treatment of the girls.
As they walk through the streets together, people pass them with various reactions. Some approach with curiosity about where Sarah came from, while others offer polite holiday greetings but seem confused by the situation. Notably, no one speaks directly to Sarah, and Furlong feels no obligation to explain who she is or where she came from.
At the town centre, Sarah becomes physically ill and vomits. They rest at the Nativity scene, where Sarah gently brushes snow off the donkey's ear. As they continue walking, Sarah leans on Furlong for support. Despite knowing there will be consequences for his actions, Furlong experiences both fear and fulfilment, confident that he has done the right thing. He reflects that without Mrs. Wilson's influence in his childhood, his mother might have ended up in a similar institution to the one from which he's rescuing Sarah. He believes the most difficult part of his ordeal is behind them and that they will manage whatever comes next.
The truth about Magdalene laundries
Historical Context: Magdalene Laundries
Though not explicitly stated in the story, the convent is actually a Magdalene laundry, a church-run institution where women and girls were sent if they got pregnant outside of marriage or were considered to have gone against social or moral norms.
Magdalene laundries are now infamous for the abuse and cruelty they inflicted on the women forced to reside there, but until the 1990s, the Church, the government, and much of the public refused to acknowledge the horrifying truth about what occurred there.
This historical context transforms the story from a simple tale of individual moral courage into a broader commentary about social complicity in systems of abuse and the courage required to act according to one's conscience when faced with institutional wrongdoing.
The story gains additional significance when we understand this historical context. Furlong's moral struggle represents the broader challenge faced by individuals living in communities where institutional abuse was hidden and protected by those in power. His decision to rescue Sarah becomes not just a personal act of kindness, but a rejection of the social contract that demanded silence in the face of injustice.
The story thus becomes not just about one man's moral awakening, but about the broader social complicity in systems of abuse and the courage required to act according to one's conscience when faced with institutional wrongdoing.
Key Points to Remember:
- Setting and context: The story takes place in 1985 Ireland during Christmas, when the truth about Magdalene laundries was still hidden from public acknowledgement
- Character background: Furlong's unusual upbringing by his unmarried mother and Mrs. Wilson gives him a different moral perspective than many in his community
- Central conflict: The tension between social conformity (staying silent about the convent) and moral responsibility (helping Sarah) drives the entire narrative
- Symbolic connections: The girl Sarah shares the same name as Furlong's mother, creating a personal connection that motivates his final decision to act
- Historical significance: The story illuminates the broader social complicity in institutional abuse and the courage required to stand against accepted wrongs