“Tis all about birth control and that’s banned in Ireland.” McCourt, 1996: 348.
Frank had commanded to tear out the page of sixteen because it contains information about „birth control’. Frank and Mr. McCaffrey
runned into every shop, grabbed the magazines, and torn the page of sixteen. The noisy has get the shop owners scream and wonder what they
have done to the magazines. But, Frank’s manager tell them that this is the government order, as he said below:.
“Mr. McCaffreys tells them, Government orders, ma’am. There is filth in
John O’London this week that’s not fit for any Irish eyes and we are here to do God’s work.” McCourt, 1996: 148
The statement above shows how conservative Ireland is. They do that for regarding it as the God’s work and for saving the Irish. Birth
control itsself is one of innovation form that is result of new era. But, Ireland chooses to refuse it instead of receive it as the form of innovation.
The refusal of the innovation can be the reason of Ireland called as the conservative country that keep their tradition to not to control the birth, but
receive the birth as the gift from God that can not be controlled and refused.
In brief, this conservative characteristics has similation to the Orient charateristics of primitive that is not developed, original or derived
from the anything else.
e. People’s attitude
Based on Frank’s experiences with the priest, Frank has been treated rudely by the member of church. The first is the time his father
took him to the St. Joseph’s to see the sacristan, Stephen Carey, who is in
charge of altar boy. But Stephen refused him and slammed the door after Frank’s face. The second is the time Frank went to Christian Brother’s
School with his mom to continue his school to secondary school. But, he is also refuse and slammed the door by the face. And the third is the time he
was also slammed the door by the face when he is willing to confess the sin to the Jesuit but he is in a drunk condition at the time. He just wanted
to confess the sin for what he has done that is a sex relationship he does with the sick girl, Theresa Camody, and feel guilty over her dead because
he has make her sinned for the sex relationship before marriage. Those refusal have lead Frank to a negative thought that Ireland priest is not
pleasant. Frank compares the Ireland priest to American priest he seeing in movies. Frank assumes that American priests are pleasant that will not
chase him away and will not be discriminative as Ireland priest does.
I’m fifteen now and I pass churches without stopping. I’ll have to wait till I go to America where there are priests like Bing Crosby in
Going My Way who won’t kick me out of the confessional like
Limerick priests”. I still ha
ve the sin, the abscess, and I hope it doesn’t kill me entirely before I see the American priest.McCourt, 1996: 330
Frank regards what he has done with There Carmody is a big sin. He
affraid for getting a refusal again by the priest like what he has experienced before. He always passes the church and never stopping. He
just want to confess his sin to priest in America like the priest like Bing
Crosby who is the actor as the priest he sees a movie who will not kick him out.
His experiences about those refusal shows the rude and discriminative behaviour of people in Ireland. Those behaviour has
indicated the condition of people in a country that is uncivilized where civilized pepople must be a person who is polite, calm and act in
reasonable way. Those uncivilized behaviour has finally addresses Ireland as the Orient where the people is uncivilized.
2. England as The Occident
a. Higher Class Country
In this novel, Frank often similizes the rich people in Ireland to the life of English people, it can be thorugh their habit, their appearance, and
their accent. Everytime he meets or see the rich people, he always relate them to the English life. as the quotation below.
“We work all day moving boxes and bags to the shed outside. Mam opens all the windows to air the house and let out the smell of the
hair oil and the years of no air. She says its a relief to be able to see the floor again and now we can sit down and have a nice cup of tea
in peace, ease and comfort, and wont it be lovely when the warm weather comes and we might be able to have a garden and sit outside
with our tea the way the English do.”McCourt, 1996: 281 At the time Frank moved
to his uncle’s house, Frank got excited to the nice house where there is garden in the backyard McCourt, 1996:279.
He imagined how he can imitate the habit of English by enjoying the nice
