Hypocrisy vs. Ideals in Small Things Like These

Introduction: The Gap Between Promise and Practice

Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These opens with the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic, a document that pledges to "cherish all the children of the nation equally." This epigraph establishes a national ideal of equal rights and liberty. Yet the novel, set in 1985 in the small town of New Ross, immediately undermines this promise by exposing the systematic hypocrisy of the Church and State. The thematic claim is that institutional and personal hypocrisy thrives when individuals and organizations pay lip service to lofty ideals while ignoring the suffering of the vulnerable. Keegan traces this tension through the moral awakening of coal merchant Bill Furlong, whose small acts of decency reveal the vast gap between proclaimed values and actual behaviour.

Tracing the Theme Through the Plot

1. The Epigraph and the Opening Context

The Proclamation's language of "allegiance," "equal rights," and "cherishing all the children" stands in stark contrast to the world of the novel. The very first chapter describes a cold, grey winter where the "empty sack cannot stand" – a proverb that reduces human worth to productivity. The town's rhythm is dictated by the Angelus bell, signalling submission to the Church's timetable. The anonymous "people" endure the weather; there is no sense of a cherished community. This setting immediately questions whether the Proclamation's promise has any reality. The novel's historical note confirms that the last Magdalene laundry operated until 1996, with thousands of women incarcerated and babies dying in institutions run jointly by Church and State. The epigraph thus becomes an indictment: the nation that proclaimed equality allowed these atrocities.

2. Bill Furlong's Early Acts of Kindness and the Cost of Hypocrisy

In Chapter 3, Furlong gives some change to a poor boy gathering sticks in the rain. His wife Eileen criticizes this, saying "some of these bring the hardship on themselves." She reveals the community's hypocrisy: they blame the poor rather than the system. Furlong lies awake worrying about his own daughters and the "hard times all around." This scene establishes the personal cost of empathy in a society that prefers to ignore suffering. Eileen's attitude mirrors the institutional hypocrisy: it is easier to look away. Later, when Furlong tells her about the girls he saw polishing floors in the convent, she insists "such things had nothing to do with them" and argues that the nuns pay on time. She even uses a cruel remark about Furlong's own mother – "far from any hardship that you were reared" – to defend inaction. Here, the theme of hypocrisy enters the domestic sphere: Eileen is a good mother to her own children but will not extend that care to others.

3. The Convent Encounter and Bill's Self‑Condemnation

The most direct illustration of hypocrisy comes in Chapter 6, after Furlong delivers coal to the convent and witnesses the mistreatment of a young woman named Sarah Redmond. He sees her left in a coal shed, her breast milk leaking, and she asks him to find her baby. The Mother Superior dismisses him. Furlong accepts a fifty‑pound note as a Christmas gift from the nuns and then goes to Mass. In the lorry afterward, he torments himself: "what most tormented him was… how he had taken the money and left her there… and how he'd gone on, like a hypocrite, to Mass." This is the pivotal moment of self‑awareness. He recognizes his own complicity. The fifty‑pound note becomes a symbol of the bribes that keep people quiet. At Mass, he refuses Communion, staying "contrarily where he was" – a small rebellion against the institution that sanctifies the system.

4. The Rescue and the Public Hypocrisy

On Christmas Eve, Furlong returns and takes Sarah from the coal shed. He walks her through town, facing stares and confrontations. An elderly woman asks if she is "one of those wans from the laundry." A boy calls her dirty. No one addresses Sarah directly. The town's reaction reveals collective hypocrisy: they know about the laundry but will not acknowledge the girls as individuals. Furlong's joy at doing the right thing is mixed with fear. He knows he will pay for his actions. His internal question – "was there any point in being alive without helping one another?" – directly challenges the hypocrisy of going through life without courage. He thinks of Mrs Wilson, who helped his own mother, breaking the cycle of institutional cruelty. The rescue is not a perfect solution; the worst is yet to come. But it represents the ideal of cherishing a child put into practice.

Character Connections to Hypocrisy

Bill Furlong: He embodies the struggle between conformity and conscience. Initially a hypocrite (taking the money, going to Mass), he moves toward integrity. His illegitimate birth and his mother's near‑fate make the issue personal.
Eileen Furlong: She represents the everyday hypocrisy of survival. She loves her daughters but insists on ignoring the convent girls to protect her family's stability. Her line "If we just mind what we have here… none of ours will ever have to endure the likes" shows a pragmatic but morally compromised stance.
Mother Superior: The institutional face of hypocrisy. She presents a façade of piety while running a system of punishment. She pays bills on time, which earns her cooperation from the town.
Mrs Wilson: A counter‑example. She took in Furlong's mother and raised him, proving that individuals can act on the ideal of cherishing children. She represents a private, moral alternative to public hypocrisy.
Sarah Redmond: The voiceless victim. Her suffering exposes the hypocrisy of a society that calls itself Christian while locking girls in coal sheds.

Symbol Connections

Coal Shed: A symbol of hidden shame. Girls are stored out of sight, like coal, a dirty commodity. Furlong's trade in coal links him to the dirt he must confront.
Christmas Manger: The lighted crib scene where Sarah pauses to stroke the donkey. This represents the story's ideal of humility and care for the vulnerable. The town has decorated it, but their actions ignore its meaning.
Fifty‑Pound Note: A bribe and a symbol of the Church's economic power. It buys silence. Furlong's acceptance of it makes him complicit.
Crows: Scavengers that appear in the novel, mirroring the town's predatory indifference toward the weak.

Complexity and Contradiction

The novel does not offer a simple binary. Furlong is neither hero nor saint; he wrestles with his own hypocrisy. His joy is mixed with fear. Eileen's caution is understandable in a society where dissent brings ruin. The Church is not uniformly evil – Sister Carmel teaches music, and the nuns provide work – but their system is fundamentally cruel. The historical note clarifies that the State was complicit. The epigraph's ideal remains aspirational; the novel ends with Furlong climbing the hill, hoping they will manage, not with a triumphant resolution. This ambiguity forces readers to ask what they would do in similar circumstances.

Study Questions and Answers

How does the epigraph of the 1916 Proclamation establish the theme of hypocrisy vs. ideals?
The epigraph promises equal rights and cherishing of all children. The novel then depicts a society where institutions, especially the Catholic Church and the State, systematically neglect and abuse vulnerable women and girls. The gap between the Proclamation's lofty language and the reality of the Magdalene laundries is the central hypocrisy.
Why does Furlong call himself a hypocrite after visiting the convent?
He took a fifty-pound Christmas gift from the nuns and left Sarah Redmond at the table without asking about her baby, then went to Mass. He realises that by accepting the money and not speaking up, he has participated in the system that abused her.
Analyse Eileen Furlong's attitude toward the convent girls. How does her stance reflect wider societal hypocrisy?
Eileen insists that "such things had nothing to do with them" and that the nuns pay their bills on time. She prioritises her family's security over justice. Her view mirrors the town's willingness to ignore wrongdoing as long as it doesn't affect them directly.
What role does the symbol of the coal shed play in the novel?
The coal shed is where Sarah is kept. It represents hidden shame and the dehumanisation of the laundry girls – they are stored out of sight like fuel. For Furlong, who runs a coal yard, it is a place he knows intimately, forcing him to confront the dirt of the system.
How does the ending of the novel avoid a simple resolution to the hypocrisy vs. ideals theme?
Furlong rescues Sarah but faces unknown consequences. He feels joy yet knows "the worst was yet to come." The community's reaction is mixed, and no institutional change occurs. The novel leaves the reader with hope tempered by realism, underscoring that ideals are not easily achieved.

Conclusion

Small Things Like These is a quiet but devastating critique of hypocrisy. Through Bill Furlong's moral journey, Claire Keegan shows how everyday people can become complicit in systems that betray their professed ideals. The novel does not condemn individuals entirely; rather, it illustrates the courage needed to act on the promise that all children are cherished. The epigraph's ideals remain a challenge to both the characters and the reader.