The Pilot's Wife

The Troubles were a conflict between two political factions in Northern Ireland, which began in the late 1960s and continued until 1998. One faction, who considered themselves loyalists, wanted to remain a part of the United Kingdom. The other, made up of Irish nationalists, wanted to join the Republic of Ireland. Although it was not a religious conflict, these two factions split mainly down religious lines, with the Catholics supporting joining Ireland and the Protestants wanting to remain with the United Kingdom. The conflict had complex roots and was bloody and devastating for Northern Ireland. The Troubles ended in 1998 with the adoption of the Good Friday Agreement.

The Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary organization, was originally formed in 1917 to fight the British for Irish independence, but changed, split, and reformed many times over the years. One faction, the Provisional Irish Republican Army, was the single most active entity during the Troubles, labeled a terrorist organization by the UK, and disavowed by the Republic of Ireland. At first, the organization was focused mainly on defending Catholic citizens. However, they soon moved on to the offensive, perpetrating bombings and attacks on the British army, as well as other political targets. They were funded from a variety of sources, including Irish American sympathizers, such as those from whom Jack, in the novel, was smuggling money.

During the time in which The Pilot’s Wife is set, in the 1980s, the Troubles in Ireland were international news, yet outsiders did not easily understand the conflict. The media covered events as they happened, but few understood the situation or its complexity. Kathryn’s lack of knowledge about the Troubles was typical in the United States:

At times, she was tempted to think of the participants in this struggle as misguided thugs cloaking themselves in idealism like murderous religious zealots of any age. At other times, the cruelty and the sheer stupidity of the British had seemed positively to invite a frustration and a bitterness that might lead any group of people to violent action (264).

Shreve uses Kathryn’s point of view to illustrate the lack of understanding that the general public had about the Troubles.