56 pages • 1 hour read
Louise KennedyTrespasses
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Gorse
Gorse symbolizes the bad luck that envelops Cushla’s town. The symbol first appears in the Prologue in the form of the tour guide’s tattoo of “spiky tendrils of stems and golden flowers” (1). Within the main plot of the novel, the plant gains prominence in Chapter 7 when Michael picks gorse flowers for Cushla and explains their symbolic meaning: “He told her [...] [t]hat one should never give gorse as a gift because it was unlucky for both the giver and the receiver. That he was happy to take his chances with bad luck if she was” (74). Michael’s willingness to risk bad luck by giving Cushla gorse reflects the couple’s defiance of conventional wisdom. By the town’s standards, Michael and Cushla are already testing their luck because of their religious differences. After Michael is murdered, Cushla retraces their steps together and returns to the place where he picked the plant: “She saw him step across the gully, the shyness of him as he handed her the gorse” (241). This unlucky gift forever ties Cushla’s association of gorse to her murdered lover, and the foreshadowing of the plant’s ominous meaning is now fulfilled by his tragic end. In Chapter 29, Cushla’s thoughts turn to chance when she discovers that Tommy didn’t target Michael because of her: “There had been no connection after all. It was just bad luck, the sort of thing that happened here all the time” (281). Like gorse shrubs, bad luck seems to choke Cushla’s town. Gorse adds symbolic meaning to Cushla’s risky romance, develops the setting, and suggests that people must accept bad luck as part of life if they are to truly live.
The News
The news serves as a motif for the theme of The Pervasiveness of Violence. The novel is set during the Troubles, and bombings, murders, and beatings are so common that recounting them is a daily feature of young children’s lessons: “Cushla hated doing The News, but the headmaster insisted. He said it encouraged the children to be aware of the world around them. Cushla thought they already knew too much about the world around them” (18). Seven of the 30 chapters begin with summaries of violent current events, including Chapter 9: “The body of a man was found off the Shore Road by a woman out walking her dog” (87). These openings provide a small taste of what the characters experience as they are constantly bombarded with violent news. The motif builds a tense, fearful atmosphere and demonstrates how violence is inescapable during the Troubles.
The novel also uses the news to heighten the suspense around major plot events. The first mention of Seamie’s attack is in a news story: “The body of a man was found on waste ground in East Belfast in the early hours of the morning. He has not yet been identified” (63). This news story, paired with Davy’s unusual absence, suggests that Seamie is the target. The most poignant use of the motif occurs when Cushla learns of Michael’s murder as a piece of news at her family’s pub. Their mutual friends don’t have a way to contact her, and his family is unaware of their relationship. Thus, Cushla’s loss is compounded by her inability to grieve openly. The final chapter begins with a summary of recent news: “An incendiary device exploded in a public house in County Down, causing extensive damage. No one has claimed responsibility” (282). By this point in the novel, the violent accounts have grown so frequent that the connection between the bombing and the Lavery family’s pub may not be immediately apparent. The novel uses the motif of the news to develop the theme of The Pervasiveness of Violence, increase the plot’s suspense, and help illustrate the fear and desensitization the characters experience.
Seamie’s Wounds
Seamie McGeown’s wounds invoke the religious symbolism of the stigmata and represent the suffering of all Catholics during the Troubles. Among his many life-threatening and life-altering injuries, some carry particular symbolic significance: “They slashed his hands and wrists with a nail hammered into a plank” (91). The wounds on Seamie’s hands and wrists call to mind Christ’s crucifixion. Indeed, the novel makes a direct comparison in Chapter 13 when the narrator describes his hands as “weeping like stigmata” (133). The text deepens this association in Chapter 16 with an allusion to Padre Pio, a saint who had “wounds on his hands that bled like the wounds of Christ” (158). Within Catholicism, stigmata is believed to allow a believer to mystically share in Christ’s passion, and this transcendent quality allows Seamie’s wounds to represent the collective suffering of Catholics during the Troubles.
