39 pages • 1 hour read
Seamus DeaneReading in the Dark
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1996A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 2, Chapter 4 Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary
Mother, 1953
The narrator describes his mother’s deteriorating mental state after confronting her father’s death and the revelation about Eddie. She loses touch with reality, often wandering in the backyard at night saying, “Burning; it’s all burning” (144). She sobs often and communicates less frequently with her family.
A year later, she improves a little and throws away all of her medication. By that time, the medicine has rotted her teeth, and she starts wearing false ones.
The Facts of Life, September 1953
The narrator goes to meet with Father Nugent for the “facts-of-life talk,” the Catholic school version of sex education (153). Father Nugent describes sex in general terms, leaning on Latin terminology. He also asserts that “Sex without love is akin to murder” (160). The narrator only partially understands what Father Nugent is talking about but does not ask any questions.
Going to the Pictures, November 1953
The narrator and his friends often go to the movies on Saturdays when there is no football game to watch. One day, he goes to the movies with friends and Irene Mackey, the girl he has a crush on. Irene has a boyfriend, Greneghan, but she and the narrator hold hands at the movies. Later, Greneghan sees them kiss on the street, and he hits the narrator. The narrator’s friends come to his aid, and Irene runs away. Afterward, she continues to date Greneghan.
Haunted, December 1953
Liam reveals that the exorcism story from Chapter 1 is actually about the Greneghan family. Jimmy Greneghan, the narrator’s classmate’s grandfather, was in love with Claire Falkener, but he never had the courage to ask her to marry him. Finally, she married Danno Bredin, who was a sailor. Jimmy started to spend time with Claire before Danno’s ship was lost at sea. Six months after Danno was presumed to be dead, Jimmy and Claire moved in together without getting married.
Danno, who survived being lost at sea, returned home and lived in a room opposite Jimmy and Claire’s house. When Danno died, his mother placed a curse on Jimmy and Claire’s house. Jimmy and Claire died shortly after that, and their children were sent to live with Claire’s relatives. According to Liam, “the curse continued. Every house belonging to a Greneghan or Falkener was haunted,” meaning that the narrator’s classmate carries the curse with him (171).
Retreat, March 1954
The narrator and his friend Moran are caught leaving school grounds during the Annual Spiritual Retreat. As punishment, they must complete a month-long course on spiritual reading. The narrator must read Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and memorize passages of the book to recite to the dean.
Brothel, April 1954
The narrator and his friends suspect that there is a brothel next to the entrance of the football grounds. They also suspect that Charlie McCabe, a post office inspector, visits the establishment. In order to “flush McCabe out,” Liam makes a bet with the narrator: He will give the narrator two shillings to go to the door, ask for McCabe, and get him to come out (177). The narrator does so, but the woman at the door does not believe that he is McCabe’s nephew. A man comes out and chases the narrator off.
Katie, May 1954
Aunt Katie goes to England to witness the marriage of Maeve, her daughter, to Marcus, a black man. The family disapproves of marriage due to Marcus’s race and the fact that he is not Christian. The narrator’s mother suggests that Marcus will leave Maeve now that she is pregnant, just like Tony McIlhenny left Katie. While walking home with the narrator, Katie reveals that his mother dated Tony before she did, and that is why his mother is upset.
Chapter 4 Analysis
The power of the Catholic Church continues to be a prominent theme in the book, especially in this chapter. One function of the church is to regulate sexual relations, which are not permitted out of wedlock. In fact, students receive their sex education from the church when they are in school, as the narrator does from Father Nugent. In this way, a priest ushers the narrator into the world of sex by describing the act to him as well as its moral consequences: “The flesh was good, good in itself but not by itself” (159). This education teaches the narrator that two people must be married to experience sex the way it is meant to be experienced within Catholicism.
Deane revisits the story of Father Browne to further comment on the church’s teachings about extramarital affairs and the consequences for the people in Derry who have them. Browne admonishes Claire Falkener for living with Jimmy Greneghan out of wedlock. When Danno, Claire’s husband, returns home after being lost at sea, he moves in across the street from Claire and Jimmy. Danno’s close proximity to their house haunts them with the memory of the Catholic tenets they have abandoned. When Danno dies, his mother curses Claire and Jimmy’s house. Thus, demons literally or metaphorically enter a house whose inhabitants do not abide by the church’s teachings about proper sexual relations.
The narrator continues to come of age and develop in this chapter. His meeting with Father Nugent is significant because it voices ideas about sex that he already had: “I knew, but did not know. I wanted to know, but did not want to find out that I already knew” (154). By giving something previously nameless—sex—a name and learning more about it, the narrator matures and grows intellectually. For instance, after learning this information about sex, the narrator decides to relinquish more of his theoretical knowledge about it and kisses Irene.
In this chapter, the narrator also matures in other ways. His parents are changing as they get older, and he notes that his mother’s “startling illness aged them both” (152). At this point, the narrator’s parents become weaker, and he begins to see them in a different light. As the narrator matures into a man, his parents recede into old age, losing some of their authority over him. Their sudden aging coincides with the narrator’s father’s revelation about Eddie. Once that secret is unearthed, the narrator’s esteem for his parents fades, and they lose more of their power over him.
The narrator also matures intellectually as he reads Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. After reading all of St. Ignatius’s rules and their logic, he notes, “A man grew out of them, one whom I had never seen nor known, in all perfection, making choices in accord with that perfection” (175). The narrator witnesses an intellectual journey in the text, and he brings this knowledge into his own life.
