The Pull of the Stars

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Pages 1-44

Part 1, Pages 45-92

Part 2, Pages 93-123

Part 2, Pages 124-161

Part 3, Pages 162-204

Part 3, Pages 205-231

Part 4, Pages 232-256

Part 4, Pages 257-295

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Part 4, Pages 232-256Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4: “Black”

Part 4, Pages 232-244 Summary

As she leaves the Maternity/Fever ward, Julia runs into Bridie. They see a poster in the hall that says, “The government has the situation well in hand” and “If you feel yourself succumbing, report yourself and lie down for a fortnight” (235), advising the sick to stay in bed to recover from the flu. Julia thinks, “The line I found the most laughable was the one about lying down for a fortnight; who could afford or manage that without a houseful of servants?” (235).

Bridie tells Julia that she plans to stay overnight at the hospital to keep an eye on Julia because she may be weak from giving blood. Julia and Bridie walk to the nurses’ dorms only to discover that the hospital has converted them into an overflow men’s fever ward. Julia suggests that they go onto the rooftop, and Bridie agrees. Julia thinks, “What I treasured about this young woman was that she never said no. She was game for anything, it seemed, including scrambling up the gabled roof of a four-storey building” (238). Julia grabs blankets, and they go onto the rooftop and look at the stars. On the roof, Julia shows Bridie her silver watch and points out where she carves scratches on the back for the patients who have died in her care. Julia explains that the circles, or the full moons, are for patients who die and the crescents are for babies who die. Julia explains, “I have a sense that they want to be recorded somewhere. Need to be. Demand to be, even” (240).

Julia comments that she worries about Honor’s baby going into “the pipe” (241)—which she now knows is an expression meaning a foster home or orphanage for unwanted children—especially because of his cleft lip. Julia wonders if a nice family, such as Mary’s family, would ever adopt him. Bridie responds that Mary’s husband beats her. This revelation shocks Julia, who asks Bridie how she knows this, and Bridie responds, “Couldn’t you tell?” (241). Julia thinks about the bruises on Mary’s body and how Mary’s husband is quick to become angry.

She asks Bridie about her life growing up in the orphanage. Bridie says that the orphanage was both her home and her school. She explains how she and the other girls often wet their beds and would receive beatings as punishment. In addition, the girls did chores around the orphanage and the convent. People could pay the church for extra prayers, and the girls prayed on behalf of the paying churchgoers.

Part 4, Pages 245-256 Summary

Bridie asks Julia if they can talk about something else. Julia remembers the gifts from her brother and decides to share her chocolate and orange with Bridie. When Julia remembers that it’s All Saint’s Day, the two women say a prayer for Julia’s deceased mother. Bridie tells Julia that the last two days have been the best of her life. She says, “You’ve taught me so much in two days. Made me your helper, your runner. Made me matter” (249). Julia thinks Bridie might make a good nurse and asks Bridie if she might one day take training in anything. Bridie explains that the nuns send her out to work at various businesses sometimes but she never gets to keep her wages because she and the other girls “still owe the nuns for our rearing and education” (249). Julia is furious because she knows the convents already receive money from the government for taking in orphans.

The women continue talking. Julia comments that she has no plans to marry or have children and says, “I was never exactly beautiful, and now—,” but Bridie interrupts her, saying, “But you are beautiful” (250). Bridie kisses Julia on the mouth. The women continue to kiss and talk all night. Julia remembers, “We kissed and we talked, on and off. Neither of us mentioned the kissing so as not to burst the bubble by touching it. So as not to think about what it might mean for the two of us to kiss” (251).

Speaking again about her upbringing, Bridie comments, “What bothers me most to remember is the little ones wailing” (253). She explains that starting around the age of eight or nine, the girls received a baby as a charge to care for. The girls would get in trouble if their charge became sick even though the babies often became sick and even died. Bridie admits to having on occasion stolen her charge’s food or milk. Julia thinks, “This young woman had survived by whatever means necessary, and I found I couldn’t wish that it had been otherwise” (254). Bridie then tells Julia that she’s “[d]irty”—that she was often sexually assaulted by priests, teachers, or other adults. Families would sometimes take girls from the orphanage for the weekend as a holiday, only for the fathers to sexually assault the girls. Julia reassures Bridie, “None of this dirt is yours […] You’re as clean as rain” (255).

A couple of the orderlies come out on the rooftop to talk and smoke. It’s almost morning. Julia and Bridie quickly collect their blankets and go back inside.

Part 4, Pages 232-256 Analysis

These pages mark a turning point in the relationship between Julia and Bridie. At the beginning of the novel, Bridie frustrates Julia because she sees her as naive and uneducated. However, Julia soon realizes that Bridie is brave and eager to learn. When they climb out onto the rooftop, Julia even thinks, “[S]he never said no. She was game for anything, it seemed, including scrambling up the gabled roof of a four-storey building” (238). Later, Bridie tells Julia that the husband of their patient, Mary, is abusive toward her. Julia realizes that Mary has bruises on her body and has told stories about things that make her husband angry. Julia thinks she’s “gullible as a probie on her first day” (241) for not realizing the truth about Mary’s husband herself. Julia tells Bridie, “I’m beginning to know enough to know that I know nothing” (241). Over the course of the novel, Julia realizes that she judged Bridie unfairly because she assumed that she knew more than Bridie. Even though Julia is a skilled nurse and knows more about the medical field than Bridie does, Julia learns that Bridie knows things that Julia doesn’t, such as the poor and abusive conditions at orphanages.

Julia and Bridie’s relationship develops further when Bridie kisses Julia. Throughout the novel, Julia reflects that she doesn’t think she’ll ever marry. This implies that Julia isn’t too interested in having a husband. After Bridie and Julia kiss, Julia thinks, “When had that spark between us first caught, glowed, begun to singe? I hadn’t noticed; I’d been too busy […] when would I have had time to wonder at something as unimportant as my own new feelings, much less worry about them?” (252). Julia realizes that romantic feelings have been developing between her and Bridie.

These pages are also significant because they offer a glimpse into the cruelty and abuse occurring in the church-run homes and orphanages at the time, such as the one where Bridie grew up. Even though the homes and orphanages receive government money for taking people in, they make the tenants work to pay off their lodging and education. Bridie describes having to do chores, including taking care of babies, since she was a young girl and that the nuns sometimes sent her out to work at a farm or other businesses but never let her keep her wages. In addition, Bridie was malnourished, and the living conditions were poor; for example, girls wet their beds and constantly smelled bad as a result. Most disturbing is that Bridie reveals how adults in the system, including priests and teachers, whose job was to take care of the girls often sexually abused her and other girls. Julia assures Bridie that the abuse is not her fault, telling her, “None of this dirt is yours” […] You’re as clean as rain” (255). Bridie’s stories open Julia’s eyes to the injustices happening to people in Ireland, particularly to orphans or unwed mothers who come through the Maternity ward and end up living in homes like the ones in which Bridie grew up.