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And there is also Finbar Skeffington. He is more a partner than a friend of Crilly. He never commits a crime by himself. For this job he has Crilly. Skeffington is only the person behind the scenes. He is about thirty to forty years old and he is always well dressed. He has the same ability to bully other people like Crillly.
One Point Out Of The Story / Interpretation
I think the main parts in this story are the fights and the hate between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland and how easily people get involved in these fights like it happed to Cal.
At the beginning it isn't really described what Cal does in his spare time and you don't realize it while you begin to read the book. But then you see it more clearly every time something happens. First of all Cal doesn't to deal with Crilly' s business so he even doesn't care with the stuff Crilly hides in their roof space. But then he has to drive the van whenever Crilly has to do some "trades". But these trades aren't harmless. First he only robs shops and smuggles a little bit but then Crilly also kills a person. And although Cal has a bad conscious and although he constantly sees the pictures of Crilly killing Marcella' s husband he first doesn't try to do anything about it. But after some time he gets afraid of his "partner" and of Skeffington and so he decides to leave them. But that intention isn't as simple as he had thought. When Skeffington hears Cal' s plan of getting out of the group he first tries to convince him to stay by telling him: "Not to act is to act. By not doing anything you are helping to keep the Brits here." But when he realizes that these words doesn't bother Cal he tries to frighten him by telling the young boy that it is not a game they are playing and because of this fact the price of getting out is staying in and that he has no chance to refuse.
So Cal' s only way to escape is to hide at the Morton's farm. We see how easy it is to get in such a group and it is hardy possible to get out.
For the youth in Northern Ireland it is difficult not to get involved in this bloody and violent war between the Protestants and the Catholics. They learn from their parents that the other people are the bed ones and that they must do and try everything to destroy the others even if violence in necessary.
But how will this end?
First of all people must realize that violence is the wrong way to solve problems. They must find a peaceful way to communicate. And they must keep their children out of this fight. The children are always the victims but only because the grown-ups don't want to see that their way of solving problems is the wrong one. If they don't change their attitudes towards their fights and their hate there hardly won't be a new and peaceful solution.
Bernard Mac Laverty describes to situation of young people in Northern Ireland. "Cal" is not only a story of a young man between two parties who just want to be left in peace. Coming our of the fear and violence of Northern Ireland, Cal is a sad love story in a country where tenderness and innocence can only exist briefly in the dark.
My Opinion
I like this book very much. It is not a book which you read for joy and when you have finished it you put it away. "Cal" fascinated me. After reading it I was fascinated and shocked at the same time and I thought a long time about Cal' s destiny. The author knows how to increase the tension and with the help of an open end of this story he asks the reader to have a critical look at the conflict.
I followed the story with great interest because of this I could learn a lot about the characters. The flashback scenes are very important for me to understand Cal. I see why it was so difficult for him to live his own life.
Bernard Mac Laverty' s novel "Cal" is a remarkable story of a doomed love affair and it described the impossibility of living under such circumstances.
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