“As he weakened, Moran became afraid of his daughters. This once powerful man was so implanted in their lives that they had never really left Great Meadow, in spite of jobs and marriages and children and houses of their own in Dublin and London. Now they could not let him slip away.”

The first sentences of the novel suggest that the power dynamics between Moran and his children have shifted. This foreshadows that a major part of Moran’s characterization is his past with his children. This quote also introduces the powerful pull of the family unit and the importance of loyalty, two major ideas in the text.

“What did we get for it? A country, if you’d believe them. Some of our own johnnies in the top jobs instead of a few Englishmen. More than half of my own family work in England. What was it all for? The whole thing was a cod.”

Moran’s perspective on the Irish War of Independence and the current state of affairs in Ireland is integral to his characterization. He fought in the War of Independence, which was also a very difficult civil war. Moran’s resentment about the war turns into bitterness as he sees his children move to the same country he fought for independence, an ironic turn of events. This also suggests that Moran himself feels ignored for his contributions. “Cod” is a bit of Irish/British slang, diction that John McGahern uses to create an authentic Irish setting.

“All his dealings had been with himself and that larger self of family which had been thrown together by marriage or accident: he had never been able to go out from his shell of self.”

This characterization of Moran highlights his introverted nature and his relative isolation from his community.