When All Is Said

“I was never so engrossed in a drink in all my life that day. My head thought my neck was broken as I refused to look up, to acknowledge the place, or any of them for that matter, should they have been about. There were photos on every wall, in the corridors and rooms, taunting this hulk of a man with their history.”

Griffin uses the physical image of Maurice bowing his head over his drink to show that he is burying his head in the sand, attempting to hide from his past. His description of the photos everywhere suggests he feels surrounded by them. His self-deprecating description of himself as a “hulk of a man” is ironic, as he juxtaposes his physical strength and maturity with the power the place still has over him. The image of the broken neck has associations with the physical violence he faced here. The traumatic events he experienced in this building and his subsequent hatred of the Dollards prevents him from enjoying what should be a happy moment with his family, planning his son’s wedding. Griffin highlights his difficulty communicating and his misuse of alcohol as a coping mechanism: He absorbs himself in his drink rather than expressing himself, emphasizing the theme of The Struggle to Communicate.

“She’d pecked me on the cheek the previous night, before turning over with her halo of curlers tied up in my old handkerchief.”

This quotation encapsulates the simultaneous blend of distance and intimacy in Sadie and Maurice’s relationship. She turns away from him to sleep, creating a sense of separation but uses his old handkerchief in her hair, showing the way their lives are intertwined. Through her peck on his cheek, Griffin shows their affectionate everyday relationship. Maurice’s description of her hair as a “halo” reflects the way he remembers her, a force of love and kindness in his life, like an angel. It also foreshadows her death that evening.

“I walked in Tony’s shoes, literally, that day. His hand-me-downs.”

In this quotation, Griffin develops Maurice’s self-aware, humorous narrative voice as he points out the metaphor of this image to Kevin and therefore to the reader. Walking in Tony’s shoes is a physical image that reflects their relationship as siblings, with Maurice following him through life. It encapsulates Maurice’s adoration and emulation of Tony, both as children (when he tries to help him with his chores) and after Tony’s death, when he takes on the mantle of being his father’s successor with determination to succeed. The literal image also establishes their socio-economic circumstances, showing that they don’t have the money to get Maurice his new shoes.

“I know women are good at all that kind of stuff but I don’t see why we couldn’t do it. It’d be fierce warm in winter.”

Griffin uses Tony’s voice to show the way traditional gender roles shape her characters’ lives, reflecting their presence in Irish culture, particularly in the past and in rural communities. Maurice’s sisters have knitted a warm blanket, while the brothers are expected to work the farm. As well as indicating the traditional division of labor, this also has metaphorical significance, reflecting the denial of comfort and warmth that an expectation of toughness imposes on men. The fact that Tony defies norms to suggest this encapsulates his presence in Maurice’s life—he gives him warmth through his affection and encouragement. However, Maurice dismisses the idea as doesn’t want to be teased; the social pressure of masculinity wins out.

“I’d stroke your forehead and off you’d go. Nowadays, I sing into the wind at the foot of her grave.”

This quotation shows one of the positive ways that Maurice’s past has shaped him through his cultural and familial heritage. Although he is uncomfortable expressing himself in words, he uses singing as a way of expressing himself and communicating with others. In Ireland, there is a rich folk music tradition, and Maurice’s mother passes this on to him, encouraging him to join in with her. Griffin shows how he cares for Kevin and passes this tradition down to him too, negating Maurice’s account of his uselessness as a father and exposing one of how he is an unreliable narrator. She creates a wistful atmosphere to reflect Maurice’s mourning of Sadie—the wind has connotations of loss, as something that is intangible and blows things away.

“And then from out behind the man’s bulk, stepped a boy no older than me. I knew him to see, of course, he was the son and heir of the throne, Thomas Dollard, but this was my first ever interaction with him.”

In this quotation, Thomas’s physical emergence from behind Hugh Dollard symbolizes that his life is defined by his relationship with him, as his choices are shaped by Hugh’s cruel treatment of him. Griffin emphasizes the threatening nature of Hugh Dollard’s power over him by referencing his “bulk.” Maurice’s description is infused with irony: He identifies Thomas as the heir to the throne, reflecting the families’ huge wealth compared to his own, but in fact, Thomas is later disinherited. Their different social statuses and parallel lives are encapsulated by their similar ages and the fact that Maurice knows of him, but he doesn’t know Maurice, just as he fails to recognize him years later. Maurice identifying this as the first interaction foreshadows his importance, building narrative stakes by suggesting there will be more.

“Bold as you like, wedging herself between mother and son, once again. She took my mother’s limp hand and held it as if it mattered to her, my sisters told me later […] I thought of my father […] arms aching and knotted hands reddening under the weight of death.”

Amelia Dollard’s actions reflect her uncaring treatment of Maurice’s family, informed by her socio-economic power over them. She physically comes between his mother and Tony’s coffin, mirroring how she wouldn’t allow her to take a day off work to be with Tony when he died. Maurice’s mother’s “limp hand” shows the physical impact of her grief and illustrates the inappropriateness of Amelia’s actions, as she fails to recognize that Maurice’s mother does not want her sympathy. She forces the men to stop while holding the heavy coffin, showing her thoughtlessness. Griffin uses its weight and the physical pain of carrying it as a metaphor for the unbearable burden of grief.

“I never asked her how she coped with losing the person she knew best. The person who accepted her humanity and all the failings that came with it. The person who loved her unconditionally.”

This quotation encapsulates the struggle to communicate that Maurice has inherited from his parents and cultural background, as he wishes he had talked to his mother more about her grief. However, Griffin also shows his faith in marriage and spousal love: He projects his relationship with Sadie onto his parents. Throughout the book, he demonstrates his awareness of his flaws, but here, he articulates that he understands this is part of being human and that Sadie has always loved him regardless.

“Listening to the incessant tick of the clock over the Aga that had never gotten on my nerves before […] for a man accustomed to being able to solve anything once he threw enough money at it, this was bloody torture.”

Griffin uses the ticking clock to draw attention to the passing of time, enhancing Maurice’s increasing sense of helplessness as he and Sadie struggle to conceive. This also reflects the time pressure they feel to have children. The narrative explores the roots of his obsession with wealth: His family’s economic background impacted their ability to care for Tony when he was sick, so Maurice’s interest in money relates to his desire to control medical and personal problems. His growing emotional distress is illustrated by his irritation at this small but constant sound, which he’s never noticed before, showing how it infiltrates his daily life.

“It was a bright, crisp winter’s day—blue sky and the whitest of wispy clouds skitting across it like they were in a race to something good beyond that I couldn’t see.”

Maurice’s description of Molly’s funeral uses poetic devices to create pathos. By setting this event in winter, Griffin emphasizes their grief and hopelessness, as this season has cold, barren connotations. The insubstantial white clouds symbolize Molly, who is tiny, innocent, and unreachable. The fact that they are racing away to somewhere far beyond Maurice parallels her early death before he could get to know her. The blue sky represents an inverted pathetic fallacy: Typically suggesting optimism, hope, and possibility, it juxtaposes with the tragic scene.

 “He never quite received my full forgiveness, though. My faith never felt quite the same again […] we have an unwritten rule now, Him and me. He lets me live my life as I see fit and in return I say the odd quiet prayer in my head.”

In this quotation, Maurice’s renegotiation of his faith reflects the centrality of religion in Irish culture and in Maurice. Despite his traumatic experiences, he does not lose his faith, showing that it is deeply embedded in him. Maurice still talks to God—his religion is part of him—but he no longer has faith in God’s interference in the world. His statement that he can’t forgive God is an inversion of the central Christian idea that a person must seek God’s forgiveness, showing that his faith no longer fits within the ideas of the Catholic Church. His actions confirm this, as he no longer attends Mass.

“She leaned her elbows on the desk and sobbed. Funny isn’t it, what you remember in those moments of panic. It was the sound of jingling coins. I must have had my hands in my pockets, foostering with my money […] like a mute gom.”

In this quotation, Maurice’s awareness of the sound of the coins in his pockets while Emily cries symbolizes that money has shaped this whole interaction: His pursuit of money has come at her expense. Griffin also points to his emotional dependency on money, turning to wealth as an answer to the pain of life. The fact that he recalls this detail so clearly shows how important money is to him, as an undercurrent of many of the most important events he looks back on. However, though his greed has exacerbated Emily’s circumstances, Maurice also comments self-deprecatingly on his inability to comfort her, noting his panic at her distress: He sees Emily as human, not just another Dollard, and begins to engage with the consequences of his actions.

“Forty-nine per cent for this scar on my face, for a robbed childhood and Thomas Dollard, an enemy for life. What would you all have thought the night of the wedding, had you known…”

In this quotation, Maurice tries to quantify the traumatic experiences he has been through, showing how he relates everything to money and The Way the Past Shapes the Present. He feels that he is owed something by the Dollards. However, the juxtaposition of a dispassionate number with the enormous idea of a “robbed childhood” implies that these things cannot be quantified and that if he seeks restitution through these means, he will never find peace. This reflects the events of the book: Maurice keeps buying up more of their land, but at no point does this heal his hatred of the Dollards. When Thomas dies, he does not feel any solace. Griffin also underlines that this obsession interferes with happy moments in his present and divides him from his loved ones: On this happy family occasion, he is hiding an enormous secret from them.

 “At another time, with another clientele, the place might have been considered beautiful. But back then it was pure ugly. Grey and dark, its loneliness spilled out of every crevice.”

In this quotation, Griffin examines Maurice’s emotional reaction to the psychiatric hospital where Noreen lives. She shows that context alters the way a place is perceived. Maurice’s overwhelmingly negative response reflects the fear and sadness he feels about the idea of mental health, and his identification of “loneliness” specifically suggests that these feelings relate more to societal isolation than to the experience itself.

“Sadie cried buckets that night on leaving. It was utter relief, of course.”

Griffin develops the unreliable narrator element of Maurice’s voice. She suggests that Sadie does feel relief, as Sadie herself admits earlier in the chapter that she felt relief when Noreen was first placed into care. However, Maurice’s use of the words “utter” and “of course” suggest his certainty that this is the only emotion Sadie feels, which Griffin encourages the reader to question through his many admissions throughout the book that he couldn’t be sure how Sadie felt because he didn’t ask her. Her guilt when she first talks about her relief suggests this may be present too. Maurice later admits that he didn’t really engage with Sadie about her complex emotions for Noreen.

“She was a ticket. Her own woman, as they say. She pretty much ruled our lives, but truthfully the burden was light.”

Griffin rounds off Maurice’s recollections of Noreen through this statement, which acts like a conclusion. This quote shows his genuine affection and love for Noreen as an individual: He recognizes her unique personality and force of will. He acknowledges that caring for her had a huge impact on his and Sadie’s lives but also emphasizes that this was not an encumbrance that they resented.

“That’s what she’d made—something practical and something where he could touch the lush softness every night. I’ve kept it.”

Griffin gives insight into Sadie’s character in this quotation. She has kept and repurposed the beautiful orange lining of a whiskey box gifted to Maurice by Kevin. Her use of the fine fabric in a way that allows her to experience its texture every day reflects her appreciation for small luxuries, such as the Earl Grey tea she allows herself once a day. This encapsulates her sentimentality. The fact that it was originally a gift from Kevin to Maurice shows her love for both of them and care for their relationship. The practical purpose she finds for the fabric shows that she is also sensible and thrifty, reflecting her working-class background, something she has in common with Maurice: She doesn’t want to waste anything.

“You know those people at the awards are on dessert, now? Seriously, how you Irish not all get indigestion. You eat too fast.”

In this quotation, Griffin expands Svetlana’s character. She is new to Maurice and so remains relatively flat compared to the significant people in his life, but Griffin gives hers a distinctive voice to ensure she is still three-dimensional. She has a direct manner and humorously references her cultural differences from Maurice. Her statement also signifies the passing of time: The party moving onto their final course represents that Maurice is nearing the end of his evening and of his life.

“Did you hear me? It’s not about money, Maurice. We’re going to lose him. England or America.”

Sadie’s retort to Maurice encapsulates their differing values. She starts by questioning if he’s listening, reflecting their concerns about The Struggle to Communicate. However, both express their concerns clearly here. They have different priorities regarding Kevin’s future—Maurice is worried about whether Kevin will make money, while she is concerned about separation, showing her open love for Kevin and desire to stay connected to him. However, Maurice’s concern about his earnings is also an expression of care, through the stability and comfort money offers. Their discussion also reflects the widespread emigration continuing in this period that separated families and communities.

“Turns out it was that story ‘Seeds Unsown’ that won you that big award two years later. You sent us a framed picture of you being presented with it. Needless to say it got pride of place beside the telly.”

Griffin illustrates that despite Maurice’s sense of distance, he and Kevin still share ties and impact each other. Kevin sending the picture and Maurice placing it where he can always see it reflects their wish to connect and to find a through line between them, which this anecdote achieves as Kevin’s article brings together journalism and farming. The title “Seeds Unsown” has symbolic significance, relating to Kevin’s connection to his roots: He has seemingly left them behind, and he is so different that Maurice wonders where he came from. However, he has flourished in his chosen profession and found a way to include his father’s world in it. Through the phrase “needless to say,” Griffin references their difficulty communicating openly but offers a different angle on it: Though they don’t always communicate explicitly, Maurice acknowledges that some things don’t need saying in words and that to some extent they can take their affection for granted.

“I look at it like she has just handed me the keys to a new harvester. It’s the autumn colours that get me. It’s the earth of it, the trees, the leaves, the late evening sky.”

Maurice’s description of the whiskey reflects his love of the land and nature. His reference to a harvester as an epitome of worth shows the value he places in the tradition of working the land as a livelihood. To him, the beauty of the whiskey evokes his appreciation of the beauty of the Irish landscape, showing how important it is to him. His description of “autumn colours” and the fading evening has poetic connotations of the passing of time and of death and old age: Griffin creates an atmosphere that fits his suicide at the end of the novel.

“White milky skin. Chocolate freckles scattered over the bridge of her scrunched-up nose, as if she’d only stood at the mirror that morning painting on their perfection. Eye as blue as a clear Meath summer sky.”

Here, Maurice uses detailed, poetic language as he remembers meeting Sadie for the first time, creating a tone that evokes the romance genre. He includes imagery of sweet food: milk and chocolate. These are suggestive of his desire but have connotations of innocence, capturing his genuine intentions and romantic inexperience. The imagery of a morning, a clear blue sky, and the season of summer creates a hopeful, expansive atmosphere of rich possibility for their future.

“‘Actually I think I’ve done myself and my father and yes, Mr. Hannigan, even those dastardly Dollards, proud.’

I look at her and smile.

‘That you have, Emily. That you have.’

I feel as if I could sleep for a thousand years.”

Griffin shows the relationship that Maurice and Emily have forged despite their histories. Emily’s pride in herself reflects her strength and determination and shows that, just like Maurice, she has a complex relationship with her past: She wants to make her father proud but acknowledges the flaws of previous generations. Her humorous tone, calling them “dastardly,” adds to her rounded character and illustrates the goodwill between her and Maurice as they can now jest about something that had previously been laden with tension and distress. His fondness and pride have a fatherly quality, recalling how he overlays her with Molly. His desire to sleep shows that this conversation with Emily has resolved the storyline of the coin and the hold it had on him, and he is now ready to move on. It moves the narrative toward its inevitable conclusion and suggests he is at peace with dying, ready to rest.