The character of Maurya is one that haunts us long after
we have finished seeing or reading this excellent short play. As the play develops we
realise that, out of her six sons, five have died at sea, and her last remaining son is
planning on voyaging out to Donegal by sea, in spite of all the wind and rain and high
tide. Throughout, the severe poverty of the family is illustrated, as Bartley, the
remaining son, feels he has to go and sell the animals to gain money for the family.
However, Maurya seems to be able to sense the fate that awaits him, as she refuses to
give him her blessing as he leaves and laments the fate that awaits
her:
He's
gone now, God spare us, and we'll not see him again. He's gone now, and when the black
night is falling, I'll have no son left me in the
world.
However, when the news
does finally come about Bartley's death, Maurya faces it with dignity and strength. Note
what she says as the women bring the news to her:
They're all gone now, and there isn't anything
more the sea can do to
me.
Her sense of resignation
and almost the way in which she welcomes the "rest" that she knows will be hers shortly
shows tremendous stoicism and pride. The story ends with the image of her grief and also
the intense poverty of the family that can't afford nails for the coffin of Bartley and
has driven this family into this state.
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