The Hegarty Family as the Epitome of Silence and Sexuality in The Gathering

This article aims to discuss how Irish sexuality is pictured in Anne Enright’s novel The Gathering, which is focused on the abuse suffered by eight-year old Liam Hegarty and the witnessing of this crime by his younger sister Veronica. I argue that, as a witness, she shares the trauma suffered by her...

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Main Author: Rejane de Souza Ferreira
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Associação Brasileira de Estudos Irlandeses 2019-02-01
Series:ABEI Journal
Online Access:http://revistas.fflch.usp.br/abei/article/view/3206
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spelling doaj-d57314f5130543b5b94589a2f4f942e82020-11-25T02:19:13ZengAssociação Brasileira de Estudos IrlandesesABEI Journal1518-05812595-81272019-02-012029710910.37389/abei.v20i2.32062510The Hegarty Family as the Epitome of Silence and Sexuality in The GatheringRejane de Souza Ferreira0Federal University of TocantinsThis article aims to discuss how Irish sexuality is pictured in Anne Enright’s novel The Gathering, which is focused on the abuse suffered by eight-year old Liam Hegarty and the witnessing of this crime by his younger sister Veronica. I argue that, as a witness, she shares the trauma suffered by her brother, as they are both haunted by this experience throughout their lives. As an adult, Liam Hegarty commits suicide, an incident which will lead Veronica to discover who was responsible for her brother’s traumatic past. By means of her (re)visiting the Hegarty’s sexual life and her (re)writing the past, Veronica provides an overview of Ireland’s sexuality during the twentieth century and beginning of the twenty first century. Keywords: Silence; sexuality; abuse; vulnerability; Ireland.http://revistas.fflch.usp.br/abei/article/view/3206
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Rejane de Souza Ferreira
spellingShingle Rejane de Souza Ferreira
The Hegarty Family as the Epitome of Silence and Sexuality in The Gathering
ABEI Journal
author_facet Rejane de Souza Ferreira
author_sort Rejane de Souza Ferreira
title The Hegarty Family as the Epitome of Silence and Sexuality in The Gathering
title_short The Hegarty Family as the Epitome of Silence and Sexuality in The Gathering
title_full The Hegarty Family as the Epitome of Silence and Sexuality in The Gathering
title_fullStr The Hegarty Family as the Epitome of Silence and Sexuality in The Gathering
title_full_unstemmed The Hegarty Family as the Epitome of Silence and Sexuality in The Gathering
title_sort hegarty family as the epitome of silence and sexuality in the gathering
publisher Associação Brasileira de Estudos Irlandeses
series ABEI Journal
issn 1518-0581
2595-8127
publishDate 2019-02-01
description This article aims to discuss how Irish sexuality is pictured in Anne Enright’s novel The Gathering, which is focused on the abuse suffered by eight-year old Liam Hegarty and the witnessing of this crime by his younger sister Veronica. I argue that, as a witness, she shares the trauma suffered by her brother, as they are both haunted by this experience throughout their lives. As an adult, Liam Hegarty commits suicide, an incident which will lead Veronica to discover who was responsible for her brother’s traumatic past. By means of her (re)visiting the Hegarty’s sexual life and her (re)writing the past, Veronica provides an overview of Ireland’s sexuality during the twentieth century and beginning of the twenty first century. Keywords: Silence; sexuality; abuse; vulnerability; Ireland.
url http://revistas.fflch.usp.br/abei/article/view/3206
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