First Confession
"First Confession," written by an Irish author under the pen name of Frank O'Connor, Michael O'Donovan describes the struggle between a boy and his sins. Jackie, under the torment of his older sister, realizes the importance of the truth through the perils of his first confession. Jackie would love to kill his grandmother, his sister too for that matter. Since the death of his grandfather, for Jackie, the house has been more difficult to live in to say the least. Forced to live in the same house with his grandmother who eats with her hands and his two-faced older sister, Jackie is burdened with the fear that he might burn and vanish in the night after making a bad confession. Later, after Jackie confesses in front of the priest, he demonstrates that no matter what fears or apprehensions he may have about the consequence of his actions, in the end it pays to tell the truth. From the beginning, Jackie's sister Nora is introduced as a people pleaser. In fact, she is so good that she has earned herself a pension from her grandmother. For Jackie, it is too difficult for him to lose his identity for the financial gain of one penny. "Nora, my sister, just sucked up to the old women for the penny she got every Fri
As the story goes, the priest asks if it could do in the morning and the stranger explains that he can't stop thinking about his sin and he needs to confess. The priest figures out that Jackie hadn't confessed before and tells him to wait until the rest have gone because he must have more sins to confess than the rest. As Nora and Jackie are leaving the chapel Nora is dumbfounded by Jackie only receiving Three Hail Marys and notices Jackie sucking on something. During one of their daily lessons, Ryan is telling a story about a priest who woke up to a stranger at the foot of his bed begging for the chance to confess his sins. Jackie begins explaining his plans to kill his grandmother and even his plans to get his sister with the bread knife. Jackie had been condemning himself for doing and thinking things that are completely natural, assuming the consequences would be extremely harsh, when in the end, he was the one who was praised for his honesty and awarded with a jealous older sister. When describing her, Jackie makes it seem like Ryan is a devilish figure in a black cloak who only speaks of sins and hell. , Jackie climbs on the shelf to see the priest and as the two begin talking, Jackie falls off the shelf and out into the aisle. I might as well just be a sinner like you. "I decided that, between one thing and another, I must have broken the whole ten commandments" (pg332). After explaining the story Jackie exclaims, "this story made a shocking impression on me" (pg332).
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Acceptance Essays
