"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 Friday...a thing I could not do. I was too honest, that was my trouble" (pg331). Jackie realizes he doesn't approve of dishonesty, but he immediately jumps to the conclusion that his being "too" honest has him ending up with negative results and Nora is reaping the benefits. Leading up to his confession, it makes sense that Jackie is
             frightened with the idea of verbally expressing his sins with complete honesty because of what he has learned about confession in the past.
             A woman about the age of Jackie's grandmother goes to school each day at three o'clock to prepare the children for their confessions. When describing her, Jackie makes it seem like Ryan is a devili...