It is very common in today's society for families to have many dysfunctions. Many modern day people just assume that the theory of dysfunctional families is a characteristic of the new industrial age. However, as we read in James Joyce's, "The Boarding House", families of the early 1900's had many of the same problems that families have today.
             In various studies, the conclusion is discovered that most of the common marriages end in divorce. Along with separation, many of these families have children that are left in between their mother and father. Today a divorce is not only common, but not too extremely hard to come by. Yet in Mrs. Mooney's case, she had to go to the priest and get a separation with the care of her children. Since religion played a major role in society, and a divorce was simply a last resort in Catholicism, a separation was the best she could do. We can see a similarity here because in most separations or divorces, the mother generally cares for the children, however the difference in their days is that she had to go to see a priest for a separation rather than filing for a divorce and seeing a judge.
             Like many women of the twenty- first century society, Mrs. Mooney was independent and instead of feeling sorry for herself that she had to separate her family and raise her kids alone, she started a business and moved on with her life. Nevertheless, Mrs. Mooney did care for her children and housed them, but like the characteristics we would assume a father would have, she wants to form her children's lives and make sure that they are stable and secure.
             Jack Mooney seemed to have security in his mother's eye. He had a well-suited job and took care of himself. His sister, Polly, on the other hand, was not yet secured. Although she was only nineteen, her mother was still ready for her to find a husband and begin to make her life. Polly&a
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