and 1
Gonne Allingham
It is clear from the writings that both Gonne and Allingham's sympathies lie with the cause of the Irish. The police in both works are unforgiving and faithful, maybe blindly faithful, to their duty. Although there is rebellion, it is far from enough and as the evictions continue so does the misery. The landowners and other authoritative figures are just as cruel as the police in their own ways. However, there are those who are true to their duties as human beings, despite their loyalties or nationality. Father Stephen's, from Gonne's, Evictions, is caught between his Irish nationalism and his duty as a man of the cloth. Even among the British, his clothing is his "passport". He is not seen as a dangerous man to them, only as a preacher, although there are those who do scowl at him. Father Stephen's was part of a plan to poison the bailiff. With the bailiff dead, there was hope that the evictions would stop for a time. When Stephens was called upon to help the sick bailiff, his only response was, "I can't refuse a sick call." There was no resistance at that moment, only a sense of duty. Much like Father Stephens, Dr. Lamour was also a man willing to look past the lines in order to do what was necessary. He talks at length of his disdain for the Irish, mocking things such as their education, rebellion, beliefs, calling out "Ireland forsooth, a nation once again! If Ireland was a nation, tell me when?" He goes on to compare Ireland to a child.
2 After all of that, however, the Doctor received a sick call for an Irish peasant woman. His care is described favorably, as he "tended Rosey kindly". Despite their loyalties, the Priest and the Doctor were care givers before they were anything else. Their activities aside (Father Stephen's poisoning and Doctor Lamour's speech) these two characters manage to show a slim hope of a middle ground. The landowners are possibly the most inhumane of all the characters described. In Evictions, the landowner Olpherts, who was also the magistrate, is having men convicted for doing no more than trying to survive. There is no sympathy shown when the convicted do not speak English, the magistrate simply hears the case and passes down a sentence. There were also men arrested prior to this particular trial for gathering seaweed to use for farming; it is then established that Olpherts owns all the seashore. With the saying, "Nothing is free in Ireland but the air", the proper response "Don't is, say that or the English will tax it!" Although Gonne's first mention of the police describes "two fine young policemen", her attitudes towards them are contradictory to that statement. The murder attempt on the bailiff is cheered and celebrated, and there is a sense of remorse when it is discovered that he did not die. It was stated that the British "had to be sure that every living thing was out of the house" in order for their duty to be truly done. Even though the bailiff is gravely sick from the poisoning, the others urge him to continue the evictions since there are so many to carry out. To prevent one family from returning to their home, the police resort to smashing the windows, making the already humble cabin useless.
3 Allingham gets right to the point, describing the police as "cruel tyrants". They are following the law, but Allingham asks, "who make the law?" It is certainly not the Irish, they are simply moved out of the way by the rich and the fortunate. The "threescore" police force is described as a "little army" and they carry out their evictions as ruthlessly and efficiently as the police in Gonne's Evictions. They are identified as human beings though, with Allingham's reference to the feelings of the Sheriff on the evictions writing, "The Sheriffs painful duty must be done". Even if the evictions truly are painful for the Sheriff, they are certainly more painful to those being evicted. Many of them are described as weak and broken; their feelings are of "helpless rage". Among the despair, an old woman, unable to walk, is carried out on her bed holding tight to her rosary beads. Another old man, this time in Allingham's piece, kisses his door post and simply falls dead. Peasants were scattered after the evictions. Some were sent to work houses, others went to the land league huts whose make-shift structure rivaled their old cabins. In Rosey's case, she went to the back-lane lodgings of the town, most likely to become a prostitute in order to survive. Babies and children were said to die like flies in the overcrowded workhouses. Outside of it all, yet inside, was Gonne's character of Lady Wilde. She was Irish, but she was fortunate enough not to suffer the plight of the peasant. Displaying true strength, she supported the Irish cause instead of resting on her laurels. Happiness would only be achieved when Ireland was free, that is the clear point of both works.