Set during a time of political conflict in Northern Ireland, Bernard Mac Laverty’s novel ‘Cal’ lucidly highlights the cruelty of human nature. This cruelty is explored through Mac Laverty’s portrayal of the anguish and turmoil in the life of the hapless teenager who is dragged into the chaos, murder and mayhem of his society. The life circumstances of cal aptly captures the harrowing realities of ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland
The Cruelty of human nature is predominantly portrayed through the animosity and hate between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland during ‘The Troubles’. Cal a young Catholic boy has to struggles with the pressures within his hostile community. Cal lives with his father Shamie in a predominately protestant estate, with terrorist threats becoming a daily occurrence. ‘Get out you Fenyan scum or we’ll burn you out. This is your second warning, there will be no other. UVF.’ As you can see that this was their second warning, meaning that this wasn’t something that was new to them and this was done by the Protestants of their community- they bullied them into moving out of their own home. Shamie and Cal were always prepared for the worse. After receiving the warning Laverty describes Cal actions ‘tip toed’, ‘quietly’ also how straight away after Shamie sees the note, he retrieves his gun and tells Cal to fill the bath and fold a sheet on the side of it. Here we can see that they have a routine worked out in case they are eventually attacked, so they can prepare for the horrible attacks the UVF are planning. Also we recognise the fear they have from the Protestants all around them. ‘Those bastards have us whispering in our own house.’ Here we can clearly see the terror they face even in a place that is meant to be safe to us; our home. Even though this was just a threat, eventually the deed was done, and Cal returns to a burned down house. Within the novel ‘Cal’ Laverty uses strong symbolic settings, such as the opening scene in...