The Snapper portrays of an Irish family regarding the family matters. It is about how they deal with their young daughter’s pregnancy and its effect on their family. Sharon, who is a twenty years old girl, is raped by Burgess, who is in his fifties. Sharon’s father, Dessie, and his whole family, struggle to deal with the unexpected pregnancy of Sharon.
It can be said that the reaction of the family to Sharon’s pregnancy is affected by society’s pressure, their religious background. Her parents questions how it happened and who the father is. Instead of dealing with their daughter’s state of mind and feelings, they think about how to deal with the reactions and rumors of the neighbors. We also see that Sharon wants to keep the baby and the family agrees with her choice, which could be the result of their Catholic belief on abortion.
Although Sharon’s mother is more concerned about the issue, what she is worried about is not her daughter, herself, but the neighbors. Dessie ignores what the neighbors think, however, his attitude towards the problem is very apathetic and indifferent. He sees the problem as a daily minor problem and he reacts as following:
Dessie: A man needs a pint after all that.
However, after a while, it is Dessie who cannot stand the rumors that spread about her daughter’s pregnancy. He becomes paranoid of people laughing at the pub, which he thinks they are laughing at him because of her daughter’s mysterious sex and pregnancy. It even leads him to have a fight with people there. Afterwards, he stops going to the pub related to its pressure on him because of the snappers. People also gossip about the possibility of the baby of the father, who is Burgess.
It can be argued that Sharon’s pregnancy is the matter of Dessie’s damaged masculine role in the society which is built by the society not himself. The way his friends make fun of the event at the pub, people at the supermarket having fun of Sharon are some examples of his feeling...