Amongst Women

Moran and his children are emblematic of a larger shift in societal understandings of The Individual Versus the Collective. As a farmer, Moran believes that “[a]lone we might be nothing. Together we can do anything” (84). This is inspired by his time in war, in which camaraderie is crucial to survival. This is also based on his life as a farmer, where more hands make for lighter work. Likewise, this can be extended to a larger perspective about the family unit. Moran believes that the family is at the center of society and should be at the center of life. He believes in the family as a collective—that Luke, Michael, Maggie, Sheila, and Mona should all be together with him because they are stronger together. His children, on the other hand, see it the exact opposite way. This emphasizes the changing roles of The Individual in a Changing World and The Individual Versus the Collective. For this younger generation, staying oppressed at home by work they don’t enjoy or by familial tensions is a pointless, joyless way of living. While Maggie, Sheila, and Mona actively ensure that they are present in their father’s life, even when they move away, all of Moran’s children have taken his lessons about the collective and learned the opposite, feeling the individual pursuit of freedom and happiness is more worthwhile.

McGahern also uses Rose to highlight that Moran himself is confused in his thinking about individuality. While Moran believes that his family is better together, he also neglects the individual perspectives and journeys of his family members. Rose reflects that after marriage, “[h]e now knew less about her than the day they had first met in the post office” (72). He has difficulty recognizing autonomy in others, and with Rose, he neglects to learn more about her thoughts and feelings, leading to him taking advantage of her kindness. While Rose makes excuses for his behavior and defends him with compassion, Moran cannot reciprocate respect for other people’s autonomy and individuality. Moran is, therefore, characterized as myopic and withdrawn from others’ needs. Rose’s foil to Moran highlights the theme of The Importance of Women, suggesting that strict patriarchal familial structures can make it difficult for people to connect and grow.

Moran desires power and influence over his family; he believes that as the head of the household, respect should be shown through deference and obedience. His daughters internalize this and obey him, such as when Sheila decides not to pursue her dream of going to medical school. However, there are gendered differences between Moran’s relationships with his sons and with his daughters, which are indicative of larger societal and cultural divisions between men and women. Michael’s coming-of-age story is different from his sisters’. Michael is heavily influenced by the presence of his sisters in the house, so when they all leave and he is left to develop an identity on his own, his self-discovery becomes a source of conflict with Moran, who wishes to control him more. Because Michael is a young man, the tension between him and Moran is more violent than Moran’s relationship with his daughters. As a young man, Michael can assert his own agency, and questioning Moran’s control results in stressful and ultimately violent arguments. Michael is driven away by Moran’s temper and desire to control him, deciding that “[h]e could not endure his life in the house any longer. By going the way he was going the crisis was certain to come from without. By doing what he was doing he was certain to bring it on” (110). Like Luke before him, Michael flees his father’s home to discover who he is as a man outside of Moran’s influence.

The juxtaposition between Michael’s fights with Moran and how Moran’s daughters remain close to him highlights the significance of the title, Amongst Women. The women in Moran’s life are more attuned to his needs and obedient to his control because they have been socialized and conditioned to be homemakers and peacekeepers. However, strict gender roles are not enough to keep his daughters around forever, and Moran loses his children to their independent lives because he doesn’t empathize with them, no matter how much he loves them.