The Pornographer: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Pornographer: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complexities of human relationships and emotional struggles through its central characters. The unnamed narrator, a successful thirty-year-old writer of pornography, grapples with his cynicism towards love and intimacy while navigating casual affairs and the ramifications of an unplanned pregnancy with Josephine, the passionate and warm-hearted woman who desires a deeper connection. Josephine, despite her strong feelings for the narrator, faces heartbreak when he remains emotionally distant and avoids marriage after her pregnancy. Maloney, the narrator's affluent employer, serves as a cynical yet perceptive figure who challenges the narrator's treatment of Josephine, reflecting on human nature's complexities. The character of Mary O'Doherty, the narrator's dying aunt, embodies resilience and selflessness, offering a poignant contrast to other characters’ selfishness. Her husband, Cyril, represents a stark indifference to personal bonds, while the narrator’s uncle mirrors his own bachelor lifestyle. The narrative also introduces Nurse Brady, who shares a fleeting affair with the narrator, further complicating his emotional landscape. Overall, the character dynamics illuminate themes of love, regret, and the potential for connection amidst personal turmoil.
The Pornographer: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: John McGahern
First published: 1979
Genre: Novel
Locale: Dublin, provincial Ireland, and London
Plot: Satire
Time: The 1970's
“I,” the anonymous narrator and main character, the pornographer of the title. An attractive man, thirty years old, he keeps very close guard on his feelings. Although he seems to have no major financial worries, he works as a professional writer of pornography and is mildly successful at it. He writes well as long as he can follow a formula; his employer, Maloney, furnishes him with a new formula after each assignment. He seems content to pursue casual affairs with attractive women in whom he has no interest other than to satisfy his sexual needs. He unfortunately impregnates a woman named Josephine who has fallen deeply in love with him; he refuses to marry her and takes little interest in the future of the child. He is cynical about the course of love, overly self-reflective, and haunted by time and the aging process. He does show genuine sympathy, though, for a beloved aunt who is dying of cancer and visits her on a regular basis. He seems to be heading toward some kind of permanent relationship at the novel's conclusion.
Josephine, a thirty-eight-year-old woman, the principal female character. Attractive, passionate, and warmhearted, she falls deeply in love with the narrator. After becoming pregnant, she insists that they marry and that they will learn eventually to live happily in spite of the awkward beginning of their conjugal life. Although she has worked at the Northern Bank for twenty years, she has pursued her own writing career at a journal called Waterways: She takes trips on boats and describes them in her articles. There is some suggestion that she and the narrator will marry, but as the novel concludes, she is not aware of that possibility (even though the reader is).
Maloney, a well-to-do publisher in his late fifties or early sixties. He is the narrator's employer and supplies him with the novelistic formulas for each of his pornographic works. He drinks heavily, is cynical but not hopeless about human nature, and takes the narrator to task severely for the callous way in which he treats Josephine. He enjoys the gifts that life has to offer. There are indications that he has experienced some pain in his life, but it has not taken away his basic joyful attitude.
Mary O'Doherty, the aunt of the narrator, who seems to be in her late sixties. She is an extremely intelligent, sensitive, and practical woman who is dying of cancer. She possesses no self-pity, even though she seems to know that she is dying. Unable to deal with the numbness that painkillers create, she prefers brandy to make the pain endurable. She is interested only in the welfare of her nephew (the narrator), her brother, and her selfish, alcoholic husband, Cyril. She dies at the novel's conclusion, and it is during her funeral that the narrator gets an insight that he may be able to connect with another human being in a lasting and loving relationship.
Cyril O'Doherty, Mary's husband. He is in his sixties and a functional alcoholic. He expresses no interest whatsoever in his wife's terminal illness and never goes to see her in the cancer ward in the Dublin hospital. In spite of his enormous selfishness, Mary leaves her considerable financial holdings to him and no one else.
The uncle, a hardworking farmer, the uncle of the narrator and the brother of Mary O'Doherty. The uncle visits his dying sister as often as he can and also expresses an interest in his nephew. The narrator may prove to be a mirror image of his bachelor uncle, only less sympathetic to human weakness.
Nurse Brady, a twenty-two-year-old nurse whom the narrator meets as she tends his aunt in the hospital in Dublin. They have a brief and passionate affair after meeting at one of the narrator's favorite pickup spots. Ironically, they conduct their affair just down the hall from where his dying aunt is sleeping.
Jonathan Martin, a man in his sixties who is very much in love with Josephine. He is delighted to hear that Josephine is pregnant and volunteers to support the child in spite of the terminal illness of his schizophrenic wife. After his wife dies, he proposes marriage to Josephine, who refuses because she has never been attracted to Jonathan sexually.