The Snapper by Roddy Doyle
"The Snapper" is a novel by Roddy Doyle that serves as a sequel to his earlier work, "The Commitments." The story follows Sharon Rabbitte, who reveals at the outset that she is three months pregnant and plans to raise the child as a single mother, choosing not to disclose the identity of the father. Set against the backdrop of Barrytown, the narrative unfolds over the next six months leading up to the birth of her daughter, Georgina.
The novel is characterized by a blend of humor and poignancy, focusing on Sharon's internal monologue as she navigates her pregnancy and the societal pressures surrounding it. The reactions of her family, particularly her father, Jimmy Rabbitte, Sr., highlight themes of paternal love and evolving perspectives on parenthood. The story also addresses the complexities of community dynamics, particularly through the interactions with neighbors and the broader implications of poverty. Despite the challenges faced by its characters, "The Snapper" ultimately conveys a sense of resilience and joy in everyday life, depicting a community that finds ways to embrace life’s tribulations with humor and camaraderie.
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The Snapper by Roddy Doyle
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1990
Type of work: Novel
The Work
The Snapper easily stands alone as an independent novel, yet it also seamlessly follows from the end of The Commitments. With the group disbanded, Jimmy Rabbitte, Jr., spends most of this novel in an upstairs room of the family apartment, practicing his best disc jockey voice for what he now hopes will be his future career. The novel opens in medias res, just as the essential exposition for the text to follow is occurring. Sharon reveals that she is three months pregnant, expects to carry the baby to full term and raise it as a single mother, and refuses to identify the father. The balance of the novel covers the remaining six months in Sharon’s pregnancy, concluding as she delivers a healthy daughter, whom she names Georgina Rabbitte.
Although the dialogue remains “hilarious and haunting” (to quote from the San Francisco Chronicle review), there is less dialogue and more narration and narrative commentary than in The Commitments. Sharon’s innocent and isolated worries and opinions about her developing pregnancy and the prospect of motherhood as a single parent are delineated through the rambling interior monologue she undergoes as she makes herself read three pages nightly from texts she has borrowed from the public library.
Although the Barrytown community and Sharon’s parents initially obsess over the identity of the baby’s father, paternal and grandfatherly love and affection on the part of Jimmy Rabbitte, Sr., combine with a sense of developing awe, as he increasingly appreciates his daughter’s imminent motherhood with an understanding that he never achieved in any of his wife’s pregnancies for their own five children. Veronica Rabbitte, Sharon’s mother, also balances a number of conflicting emotions and opinions as she manifests the characteristic fierce loyalty and independence of the Rabbitte family, especially when confronted by Doris Burgess on her front porch. The troubled Mrs. Burgess, wife of the middle-aged Lothario whom the Rabbittes suspect is the father of Sharon’s baby, has walked over to the Rabbitte residence and asked to see Sharon. Veronica states honestly that Sharon is at work and then brooks no further discussion about a relationship that her daughter has not publicly admitted. When Mrs. Burgess tries to force the issue, Veronica responds with a punch to her neighbor’s face, reclaiming her front porch and, perhaps in her mind, her daughter’s dignity as well.
This novel is suffused with the pain and ramifications of endemic poverty, yet most of the characters approach their impoverished lives with a concerted belief that they will have a rollicking good time today and every day in one way or another. While Sharon’s inner thoughts are often remorseful about herself and accusatory toward her family and friends, she eventually comes to terms with her predicament and acknowledges that Barrytown is comfortably tolerant of the sometimes foolish and reckless behavior of its residents.
Bibliography
McCarthy, Dermot. Roddy Doyle: Raining on the Parade. Dublin: Liffey Press, 2003.
Paschel, Ulrike. No Mean City? The Image of Dublin in the Novels of Dermot Bolger, Roddy Doyle, and Van Mulkerns. New York: Peter Lang, 1998.
Reynolds, Margaret. Roddy Doyle. New York: Vintage, 2004.
Tóibín, Colm, ed. The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction: From Jonathan Swift to Roddy Doyle, Three Hundred Years of Ireland’s Greatest Fiction. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin, 2001.
White, Caramine. Reading Roddy Doyle. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 2001.