We Are the Brennans

“Now she’d have to settle back in, reacquaint herself with people. It would be harder to avoid the faces and places she didn’t want to see. At least the one face that was still long gone; Jackie had confirmed it. The family’s house in West Manor had been sold. And the Penny Whistle Pub was closed down now, converted to a small market. That helped.”

This quote uses foreshadowing to hint that the person Sunday did not want to see was Billy Walsh, who left West Manor years before and whose family’s house is later revealed to have been sold. The quote also foreshadows the reveal of the Penny Whistle Pub as the location where Billy attacked Sunday.

“Kale was practically a Brennan anyway. He’d grown up four blocks away and spent the bulk of his time in their home. Mickey had never minded. What was another kid, especially one who was so unassuming, when there were already four.”

This quote shows The Importance of Family Unity by showing the Brennans’ loyalty to Kale as an adopted member. Kale had always been a family member to the Brennans due to his unstable home situation as a child; thus, he is extremely close to them. This closeness leads him to choose the Brennans over Vivienne because they had always been devoted to him and he had always been in a better emotional state with them, especially Sunday.

“On second thought, the worst thing about a failing memory was the wondering if he’d brought it on himself, if it was a reckoning for past sins. His mind was trying to keep secrets from him. Fitting punishment for a man who’d long kept secrets from his own family.”

Mickey is realizing the Negative Impact of Secrets and Lies as he develops dementia. He is becoming aware of the effect that his secrets have had on his family, and he worries about the secrets his children are hiding. His retrospection eventually leads him to seek penance to help his family and pursue Redemption and Forgiveness as a Path to Healing.

“One way to keep Sunday from leaving again was to find out why she left in the first place.”

Mickey realizes that the secret Sunday shares with Jackie is connected to her departure from New York five years before. Knowing well that secrets can have massive repercussions, he wants to prevent Sunday from leaving the family again. He, thus, decides that he must find out what happened to her and made her leave the family she loves. As a result, this passage drives the theme of The Negative Impact of Secrets and Lies.

“They’d taught Maura to hide weaknesses and flaws.”

This quote highlights The Negative Impact of Secrets and Lies by explaining why Maura began keeping secrets from her family and shutting them out. Her own family raised her in a culture of shame and taught her that her flaws and mistakes were unacceptable. This made it difficult for her to completely accept and be comfortable around her intellectually disabled son Shane even though the rest of the family supported and protected him unconditionally.

“It always went the same way.

‘I’m going to marry you, Sunday.’

‘Are you asking me or telling me?’

‘Telling, so you can’t say no.’

‘You have to ask, but I won’t say no.’

‘Promise?’

‘Promise.’”

The passage establishes the Promise motif, which signifies the love and devotion Sunday and Kale share. It also explains the hope that they shared of getting married and starting a life together before Sunday left. After Sunday returns, she remembers saying this word frequently with Kale and sadly reminisces about the love they shared and the future they never got to experience.

“They even knew where they wanted to elope: Magens Bay in St. Thomas. Beautiful, tranquil, secluded. She’d tracked down a postcard, an overhead shot of a serene stretch of coastline, gentle waves lapping white sand, a few tall palm trees swaying in the breeze. She’d given it to Kale, after drawing two smiling stick figures in the bottom corner. They were holding hands, ‘Kale’ above the male figure, ‘Sunday’ above the female.”

The passage introduces the Magens Bay postcard as a symbol of Sunday and Kale’s relationship and their hope for a happy life together. Like the postcard, their feelings for each other resurface when Sunday returns, eventually bringing them back to each other at the novel’s end.

“The kitchen table had been the center of their universe for many years. Everything else—school, friends, jobs—had revolved around this space, where they all started and ended so many of their days together. Where they celebrated and commiserated, argued and laughed, planted themselves until the late hours.”

This quote introduces the kitchen table as a motif throughout the novel. The kitchen table explains The Importance of Family Unity through the multiple interactions the family had there. It also is important in this passage because it is here that Jackie and Sunday convince Denny to open up to them about his financial issues.

“He followed her. ‘And I know Mickey Brennan’s a selfish bastard who doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. He fired my father after a decade of hard work because it suited him. And that’s not all.’”

Billy uses his anger at Mickey Brennan to hurt Sunday for rejecting his advances. This passage shows The Negative Impact of Secrets and Lies by how Mickey’s secret affair with Billy’s mother causes him to target the Brennans and hurt Sunday with such pleasure and callousness. It also shows how this triggers Sunday’s own secret-keeping and separates her from her family.

“‘I should have known I was pregnant, but I didn’t.’ She could feel Kale’s eyes on her, sense his shock, but she didn’t dare look at him. ‘The doctor confirmed I had a miscarriage. I was almost two months along.’”

This quote uses dialogue and word choice to show Sunday’s trauma and guilt at going to Penny Whistle Pub while pregnant and getting into an altercation with Billy, even though she did not know she was pregnant or that he hated the Brennans. It also shows the understandability of her guilt and why she would blame herself for her attack and miscarriage.

“Her eyes and hands held on to his, like she was trying to transfer hope. He was ashamed for ever thinking she would give up on him. He didn’t know when he’d stopped having faith in his own wife.”

The quote emphasizes The Importance of Family Unity by showing how easily Denny was able to reconnect and fix his problems with Theresa just by communicating with her honestly. He realizes that he needs to rely more on his family rather than trying to solve every problem alone. He then goes to her more often in the novel and they become more of a team.

“Kale had no words. The tragedy of it, a daughter asking her mother for help at such a crucial time, and getting turned away. He didn’t really believe in hell, but for a split second he hoped Maura Brennan was feeling the heat.”

This passage uses The Negative Impact of Secrets and Lies to show how Sunday left so quickly and decisively after her mother shamed her. Her mother’s own internalized sense of shame led her to blame herself for her attack and miscarriage. Denny and Kale then both struggle to forgive her for this.

“‘Vivienne?’

‘Yes?’

‘I’m glad you were there for him.’

It was Vivienne’s turn to be surprised, but she didn’t let it show. She nodded and left, wondering if love could really be that unselfish.”

This passage uses dialogue to show the selflessness that Sunday shows for Kale and her willingness to let him go and commit to his marriage. Vivienne is surprised by this due to her preconceived idea of the Brennans as selfish and self-absorbed. In addition, she acknowledges that much of her love for Kale is selfish, and finds it fascinating that Sunday would sacrifice her happiness for Kale when she would likely not.

“‘No,’ he said. And there was the cruel smile she remembered. ‘Now’s when I tell you that your father was fucking my mother when we were in high school.’”

This quote uses The Negative Impact of Secrets and Lies to show that Mickey had been keeping large secrets from his family. It also shows how angry Billy is about the affair and what he perceives to be the destruction of his family. He now wants to use it against Sunday and provide the Brennans one last hurt before he leaves West Manor.

“Another one of her dad’s rules: Don’t pull a gun on someone unless you’re willing to use it. She took two more steps forward, still well out of his reach. ‘Get out and don’t ever come back. You fuck with one Brennan, you fuck with six Brennans.’ She’d included Kale without even thinking about it. When she raised the gun and lined up the sights with his forehead, she saw the sweat there.”

The quote demonstrates The Importance of Family Unity by showing that when Sunday takes her father’s gun and presents herself to Billy Walsh as a full-fledged Brennan whom he should never try to harm again, she regains strength and can psychologically overpower Billy at that moment. It also drives the theme by showing that she and the other Brennans recognize Kale as one of them and that they are his true family, who will always fight for and protect him.

“‘I lost our baby and I thought it would always be there. Every time you looked at me.’ Her face fell into her hands.”

The quote uses The Negative Impact of Secrets and Lies to show that Sunday’s guilt had caused her to distance herself from Kale and that she feared he would blame her for the miscarriage. The quote also uses dialogue to show that she is opening up to Kale and letting herself be vulnerable. She, thus, develops largely as a character in this scene and begins healing when she knows Kale does not blame her.

“He’d never talked to his mother about it, never told her he knew what she did. It was there every time she came down on him for being lazy or wasting time on painting, and every time Sunday’s name was mentioned. He’d blamed her for so long. Now it seemed his dad deserved just as much blame, if not more. Whatever. He was tired of blaming people, including himself. He’d forever question how he handled things back then, but it felt good to step up lately, be an active part of the family. For the first time in a long time he was looking forward.”

This quote highlights Redemption and Forgiveness as a Path to Healing by presenting Jackie’s decision to let go of the past. He realizes that he cannot change any of the things that happened as a result of his parents’ actions and that he cannot progress in life if he continues to blame them and or himself. He  decides to forgive his parents and himself for all their mistakes and chooses to heal himself of his emotional wounds.

“Then he did something else he hadn’t done in a very long time, since he was a lad. He prayed to God for His understanding, and asked to be forgiven of his grievous trespasses.”

This passage incorporates Redemption and Forgiveness as a Path to Healing through Mickey’s decision to be a better man. He decides that he will help his children improve their lives and encourage them to let go of shame. He also reconnects with his spirituality and seeks God’s forgiveness for the first time in years.

“‘No, no. You did the right thing. What good would it do now?’ She threw a hand up. ‘You were drunk, you can’t even be sure of what happened. He’s gone away, what’s the point?’ Her eyes drilled into Sunday’s. ‘You know your father has to watch his blood pressure. God forbid he finds out. Or your brothers or Kale. None of them would rest until they found him.’ She crossed herself to ward off such a thought. ‘Besides, these things have a way of getting out. And you know how it goes, there’d be talk about you. Pregnant and drinkin’ at the bar, going to the bartender’s room…’ She shook her head. ‘It would be a stain on the soul of the whole family.’”

This quote uses flashback to show Maura’s reaction to learning Sunday’s secret. Her reaction shows her image consciousness and worries about her family’s health and security. The quote also emphasizes The Negative Effects of Secrets and Lies by showing Maura’s motivation for encouraging Sunday to keep her secret. Her mentality shapes why Sunday kept her secret for five years and why she had to distance herself from her family and Kale. She knew she could not keep her secret in West Manor, so she left for Los Angeles.

“Five years later, a realization slid into place. Given her mother’s reaction to the name Walsh, she’d likely known about her dad’s affair and couldn’t chance the scandal. People knowing her husband had been unfaithful with the mother and her daughter had been tempted by the son. The world had just asked too much of Maura Brennan and she wasn’t up to it. Instead, she had shut herself off from her own family.

Like mother, like daughter.”

The quote explores The Negative Impact of Secrets and Lies by showing the pattern of shame and secrecy that Maura has passed onto Sunday. Mickey’s affair and Maura’s shame around it have caused Maura to shame Sunday for her decision to drink and go into Billy’s room, worsening Sunday’s guilt and causing her to shut her family out of her life like Maura had. The passage also implements Redemption and Forgiveness as a Path to Healing. Sunday now understands Maura’s view with her knowledge about Billy and the affair and sees herself in Maura. This allows her to give her mother grace and heal from her trauma.

“But then she recognized his handwriting.

Booked. Promise! June 2, 2012.”

This passage uses both the postcard symbol and the Promise motif. Both of these represent Sunday and Kale’s love and their determination to build a happy future together before Sunday left. The return of the postcard with the writing shows the love and devotion that Sunday believes she had lost, but foreshadows that she and Kale might still have that future and that “promise” of happiness together in the future.

“Vivienne wasn’t wrong about the Brennans. The whole family was a mess. But they were his mess. He was part of them.”

This passage presents Kale’s realization that he is a Brennan. Though the Brennans are extremely flawed, Kale understands The Importance of Family Unity. For this reason, he decides that he cannot give up his relationship with, or support of, his family, not even for his wife Vivienne.

“Fuck. A fifth person had known about the gun. His dad had been the one to buy it for the pub all those years ago.”

The Brennans come to the uncomfortable and disturbing realization that their father had the gun that went missing. This confirms that he was Billy Walsh’s killer, and they know they must do something about it.