Murphy's Brother example essay topic

My answer to the title "A Family Man" is that a family man always thinks a lot about the happiness for his wife and children, and if he doesn't he should. I believe the reason why the author has called this story "A Family Man" is that the main character is very much thinking like a family man when he's facing the main-problem. He's thinking about his future with his wife and how they in the best possible way can raise their child to come. In this story the family man is a man called Murphy. Murphy is in a bit of trouble because his brother wants him to help the IRA in England as a liaison man.

Both his sister and brothers back home in Northern Ireland have joined the IRA. Murphy, himself, has immigrated to England, is married and expecting a baby with his wife. He doesn't want to join the IRA because that will mean that his family will never be safe. But then again if he doesn't join the IRA they might kill him or even his wife Felicity. The Special Branch wants him to join, so he can give them all the informa-tion he gets otherwise he might get in trouble with the English Police Force. So no matter what de-cis ion he makes he " ll still be in trouble.

He doesn't have many possibilities but I would suggest that he helps the Special Branch - even if it means that he's a traitor for his family back home and na-tive land. It's the least risk-taking decision and it means that he's not getting in any kind of trouble with the English authorities too. It seems that he doesn't have much connection to his family any-more anyway, so if he really loves Felicity, which I reckon he does he should choose to help the Special Branch. Murphy's brother is one year younger than Murphy. I think that he's a bit too much into the terror-ist-thing and seems to me a bit brainwashed. For example when you come to see your brother after more than three years you don't just enter his flat and bedroom without being invited.

I don't think that he loves Murphy anymore and he doesn't even say that he's happy to hear that Murphy has married - just that he would " ve been killed back home if he married a non-Catholic. So he's actu-ally kind of threatening him and saying that it disgusts him. To me the C.O. seems to be a cold, criminal person. He is a commanding officer for the IRA and has shot many men and women in their knees when they wanted to quit the IRA-army. He is 47 years old, balding, wiry and has never married. In Murphy's bedroom he's behaving like he own everything.

Murphy thinks that if the C.O. had it his way not many wouldn't be killed or at least put in jail. The two men from the Special Branch are very rude too. They too just enters Murphy's flat and knocks on his bedroom door. But these guys don't even know him at all - they are total strangers. They are very impolite and are really trying to breakdown Murphy; telling him about how they al-ready have dealt with his uncle, father and sister and there are now only his two brothers left, who they soon are going to deal with, if he doesn't co-operate.

They seem a bit ironic as well e.g. they say a couple of times that they don't want to pressure Murphy in any way, but that's actually what they are doing all the time. For example where Murphy told them to get out, they kind of threaten him and say: "What will you do, Murphy, if we refuse to leave - call the police?" And when they want him to make a decision, one of the men says that he wants him to think it over and don't want to rush him at all, but then the other man says that they " ll give Murphy two hours to make up his mind before they come back for an answer - which isn't very much time for such a big decision! In the ending the two men from the Special Branch get Murphy totally broken down. He's just sit-ting there after they have left him at it. I think it's a pretty stupid ending - there's missing heaps of information. e.g. we don't know whether Murphy chooses to join the IRA and help the Special Branch or not - it just ends in total confusion for the reader!

Of course it could be that the publisher of this task have cut out the last bit of the story to make the ending at bit more open... This whole story happened in much less than half a day and Murphy's whole system has totally broken down - his whole everyday life was build up as a routine and was torn to pieces in a little while... I think that the message is that anything can happen in a very short period of time. So you can always expect the unexpected!