“First Confession” –Frank O’Connor

“First Confession” –Frank O’Connor

This paper is done to fulfill English Prose assignment

Analyzed by:

Risvi Uly Rosyidah

Sumti Chusna

Latifatul Maslikha

Sulistiyani

Sri Hidayatus Sholihah

Class: C

PARAPHRASE

            In the short of “First Confession” by Frank O’Connor, the writer has us look at the story from the boy, point of view. He is a seven year-old. He is a boy who must make his first confession before he can take his first communion. Jackie is a young boy who lives with his family as well as he hates grandmother. Jackie is stressed because grandmother has moved from the country to live with his family. He is disgusted by the woman’s love of porter beer, she is messy to eat potatoes with her hands and her favoring is his sister, Nora. Nora is his sister. Jackie feels his sister and his grandmother side against him and makes his life unbearable. The climax of the story is Jackie want to kill his grandmother. In the middle Jackie tell to the priest that he has a planning to kill his grandmother.  Jackie was horrified to confess to the priest but after he got telling the nervousness lost. The priest realizes that however awful the truth is you must always tell it. Jackie was not afraid to tell the priest the whole truth, when other children as his age may have lied. 

PLOT

The story began when Jackie’s grandmother lived together with his family. She had a jug of porter and a pot of potatoes for her dinner. In this story, Jackie had sister. Her name was Nora. She sucked up the grandma for the penny she got every Friday out of the old age pension, a thing that Jackie could not do. The problem was rising when Jackie felt jealous of Nora. One day in dinnertime, Nora called Jackie but he hid under the table and took breadknife for protection. Nora was surprised then blamed Jackie. Nora thought that Jackie wanted to kill her. Fortunately, his parent came and saw his action. They blamed him, and for days after that his father didn’t speak to him and mother barely spoke to Nora. Jackie was heart scalded. Moreover, Jackie was still a child. He was still 7 years old. Then, there was an old woman named Ryan, said that Jackie had to make his first confession and communion. Ryan told Jackie about hell. Jackie was afraid because of his sins. She also told that the frightening priest would look for the fellow who did many sins. Jackie had to mention his sins unless they were always on his mind. The climax happened when Jackie was really scared facing the priest and confessing his sins. The priest didn’t know whether he could get rid of Jackie at all today. Then the falling action happened when the priest had never been angry. He invited Jackie walked out the chapel yard. The priest was very nice to Jackie. At the end of the story, Jackie felt happy because he wouldn’t die in the night. He could go back to his house meeting his family again.

v  The conflict happened in this story:

1.      Person Vs person. It means that Jackie Vs Nora, his parents, his grandma, priest, Ryan.

2.      Person Vs Self. It means that Jackie had problem with himself when he wanted to make sure whether he had to make his first confession or not.

v  Plot is told in Chronological order.

v  This short story has closed plot because it has ending.

v  The story has unity as its element of plot because from the beginning until the end of the story just tell about his first confession.

POINT OF VIEW

Point of view: First person point of view, omniscient point of view

For example:  I was too honest (paragraph 2)

                        When I was playing with bill..

                        I stayed there till Mother came….

                        I was heart-scalded

Omniscient point of view is narrator knows everything about all the character that develops in the story. Jackie as I knows about all the characters in this story based on his explanation in the first and following paragraph. For instance; “She had a fat, wrinkled old face,,,,(his grandma character).

CHARACTER

Characters:

•         Main characters :

Jackie    : 7 years old boy who hates his sister and grandmother and is afraid for his first confession

•         Minor characters :

Nora      : mean older sister, gets a penny from Gran every week

Gran     : Jackie’s grandmother

                 A country woman

              She favors Nora over Jackie

              She likes porter, potatoes, salt fish

              She uses snuff

Ryan      : old woman who prepares children for their First Communion

               A religious woman

              A rich woman

               She is interested in talking a hell

Priest    : hears Jackie’s first confession and takes pity on him, kindly young man

Mother  :  She favors Jackie over Nora

Father    : He favors Nora over Jackie

SETTING:

·         Place: school, chapel yard, church, dining room

·         Time: 3 o’clock, Saturday

·         Condition: frightening, jealous, unfair, not harmonious.