lamb michael quotes

Question 1

symbolic use of names

Answer 1

Michael - one of archangels
Sebastian - Christian martyr
Owen - gaelic for lamb

Question 2

Michael presented as good

Answer 2

• linked to religious figures, Joseph, Abraham
• becomes Owens “fairy godfather”, granting his wishes “to fly…to swim… to score for Arsenal” - takes him to “the best beach I know” and to an Arsenal match
• treats Owen well, dresses him in “new clothes”, takes him to places of interest “the biggest toy shop they had ever seen”
• he offers Owen love and kindness “I will not runaway from you because I love you”

Question 3

Michael presented as heroic

Answer 3

• contrasts to brother Benedict, believe “anger and hatred spoil the purity of the vision”, “if you know anyone that was killed you know how evil it is”
• sees Home as cruel and “the whole system totally unjust”, “treat a twelve year old boy as a criminal”
• rejects BB’s “kill and cure” approach

Question 4

critical views of Michael

Answer 4

• taking Owen from the Home is seen as “case of kidnapping” and he is aware he’s “doing something wrong”
• he acts “like God” calling himself “the captain of the ship” giving himself “power of life and death”
• leads Owen into dangerous waters, Haddock dressed in “red silk dressing gown” and having an interest in “the boy”
• becomes Judas figure, purchases “bottle of aspirin” which seems innocent but part of plan to drown Owen, last supper on beach with “bread” and “wine” continues sense of betrayal

Question 5

Michael allows himself to be corrupt

Answer 5

• by the end he realises that he has become a “Cyclops” and a “moral degenerate”, he sees the truth when he looks in the mirror at his “animal like and distorted” face

Question 6

Michael at the end novel

Answer 6

• turned into a freedom fighter “turned inevitably to something evil” and resorted to violence
• reader recognises he is a product of “the very country he came from” and has been taught violence “it has been like this al his life”
• reader pities him, there is “nothing left of him” he has lost Owen who “he loved more than anything else in his life”

Question 7

MacLaverty’s Purpose

Answer 7

• uses the characters symbolically, Michael to represent freedom fighters, Owen to represent Ireland
• Michael adopts Owen as a cause worth fighting for and is prepared to break law for him and what he believes in, ultimately ends up destroying the thing he was fighting for
• allows reader to understand how the “angry men with vision” have allowed their “pure ideal” to be corrupted and resort to violence