Colum McCann’s Everything in this country must, drops the reader into a turbulent situation where a horse is drowning during a summer flood. The use of a strong start urges the reader to remain attentive as the story get worse, ultimately leading to the death of the prized horse along with arguably Katie’s father soul. The weakness that he demonstrates is the sole reason that the events unfold in such a tragic matter. McCann’s makes this obvious by weaving in comparisons between the father and the horse as well as imagery and symbolism that the soldiers projects onto the family.
As soon as the story starts the sign of weakness embodied in Katie's father suggests the powerlessness of the civilian…show more content… Followed by Katie’s father “scream[ing] No!” (346), symbolizes the amount of power that the soldier detains linking back to the power dynamic of the Troubles. He’s anger undeniably jumps to the reader faces but is quickly extinguished when father stopped “when one of the soldier stared at him, your horse or your bloody hedge mate” (346), quickly followed by him cursing them “Bastard, said father in whisper, Bastards” (346). This act of whispering in this scene is crucial to the comparison of the two subjects because it underscores father inability to speak his mind freely signalizing that somewhere along the way, due to fear, he internalized this hatred and unfortunately accepted that he belonged on the losing side of the spectrum. The events that ensue demonstrate his hatred towards the presence of the soldiers in his house when “everyone felt good for saving a life even a horse life, but father was silent in the corner. He was angry at me for asking the soldiers to tea and his chin was long to his chest and there was a puddle at his feet” (347). The puddle funny enough can arguably symbolize father cowardice similarly to an alerted deer in front of a pack of veteran hunters. The atmosphere in the living room is heavy to the point where conversation barely occurs. As the guest tries to get comfortable in this poisonous atmosphere LongGrasses “sat in the armchair and said, good thing ya had heat lamps guvnor” (347), as if he claimed ownership of the house and the objects within it. The armchair in this situation might be cast off in ulterior scenario but in this context McCann’s specifically mentions the type of chair because it holds an important significance, it undertones the fall of father’s reign. The armchair represents father’s throne that the soldier just came in out of nowhere and took
