The snapper door Roddy Doyle

1.
Title: The Snapper
Author: Roddy Doyle
Year of first publication: 1990
Edition used: This is a Blackbird, published in 1998
Number of pages: 183

2. The summary
The Rabbitte family lives in Barrytown in Ireland. There are 8 people in the family: Ma (Veronica), Pa (Jimmy sr.), Jimmy jr., Sharon, Darren, Les, Tracy and Linda (they are twins).
In the beginning of the book Sharon tells her parents that she’s pregnant, but she wouldn’t say who the father is.
At first she wouldn’t tell anyone else that she’s pregnant, but after a while she tells it the rest of the family and her 3 best friends Jackie O’Keefe, Mary Curran and Yvonne Burgess. But she also doesn’t tell them who the father is.

Sharon’s father Jimmy sr. goes to a pub a lot. One of his friends, Bimbo Reeves, tells him that George Burgess, Yvonne’s father, had sayd that Sharon was a great little ride. Jimmy sr. is very angry and tells it to Sharon. She says she doesn’t care, but she goes to Mister Burgess. She says that if he would say anything about her again she would tell ‘it’ to Missis Burgess. This is the point in the book where you find out that Mister Burgess is Sharon’s baby’s father.
A few days after this accident Mister Burgess walks away from home. He sends Sharon a letter that he wants to see her, but Sharon won’t see him.
After a few days, Missis Burgess receives a letter from her husband. He tells her that he has had an affair with a younger girl and that she’s pregnant. He says he loves his wife but that he also loves the girl. Missis Burgess makes a connection with Sharon and soon the whole village knows. Sharon denies it and says the father is a Spanish sailor. Everybody believes her except her father. He is thinking everybody is laughing at him because Sharon is pregnant. First he ignores her, but if Sharon says that she will go away, he is frightened and he beseeches her to stay. He buys a book about pregnancy and is more nervous than Sharon.
A few days after this, Sharon gives birth to a daughter, Georgina, but Sharon will call her George. She looks like Mister Burgess, but Sharon doesn’t care.

3. The main character
Sharon is the main character. She is a girl of twenty and she has five brothers and sisters. She is fallen pregnant by a married man but nobody can know that. She is very scared that something may go wrong with the baby, so she reads a book about pregnancy and does everything what the book says.

4. Explain the title
I think Snapper is another word for a baby, or a baby with an unknown father. The whole book is about that, so it’s a logical title for this book.

5. The Theme
The theme is the despair of being pregnant from a married man. Sharon doesn’t really care she’s pregnant, but she can’t tell anyone who the father is and she hates that.

6. The Place
The whole story is in Barrytown, a north-Dublin suburb.
Some scenes are in the Rabbitts’ house, some scenes are in a pub and there are a couple scenes outside or in another place.


7. The Time
The length of the story is almost nine months. It begins when Sharon tells her parents she’s pregnant and it ends when she becomes a baby.
The story is told chronologically but there is one flashback. That’s the scene that Sharon has sex with Mister Burgess at a party. She doesn’t mention his name, but later you know it was with Mister Burgess.

8. The person who tells the story.
The author tells the story. You know the thoughts of the characters and you know also everything what happens. Especially the thoughts of Sharon and Jimmy sr. were described.

9. Why this book?
I had to choose a book so I looked at the Blackbirds I had at home. I looked at the backside of the book and I thought it would be a funny book with a lot of humour.

10. Was it as good as you expected?
Yes, it was very funny. There were a lot of dramatic scenes, but also a lot of humour. Especially the language the author used was nice. Jimmy sr. talks very abusive, but it suits the atmosphere.

11. Passage
“Remember: if you ever say annythin’ about me again I’ll tell Missis Burgess wha’ yeh did."
"Yeh needn’t worry, Sharon. Me lips are sealed."
"Well. Just remember. Bye bye."
"Cheerio, Sharon. Thanks, very much."

She was a great young one, George decided as Sharon shut the door after her. And a good looker too. But, my God! He sat down and shook like bejaysis for a while. She’d do it; tell Doris. No problem to her. He’d have to be careful. Think but: he’d ridden her. And he’d made her pregnant. HE had.
Jaysis.
He was a pathetic little prick, Sharon thoughts as she went back across the road to her house. He was pathetic. He wouldn’t yap anymore anyway. He’d be too scared to.
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In this passage you find out Mister Burgess made Sharon pregnant. She had gone to his house because he’d say she was a great little ride. She said that she would tell it to Missis Burgess if he ever says anything about her again.

12. Did you recognize situations?
No, I fortunately didn’t recognize situations from my own surroundings. I don’t hope I ever fall pregnant from a married man, unless it’s my own husband.
When I would be pregnant I would tell my parents, even if the man is married. But maybe I’d deny it to my friends or the neighbours.

13. Did you like the novel?
Yes, I really liked it. It was full of humour and not too long. It wasn’t very difficult to read because there are many conversations. In the beginning I had to accustom to the dialect, but after a few pages it wasn’t difficult.
It’s nice to read how another girl attends the pregnancy. It’s also a weird family where she’s from. Jimmy sr. uses very abusive words and Veronica corrects him every time.
You are curious about whom the father of Sharon’s baby is, and when you find out, it’s a shock. Especially because Mister Burgess wasn’t very important in the beginning of the book.


14. Where did you find your background information?
I found my background information on the Internet.

15. How many time did you need to read the book?
I’ve read in the holiday, but because I was in Paris I had to read a lot in the weekend too. But I didn’t really care because it was a cool book.