In the first paragraph of the story, the narrator says,
When Maguire became Parliamentary-Secretary to the Minister for Roads and Railways, his wife wound her arms around his neck, lifted herself on her toes, gazed into his eyes and said, adoringly, "Now, Paddy, I must have a fur coat."
In other words, then, when Paddy Maguire gets a promotion and, we might assume, a substantial raise in pay, at his government work, his wife, Molly, approaches him with her desire to have a fur coat. He responds by telling her to go to the shop first thing in the morning and get two fur coats; he wants her to enjoy "a bit of comfort" because, apparently, they have lived a more hand-to-mouth existence up until now. He tries to be sweet to her, but they end up misunderstanding and misinterpreting one another. Molly feels as though Paddy doesn't really understand, and she ends up no longer even wanting the coat, even after four days of cold shoulders.
Paddy has just been appointed to the post of Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Roads and Railways. It's a responsible job, and will give Paddy and his wife Molly some much-needed financial comfort in what has often been a hard life for both of them. Molly is absolutely elated at Paddy's new job, and now that the Maguires are moving up in the world, she thinks it only right and proper that they look the part. A brand-new fur coat would be just the ticket for her.
But Molly doesn't just want a fur coat; as far as she's concerned, she deserves it. So when Paddy agrees to buy her a coat for more practical reasons, or out of a concern to appear the soul of generosity, Molly suddenly becomes hostile to the whole idea and a blazing row ensues. The argument is eventually resolved, but not without a fair amount of mutual incomprehension still remaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment