Amongst Women

Moran is the central figure in Amongst Women. He is both an everyman, an average kind of hero, and a primary antagonist. Moran is a complex character whose characterization is developed through reckoning with Ireland’s past and rapidly changing present, as well as his interactions with his family.

Moran is a veteran of the Irish War for Independence, and he saw and inflicted violence on others. Rather than be celebrated for helping to secure his country’s freedom, Moran is a bitter veteran who feels he has been overlooked. He is disappointed with the way the Republic of Ireland has developed after the war, asking, “What did we get for it? A country, if you’d believe them. Some of our own johnnies in the top jobs instead of a few Englishmen. More than half of my own family work in England. What was it all for? The whole thing was a cod” (5). Moran doesn’t see Ireland as a home for prosperity and independence, and his attitude toward his country, community, and life grows bleaker with age.

Moran’s family is at the center of his life, in part because he can make his family in his own image.