Martin Cunningham Character Analysis

Cunningham is the eldest and most esteemed of the story’s main friend group (consisting of himself, Jack Power, M’Coy, and Tom Kernan). While Jack Power proposes the plan to bring Kernan to a Catholic retreat to remedy his binge-drinking problem, Cunningham takes the lead from him for two reasons: first, he is seen as the most “influential and intelligent” of the men (his friends even believe that he looks like Shakespeare). Second, he himself is married to “an incurable drunkard” who has pawned off their furniture repeatedly, so he has firsthand knowledge of the effects that a drinking problem can have on a household. As the four men sit in Kernan’s house discussing the upcoming retreat, Cunningham acts as the authority during the ensuing conversation: whether the topic is the history of the Jesuit Order or various papal mottos, Cunningham answers definitely and inspires the other men. However, he is frequently incorrect, mistaking small historical details or mixing up the languages of the papal mottos. Cunningham exemplifies the hypocrisy of those who make a big deal of their religious devotion yet lack any actual moral superiority to those who are less devout.