John Henchy Character Analysis in Ivy Day in the Committee Room

John Henchy, a Nationalist canvasser, is an energetic and manipulative salesman. He is the smoothest talker among the story’s characters, but he has no genuine moral values, no firmly-held opinions, and no allegiance to truth. Like the other canvassers, he cares more about getting wages and stout than about Richard Tierney, the candidate they’ve been hired to serve. Throughout the story, Joyce shows Henchy making convincing political arguments; he changes Mat O’Connor’s opinions on several points, for instance, and boasts of his success canvassing voters. But none of this is in service of any coherent political goal or moral platform—Henchy, it seems, treats it all like a game. For instance, he makes a detailed case defending Tierney’s alleged friendliness with King Edward VII—a position that is despicable to most Nationalists (since their party is, at heart, built on opposing the British monarchy). Furthermore, he boasts of earning votes by telling voters that Tierney doesn’t belong to a political party, which is a flat-out lie. In this way, Joyce suggests that Henchy doesn’t use his rhetorical skills constructively, since he has no principles to constrain him. What’s more, Henchy likes to sow the seeds of discord among the group (he suggests that Joe Hynes is a spy for the opposing candidate, for instance). His negativity and skepticism towards others show how mistrustful and toxic the atmosphere of the Nationalist Party has become.

John Henchy Character Timeline in Ivy Day in the Committee Room

The timeline below shows where the character John Henchy appears in Ivy Day in the Committee Room. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Youth and Political Paralysis Theme Icon

Another canvasser, John Henchy, comes in from the cold and notes that they haven’t been paid yet. He questions... (full context)

Hynes leaves the men to run an unexplained errand. Henchy, who does not say goodbye to Hynes when O’Connor does, starts gossiping that he may... (full context)

...priest or a layman. Keon is looking for Mr. Fanning, for “a little business matter.” Henchy welcomes him warmly, but Keon is skittish and refuses the invitation. Henchy suggests Fanning might... (full context)

...gone, O’Connor dips another flyer in the fire to light a cigarette. He turns to Henchy and notes Keon’s suspicious closeness to Fanning, pondering what their relationship might be. Henchy calls... (full context)

Henchy and Jack complain of their thirst because Tierney has failed to send them “a dozen... (full context)

Henchy jokes that he could run for City Father. O’Connor laughs as Henchy spins a fantasy:... (full context)

...boy asks for their empty bottles. Jack tells him dismissively to return for them tomorrow. Henchy sends the boy out for a corkscrew, and while they wait for it, he retracts... (full context)

After a silence in which they drink, Henchy brags about his canvassing results. He denigrates his partner Crofton for not speaking up to... (full context)

A cork shoots from Lyons’s stout bottle. Henchy continues to brag about the Conservative voter he won on the street, remembering the speech... (full context)

Lyons says that Edward’s character is the wrong kind to welcome to Dublin. Again, Henchy rejects him mid-sentence, so Lyons questions whether Parnell was fit to lead “after what he... (full context)

...tells him to sit down, since they’re discussing “the Chief.” Silently, Hynes enters and sits. Henchy announces that Hynes was one of the loyal few who never turned his back on... (full context)

...invitation.” O’Connor congratulates Hynes before returning to rolling cigarettes in order to “hide his emotion.” Henchy asks Crofton what he thought. Crofton agrees that the poem was “very fine.” (full context)