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Chapter 13
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Old God’s Time, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Memory
Grief and Ghosts
Abuse of Institutional Power
Personal Trauma vs. Collective Trauma
Summary
Analysis
Tom reflects happily on his newfound friendship with Ronnie. His thoughts then turn to the day on the mountain and the truth of what happened. That day, he and June followed the priests up the mountain trail; Tom remembers June as curled up beneath his jacket like a rat. Tom followed her lead, but he didn’t really know what their goal was and was shocked when June took out their bread knife. They saw Byrne first and passed him, following a second set of footprints up the mountain. They found Matthews at the summit, where June stabbed him repeatedly with a bread knife and pushed him off a cliff. Tom stared down at the body, then he took June home. Present-day Tom cannot remember if he passed Byrne as they left.
Even though Tom does not divulge anything to Ronnie, their time together seems to allow Tom to finally face the truth of the case. His recollection of that day is surreal; in particular, the image of June curled beneath his jacket casts slight doubt on the reliability of his memory. However, the violent clarity with which Tom recalls Matthews’s murder itself stands in stark contrast to the earlier surreal details, suggesting that June is indeed the true murderer of Matthews.
Themes
Tom looks out at the sea. He considers that, if he is charged with first-degree murder, the punishment would be grave no matter what. But he also wonders how his crimes would be balanced against Matthews, who committed crimes where no punishment could be too cruel. He also isn’t sure if his own crime would even be considered a crime anymore. He thinks of how, although June got her justice, it did not free her from her trauma—although, for a while, she lived so well that it seemed like she had. Tom recognizes that Byrne’s accusation is an attempt to get the investigation halted like it was before, hence Tom’s urging that Wilson must continue the case. For Tom’s part, he has no regrets, as he acted out of justice for June, the person he valued above all others.
In contemplating how his various crimes will be balanced up, Tom once again prompts the question of what sort of violence is acceptable, particularly within the legal system. Although Tom was legally June’s accomplice, it is difficult to view his—or even June’s—crime as more reprehensible than that of Byrne or Matthews, who abused an unspecified number of children. After all, while the priests acted cruelly and selfishly, Tom acted solely out of love for June.
Themes
Tom looks down from his wicker chair to where Mr. Tomelty is gardening. He notes that the landlord looks older, but he chalks it up to his ragged clothes. Tom asks about his car, and Mr. Tomelty says he got rid of it years ago. Tom looks up and sees Mrs. Tomelty smiling at him from the Tomeltys’ window. Tom then asks Mr. Tomelty if he could speak to Mrs. Tomelty about something she said the other day, but Mr. Tomelty responds that Mrs. Tomelty was killed in a break-in years ago; that’s why he got rid of his car, since he always expected to see his wife sitting in the passenger seat. Mr. Tomelty asks what Tom meant by talking to her the other day, and Tom says that his brain has gotten scrambled in recent years. Tom goes inside, feeling deeply alone.
This conversation with Mr. Tomelty reveals the true nature of Tom’s unusual evening at the Tomeltys’ flat: either it never happened and Tom hallucinated it, or it was a ghostly encounter in a different reality. Even further, Mr. Tomelty’s ragged clothes and the fact that he got rid of his car suggests that even Tom’s encounter with Mr. Tomelty in town wasn’t real, despite Mrs. Tomelty not being there. In this way, the ghostly presences in Dalkey have extended beyond the dead to touch those who are still living as well.
Themes
Ms. McNulty comes to Tom’s door, trembling in fear. She hands him a letter from her husband, which contains nothing but a blank page with three dots on it. Ms. McNulty insists that this is a veiled threat, and while Tom feels this is a bold assumption, he also thinks that she’s right. He asks her how her husband got her address, and she says he called her father, who didn’t know to hide Ms. McNulty’s address since she never told him the real reason she left. The police told her since there was no threat, they can’t do anything. She gives her husband’s description to Tom, who tells her to notify him if she notices anything untoward. Suddenly, Jesse appears at his mother’s side. He takes a photo with his box camera, reminding Tom of a forensic scientist.
The escalation in Mr. McNulty’s situation confirms Tom’s prediction that the police are not able to protect her. Furthermore, the vague nature of her husband’s threat suggests that he understands the limitations of the police and is using them to his advantage; thus, although Ms. McNulty accurately interprets the blank letter as a threat, the police legally cannot do so. Thus, Tom once again functions as an alternative form of protection for Ms. McNulty where legal institutions have failed.
Themes
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