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Ambivalent

Gar is ambivalent about his departure and Friel shows this most cleverly through the dramatic device of the divided self. There are two on-stage characters (played by two different actors) representing Gar.

There is the Gar (called Public in the script) that the other characters see and talk to. There is also the Gar who speaks the thoughts, opinions and feelings of that Gar (called Private in the script).

While in reality they just represent different aspects of the same person, they are two different characters and should be treated as such in your study of the play.

The play opens with the stage directions telling us that Gar “marches” on stage, describing him as “ecstatic with joy and excitement” about his imminent departure for Philadelphia.

The verbs, adjectives and abstract nouns used here lead us to believe that this is a choice he has made enthusiastically. We are also told that he is dancing and singing the lines “Philadelphia, here I come, right back where I started from …” (a reference to California Here I Come by Al Johnson).

As the original song is about missing the place one grew up and delighting in returning, this is possibly an ironic reference and the first hint to the audience that Gar may not be as enthusiastic about leaving Ballybeg as he is pretending to be.

This ambivalence is continued throughout the play until the closing line when Private asks Public, “God, Boy, why do you have to leave? Why? Why?” and Public replies, “I don’t know. I–I–I don’t know.”

Strained relationship with his father

There are clues from the beginning that Gar has a strained relationship with his father. He tells Madge that even on his last day his father “got ten minutes overtime out of my hide”.

S.B. is Gar’s boss as well as his father, and it may seem strange to us that on Gar’s very last day in Ballybeg the practical concern of work is what is most important to him.

This foreshadows the problems in their relationship that are never really solved.

Gar Private says out loud what Gar Public is thinking about his father.

For example, when Private makes fun of S.B., calling him "Screwballs", or when he gives a fashion show commentary while S.B. goes through the same old routine after work - right down to details like taking out his false teeth before eating.

This shows that much of what Gar Private thinks about S.B. is never said, emphasising the tension in their relationship.

Uncommunicative

Like many of the characters, especially the male characters, Gar represses his emotions and leaves thoughts and feelings unsaid. This is the primary problem between him and his father - the lack of communication that perhaps characterised male relationships in a certain place and time.

The use of the split persona device effectively allows us to see exactly how much this affects Gar - Private can speak the thoughts and feelings repressed by Public.

Private allows the audience to see “the unseen man, the man within” that isn’t presented to the other characters.

This serves to show the tragedy of Gar’s situation as the fond memories Private has of his father, the boys and Kate Doogan are never articulated by Public - resulting in regret and disappointment.

Disappointed

One of the biggest regrets in Gar’s life seems to be his lost love, Kate Doogan. This relationship is portrayed through a mixture of flashback and the real time of the play.

In the flashback, we see Gar fail to ask Kate’s father for her hand in marriage. In real time, we see Kate come to say goodbye to Gar before he leaves.

In the flashback we see that Kate is more pragmatic than Gar.

She focusses on how much money they will have to live on, whereas the stage directions show him, in his infatuation, trying to kiss and embrace her repeatedly.

Before long though Gar falters - when he meets Kate’s father he procrastinates about asking for her hand in marriage. Again, it is his fear of communication - along with a lack of courage - which leaves him disappointed with how things turn out.

Later - in real time - we see Kate come to say goodbye to Gar before he leaves.

Imaginative

Thanks to Private, the audience is aware of Gar’s inner thoughts and his wild imagination. At different points in the play he’s an air fighter ace, a highly skilled musician and a winning footballer.

The often more poetic and passionate voice of Private shows that Gar is a creative and bright young man, who has dreams and needs far beyond his life in Ballybeg.

Gar’s hidden side reinforces the tragedy of his situation. This - combined with the comic nature of Private’s commentary - is what places the play in the genre of tragicomedy.