Trespasses

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the novel’s treatment of wartime violence, homicide, and alcohol addiction.

Through Cushla and Michael’s affair, the novel explores the challenges of navigating a relationship in a deeply divided society. One of the most significant differences between the star-crossed lovers is the fact that she is Catholic and he is Protestant. These religious differences place them on opposite sides of the sectarian conflict between the majority-Protestant loyalists, who wanted Northern Ireland to remain a part of the United Kingdom, and the majority-Catholic republicans, who opposed this. Cushla grew up facing religious discrimination in her town, where Catholics “barely made up 10 percent of the population” (36). Although Michael does not discriminate against Catholics, the sectarian conflict nonetheless impacts their connection with one another. For Cushla in particular, their different religions are a source of some resentment and insecurity. Toward the end of the novel, Cushla weaponizes their religious differences and uses an anti-Catholic slur in an argument with Michael: “Am I the first Taig? I bet you I am. Does it make you feel better about yourself? That you’re doing it for the sake of community relations” (225). Cushla sometimes fears that Michael sees her as a curiosity or a charity case, and the religious divide reinforces her certainty that their affair is temporary, unsustainable, and, for Michael, unserious.