A Literary Analysis of the Thorn Birds Essay

The Thorn BirdsThe Thorn BirdsThe novel, The Thorn Birds, is a very well written story about a family living in a poorer section of New Zealand whose livelihood is shearing sheep. The money for the family depends almost solely on the sheep. In the family, there is Padraic Cleary (Paddy), the father of the clan. He is a likable man who commands respect from his children and from those who know him. His wife, Fiona Cleary (Fee), is a woman with a past who loves her children, respects her husband but is living in a world that she did not want, but accepted it as her only possible way of life. Then there are Fee and Paddy's children, Frank, Meghann (Meggie), Hughie, Jack, Stuart (Stu), Bob, and the twins, Jims and Patsy, but the story revolves almost entirely around their only girl, Meggie. When Meggie was about 10 years old, Paddy's older sister, Mary Carson, beckoned Paddy to come work for her on her very large, very wealthy ranch in New South Wales, Australia, Drogheda. The family fell in love with Drogheda, even though they had to put up with drought, fire, and a climate that they were not used to. The boys in the family lived for Drogheda, and were the main work force of the ranch, herding sheep and cattle from one paddock to another, and working very hard during the most profitable time of the year, the shearing season, and the most hectic, the lambing season. Paddy was an immigrant from Ireland to New Zealand and was a devout Catholic, along with most Australians. Upon arriving to Drogheda, the Cleary family met Father Ralph, a friend of Mary Carson, a constant visitor to Drogheda, and the local priest of the closest town to Drogheda, Gillabon. The rest of the story rotates around the relationship between Father Ralph who later became Bishop Ralph and finally, Cardinal Ralph, and Meggie. The Cleary family lived...

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