Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd

 

Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd was an interesting book as it contained many story lines including a story within the story.  The main story centered on the life of Fergus McCann.  The reader journeys with Fergus through his senior year at school as he prepares for his finals, deals with his brother Joey’s participation in a hunger strike,  struggles with his decision to be a courier for Michael Rafters, discovers the bog child which he names Mel, and falls in love with Cora O’Brien.  What is interesting is how the story of Mel is handled.  It is through Fergus’ dreams that the reader learns more about Mel and what transpired before her death.  It was sad to see that she had to sacrifice her life when she was truly innocent.  Her only crime was that she was different from the average person because she was a dwarf.  It is also sad that her brother who was the guilty party for killing Boss Shaughn was willing to let his sister pay for his crimes.

One element of the story I really liked was the friendship that developed between Fergus and Owain.  It showed how everyone is a victim of war, regardless of which side they support.  More important, it showed that despite their opposite political views, both boys were basically the same.  They both enjoyed the same things and had the same desires and dreams.  This aspect of the book would provide a good example for teaching respect for and tolerance of others’ differences.

This book was also interesting because it had a few surprises that I did not expect.  One of the surprises came when I learned that what Fergus has been secretly bringing across the border was condoms.  This provided a humorous surprise.  Like Fergus I had suspected that he was delivering substances needed to make bombs.  The second surprise came when I learned that Uncle Tally had been the person responsible for making the bomb that killed Owain and the other soldiers.  He seemed liked the friendly supportive uncle who was teaching Fergus how to drive.  So although his room had a scent to it, I never caught on that he was making bombs.  I also never expected Owain to be blown up near the guard shack but would have expected it happen more how Fergus described it with the band playing at the park.

Dowd did a good job of letting the reader know about the things that were taking place during the Irish “Troubles”.  Events were brought forth in a natural and non lecturing way.  He developed characters that you became drawn to as a reader.  For that reason, I was saddened when I read that Owain died.  I was sad for the bog child Mel that she went to her death an innocent victim of fear of ignorance about those that are different.  And I was even sad at the death of Uncle Tally, even though he had killed others.  This is because before I learned about his willingness to kill others, Dowd had created a character that had already struck a soft spot in my heart.