68 pages • 2 hours read
Niall WilliamsThis Is Happiness
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
This single-sentence chapter describes the weather in Faha, Ireland: “It had stopped raining” (1).
Chapter 2 Summary
Noe introduces us to the colorful characters of the village of Faha and the everyday comings and goings of the town in 1957. The narrative conveys the sense of community in Faha and offers a variety of examples that illustrate the trappings of the town’s daily life. The church had an actual bell that was regularly rung, there were more small family-owned shops, and people were more eccentric and family-oriented. It was five weeks before the driving test, and people did not yet know how to park properly. Noe recounts church life in great detail because “it was part of the order of the world then” (8). He also introduces numerous characters, including the Troy sisters. Perhaps most importantly, no one seems to notice that the rain––so regular a facet of life that people smoke their cigarettes backward under cupped hands––had stopped.
Chapter 3 Summary
Noe reflects on his childhood, describing his experiences of attending a boarding school and a seminary. He explains that he felt a profound loneliness and a lack of purpose in life, often waking at night “with a fear I couldn’t name, but later came to think of as the fear I might not discover what it meant to live a fully human life” (11). Noe recounts his decision to leave the seminary and the encounter with Father Walsh, who tries to persuade him to stay and considers him to be on leave rather than leaving entirely. Noe ponders his relationship with his father, whom he describes as a mystery, and regrets not embracing the man more often when he had the chance.
Noe arrives in Clare, where his grandparents, Doady and Ganga, live. Noe describes their personalities and physical appearances, emphasizing Ganga’s carefree and humorous nature and Doady’s practicality, along with her strong belief in saints, remedies, and letter-writing. Ganga installs a telephone in the farmhouse, which Doady dislikes because the phone does not fit into the traditional and old-fashioned lifestyle he is accustomed to and signals the invasion of modernization into Ireland.
Chapter 4 Summary
Noe describes the chaotic dinners with his grandparents in early childhood, where his grandmother’s cooking skills were lacking but her generosity was abundant. Despite the desolation and the departing people in the area, the old folks in Faha, including his grandparents, maintained their tradition of hospitality.
Noe recalls a journey he took as a young boy from Dublin to Faha after his mother fell ill for the first time. When he arrives, in a moment of childhood freedom, the young boy sets off on foot toward the sea but is soon picked up by his grandfather, Ganga, who gives him a lift on his bicycle. They head west, away from Faha and toward the ocean, for Ganga intuitively understands that seeing the sea will uplift the boy during his mother’s illness.
The chapter is most notable for portraying Noe’s nostalgic memories of Faha, where the rain falls incessantly, water must be carried from a distant well, and drying clothes becomes a communal effort. The scents of baking bread, turf smoke, and cooking permeate the house, creating a comforting and otherworldly atmosphere. The traditions, atmosphere, and experiences in Faha were formative for Noe, for he concludes, “It was where I had learned the music” (33).
Chapter 5 Summary
Rain has stopped in Faha, and there is a sense of quiet and anticipation. Noe reflects on the usual short interval between rain showers in Faha and the rarity of seeing the sky change. However, on Spy Wednesday, the sky begins to clear, revealing a newness and freshness in the world. A man enters the yard at Noe’s grandparents’ house. The man is described as old but with a look of bemusement and deep-blue eyes. The man introduces himself as Christy.
Chapter 6 Summary
Christy is described as a typical traveler, carrying a case of wares and having a charming demeanor. Intrigued by Christy’s presence, Noe engages in a brief conversation with the man while waiting for his family members to return from Mass.
As Noe sits with Christy, he observes the uniqueness of Christy’s appearance and demeanor. Christy exudes a sense of ease and carries the marks of a well-traveled life. Noe is particularly captivated by Christy’s eyes, finding their indescribable magnetism to be evidence of a divine creator. Christy asks for Noe’s name and explains that while his name is Noel, he is usually called Noe. Christy offers Noe a cigarette, but Noe declines. The boy goes inside to fetch matches, and when he returns, Christy has vanished, leaving behind his suitcase.
Chapter 1-6 Analysis
The opening chapters of This Is Happiness set the groundwork for a story that delves into themes such as nostalgia, memory, and the power of storytelling. Noe’s perspective infuses the narrative with a blend of intimacy, reflective wisdom, and a longing for a past that cannot be recaptured. The narrative style also reflects the Irish oral storytelling tradition, for Noe’s stories are never linear, instead flowing organically and weaving together different threads; thus Williams aptly conjures a sense of an old man’s wandering reminiscences. Evident throughout the novel, the narrative’s nonlinear structure embodies the fragmentary and unreliable nature of Noe’s recollections and highlights one of the novel’s central themes: the subjective and elusive nature of truth and memory. Yet despite the implied unreliability of Noe’s memories, the characters he introduces in these chapters are vivid and distinctive. Each one contributes to the patchwork portrait of Faha as a close-knit community full of tradition and personality. Characters such as Ganga and Christy, who embody both the comic and the tragic aspects of life, present a world filled with idiosyncrasies and complexities.
The perpetual rain in Faha is a central part of the setting and profoundly shapes the lives of the villagers. The unexpected break in this pattern marks a shift in the rhythm of daily life in the village, and it is no accident that Christy’s arrival coincides with this environmental shift, for his task of bringing electricity to Faha will also ignite a seismic shift in the villagers’ lives. Thus, the stopping of the rain serves as a metaphorical plot device, foreshadowing and initiating a series of changes that will impact the course of the narrative. For Noe, the end of the rain symbolizes his transition from childhood to adulthood. The breaking of the rain also marks a departure from the familiar and signals the start of new experiences, challenges, and lessons that will contribute to Noe’s coming-of-age journey. Thematically, the break in the rain ties into the novel’s exploration of change and transition and the interplay between the past, present, and future. It underlines Williams’s exploration of The Balance Between Tradition and Progress and serves as a metaphor for life’s transient and cyclical nature. The rain also plays into the storytelling theme, with the Irish weather and its unpredictability often serving as a backdrop and connector of various tales in the novel.
Christy’s arrival in Chapter 5 is a pivotal moment in the narrative, for the character is a key tool that Williams uses to shape the plot, accelerate Noe’s personal development, and develop the broader historical context and literary themes in the novel. Christy therefore represents the inescapable march of progress and the encroachment of the outside world upon Faha’s insular existence. As the novel progresses, his stories and actions initiate a series of events that will drastically alter the plot’s trajectory and the villagers’ lives. For Noe, Christy becomes a mentor and guide as he navigates the complexities of adolescence and the onset of adulthood. Through his relationship with Christy, Noe begins to understand love and the complexities of human nature. Christy’s stories and wisdom help Noe understand the world and his place in it, which are crucial aspects of any coming-of-age narrative. In the broader historical context, Christy’s role in bringing electricity to Faha mirrors the actual Rural Electrification Scheme that Ireland underwent in the 1950s and ’60s, marking a significant societal and economic transition. The Balance Between Tradition and Progress, embodied by Christy and his mission, reflects the broader historical shifts in Ireland at the time.
Symbolism and metaphoric language are used extensively, highlighting the deep connection between people, their land, and their history. For example, the impending arrival of electricity symbolizes change and the inevitable passage of time, contributing to a sense of looming loss that permeates the narrative. Similarly, the recurring imagery of weather, notably rain, serves as a metaphor for life’s unpredictability and the constant flux of human emotions. Moreover, these chapters reflect the era’s economic hardships. Postwar Ireland faced economic difficulties, with high unemployment rates leading to large-scale emigration. Despite these existential problems, the novel’s characters demonstrate remarkable resilience, humor, and an unyielding spirit, embodying the character of the Irish people during this challenging period. The looming arrival of electricity in Faha, paralleled with the appearance of Christy, symbolizes both the promise of progress and the threat to the old way of life, a conflict that mirrors the essence of the 1950s in Ireland and underpins much of the narrative and this coming-of-age time in Noe’s life.
