Agnes' Art-Show

Mairead and Conway go to Agnes' art-show early in the novel. There, they discover that Agnes has used her own blood to create her artwork, which frames Agnes as a Christ-figure for the rest of the novel. Moreover, after the exhibit, Agnes, Mairead and Conway go out for dinner. At dinner, Mairead is the only person who drinks the water, which makes her ill for the rest of the novel. In this way, Agnes' art show is the setting that precipitates much of novel's action.

Conway's House

Conway's ghost sits in his house for the entire novel, recounting the events of his life. The house becomes a place of irony, for the reader knows that Conway is dead, whereas Conway does not. McCormack builds an ironic tension, for Conway intersperses his narration with comments such as, "[there is] something different about moving through the house today," hinting...