Dublin, Ireland, 1945 through 1973

Dublin is where the novel's protagonist, Cyril Avery, spends the majority of his life. Both his adoptive parents and his birth mother also live there. Throughout his childhood and early adulthood, Dublin's sociopolitical and sociocultural repression of homosexuals influences Cyril's relationship to his own homosexuality. Cyril's relationship to Dublin is a simile for his relationship with his sexuality.

Dublin, Ireland, 1994 through 2015

When the novel's protagonist, Cyril Avery, returns to Dublin after emigrating to Amsterdam and New York City, there have been many political changes in his homeland. Homosexuality is no longer punishable by law, as it had been for most of his life. By the novel's epilogue, same sex marriage is legal in Ireland. Cyril's political activism influences that legal decision. His refusal to be closeted and his willingness to publicly support same sex marriage shows his growing self-acceptance. Dublin's growing acceptance of homosexuality is a...