Preconceptions and Misconceptions

Although she may not realize it, the preconceptions and misperceptions of Lib's stereotypical views of the Irish, of Catholics, and of people less fortunate that she is lead to many of the protagonist Lib's problems in the novel. It is ironic that, although Lib prides herself on her ability to analyze facts, through much of the novel she misinterprets almost everything. For example, when she sees rundown cabins she assumes that the Irish are too shiftless to bother with maintenance when in fact, it is because people who lived there were victims of the Famine. The cabins are rundown because their occupants have either died or have been too weak to take care of them.

As an English Protestant, Lib falls victim to many preconceptions about Catholics and Catholicism. When she first sees Sister Michael in the spirit grocery, she assumes that Sister Michael...