The Image of the River in a Town of Boundaries

Small Things Like These

The river’s open current contrasts with locked gates, social limits, and the town’s fearful stories, giving the landscape a role in Bill Furlong’s changing sense of possibility.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The River as Daily Landscape The River as Daily Landscape from "Small Things Like These". The River as Daily Landscape A familiar presence The River Barrow runs beside New Ross, darkened by rain and winter weather.

The River as Daily Landscape from "Small Things Like These". The River as Daily Landscape A familiar presence The River Barrow runs beside New Ross, darkened by rain and winter weather.

The River as Daily Landscape A familiar presence The River Barrow runs beside New Ross, darkened by rain and winter weather. Bill Furlong sees it during deliveries and late nights at home. A place to think The river is woven into ordinary life before it becomes linked to Sarah’s desperate request. Its steady presence offers a contrast to the town’s changing anxieties.

The River Named by Sarah The River Named by Sarah from "Small Things Like These". The River Named by Sarah A question outside the shed After Bill Furlong helps Sarah leave the coal shed, she asks whether the water below is the River Barrow.

The River Named by Sarah from "Small Things Like These". The River Named by Sarah A question outside the shed After Bill Furlong helps Sarah leave the coal shed, she asks whether the water below is the River Barrow.

The River Named by Sarah A question outside the shed After Bill Furlong helps Sarah leave the coal shed, she asks whether the water below is the River Barrow. He tells her it has a strong current. An imagined escape Sarah looks outward from the convent’s confined world. The river offers an immediate horizon, though her earlier wish to drown makes its freedom deeply ambiguous.

The River’s Curse The River’s Curse from "Small Things Like These". The River’s Curse A story of deaths Bill Furlong recalls a local tale that the river takes three lives each year.

The River’s Curse from "Small Things Like These". The River’s Curse A story of deaths Bill Furlong recalls a local tale that the river takes three lives each year.

The River’s Curse A story of deaths Bill Furlong recalls a local tale that the river takes three lives each year. The story’s curse turns the water into a force of fear as well as beauty. Fatalism questioned The legend implies that loss arrives beyond human control. Yet Bill Furlong’s choice to return for Sarah suggests that people still have responsibility within an uncertain world.

The Current Toward the Sea The Current Toward the Sea from "Small Things Like These". The Current Toward the Sea Movement without obstruction As Bill Furlong and Sarah cross the bridge, he envies the river’s course toward the open sea.

The Current Toward the Sea from "Small Things Like These". The Current Toward the Sea Movement without obstruction As Bill Furlong and Sarah cross the bridge, he envies the river’s course toward the open sea.

The Current Toward the Sea Movement without obstruction As Bill Furlong and Sarah cross the bridge, he envies the river’s course toward the open sea. The water seems to know where it is going. Freedom contrasted with fear Bill Furlong’s own direction is uncertain, and Sarah’s future remains precarious. The river’s movement gives them an image of freedom they cannot yet claim fully.

Leaving the River Behind Leaving the River Behind from "Small Things Like These". Leaving the River Behind Toward human shelter Bill Furlong guides Sarah away from the bridge and up toward his home.

Leaving the River Behind from "Small Things Like These". Leaving the River Behind Toward human shelter Bill Furlong guides Sarah away from the bridge and up toward his home.

Leaving the River Behind Toward human shelter Bill Furlong guides Sarah away from the bridge and up toward his home. The destination is not the open sea but a household that may offer immediate protection. Freedom as relation The journey suggests that liberation need not be solitary or complete to matter. For now, Sarah’s way forward depends on another person choosing to walk beside her.

November 1985

the Sunday before Christmas before dawn

Christmas Eve after dark

Christmas Eve night while crossing the bridge

the final moments of Christmas Eve