Sarah Redmond’s Search for Safety

Small Things Like These

Sarah Redmond’s confinement, separation from her infant, and effort to reach help culminate in her departure from the convent with Bill Furlong.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Life Under Confinement Life Under Confinement from "Small Things Like These". Life Under Confinement A life controlled by others Sarah Redmond is held within the convent system and made to live under institutional authority.

Life Under Confinement from "Small Things Like These". Life Under Confinement A life controlled by others Sarah Redmond is held within the convent system and made to live under institutional authority.

Life Under Confinement A life controlled by others Sarah Redmond is held within the convent system and made to live under institutional authority. Her circumstances reflect the limited choices available to unmarried mothers stigmatized by their community. Separation from her infant She later tells Bill Furlong that her baby has been taken from her. The separation makes her imprisonment a family rupture as well as a loss of freedom.

A Request to Escape A Request to Escape from "Small Things Like These". A Request to Escape Asking a stranger Sarah is not the girl Bill Furlong first encounters, but her desperation reveals the human cost of the institution.

A Request to Escape from "Small Things Like These". A Request to Escape Asking a stranger Sarah is not the girl Bill Furlong first encounters, but her desperation reveals the human cost of the institution.

A Request to Escape Asking a stranger Sarah is not the girl Bill Furlong first encounters, but her desperation reveals the human cost of the institution. Another girl begs him to take her toward the river or beyond the gate. Help refused Bill Furlong says that he cannot take her away. The refusal shows how fear, uncertainty, and accepted authority can turn an available witness into a bystander.

A Night in the Shed A Night in the Shed from "Small Things Like These". A Night in the Shed Found in the cold Bill Furlong discovers Sarah Redmond locked in the coal shed after a night of exposure.

A Night in the Shed from "Small Things Like These". A Night in the Shed Found in the cold Bill Furlong discovers Sarah Redmond locked in the coal shed after a night of exposure.

A Night in the Shed Found in the cold Bill Furlong discovers Sarah Redmond locked in the coal shed after a night of exposure. She is barely able to stand, and the space bears signs of her prolonged distress. The baby’s whereabouts Sarah’s first urgent concern is the infant taken from her. She asks whether the child is at the convent and who is feeding him, making separation central to her appeal.

An Unheard Account An Unheard Account from "Small Things Like These". An Unheard Account A story supplied for her The Mother Superior suggests that Sarah’s confinement was a game or a misunderstanding.

An Unheard Account from "Small Things Like These". An Unheard Account A story supplied for her The Mother Superior suggests that Sarah’s confinement was a game or a misunderstanding.

An Unheard Account A story supplied for her The Mother Superior suggests that Sarah’s confinement was a game or a misunderstanding. Under pressure, Sarah repeats that it was nothing, though her fear and earlier plea contradict this version. Naming herself Once the immediate questioning ends, Sarah gives Bill Furlong her own name and says where her people come from. This small act of self-identification restores a measure of personhood to a girl treated as an institutional problem.

Leaving with Bill Furlong Leaving with Bill Furlong from "Small Things Like These". Leaving with Bill Furlong A return to the shed Bill Furlong comes back and calls for Sarah. This time she takes his coat and leans on him as he leads her out.

Leaving with Bill Furlong from "Small Things Like These". Leaving with Bill Furlong A return to the shed Bill Furlong comes back and calls for Sarah. This time she takes his coat and leans on him as he leads her out.

Leaving with Bill Furlong A return to the shed Bill Furlong comes back and calls for Sarah. This time she takes his coat and leans on him as he leads her out. Toward a home He takes her across town, past people who notice but mostly do not intervene. The journey offers immediate shelter, not a guaranteed future, but Sarah is no longer alone inside the convent.

before December 1985

early December 1985

the Sunday before Christmas before dawn

the Sunday before Christmas that morning

Christmas Eve 1985