First Confession - A Humorous Short Story

Confession is the admission of one’s sins. In the Christian religion, it is done within a confessional booth before a priest, who will then give the confessor a penance in accordance with his or her crimes. Confession of one’s mortal sins is required in order regain God’s grace, and the priest is believed to have been given the authority to grant forgiveness and absolution. Most of the time, confession is a solemn affair. However, some authors have written stories that focus on the subject of confession and have even managed to add an element of humor into it. One example is “First Confession” by Frank O’Connor. Through the use of narrative viewpoint, tone and mood, contrast, and characterization, the author of the short story “First Confession” evokes humor in the readers.

The narrative viewpoint of this story, a detached autobiography, helps to arouse the feeling of humor. There are many experiences in life when things may seem frightening or frustrating while they are happening, but when we think about them later, we realize that they could have been comical. In a detached autobiography, the narrator reflects on and writes about something that has happened in the past. Usually, he has matured from the time the events in the story took place and is now in a different frame of mind, so he is able to write about them with an outsider’s detachment. In this case, Jackie is writing about his first confession, which probably happened many years ago. Thus, he can now talk about it while highlighting the funny side of the story. For instance, Jackie’s reactions to Mrs. Ryan’s and Nora’s attempts to scare him reveal the gullibility of a typical seven-year-old and how it can be amusing. Likewise, he portrays sibling rivalry in a humorou...

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...out the characters, as well as to add humor to the story.

Frank O’Connor, the author of the short story “First Confession” makes the story humorous by effectively using literary devices like the narrative viewpoint, tone and mood, contrast, and characterization. He has created a light and entertaining mood by having a main character who the reader can understand, plus amusing supporting characters. Altogether, O’Connor has succeeded in making humor the single effect of a story whose main subject is confession – a fairly serious practice where Christians confess their sins to a priest in the hope of gaining forgiveness from God. Only the most skilled can give their stories an underlying feeling opposite to what it is about, and he is one of the few writers who have mastered their craft enough to make their readers laugh at something that is usually considered dreary.