Mrs. Ryan and the Priest Influence Jackie's Attitude To Religion

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How do Mrs. Ryan and the priest influence Jackie's attitude to religion?

"First Confession" is the story of how Jackie, a seven year old boy, makes his first confession before his first communion. The story takes place in Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century and is based on O'Connor's own childhood. It is interesting to see how two opposite characters, Mrs. Ryan and the priest, can influence so much the kid's thoughts: Mrs. Ryan instills him fear while the priest helps him to overcome this fear.

Mrs. Ryan is the women encharged of preparing Jackie and his class-mates to take their first communion. She has to get them closer to God and turn them into good Catholics. Apart from what Jackie had learnt from his parents and other people, he knows not much about religion when he meets her, and, as a kid, he believes everything she tells him. Her educational methods are not really fair, as she uses fear and threatens Jackie with hell. Jackie says "hell had the first place in her heart", and that the few times she mentions heaven "must have been by accident." Just before making...

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