Bog Child

Message

If you really believe in something then you should fight for it

Theme

Self-sacrifice- Joe was willing to sacrifice his life for his country, Fergus risked being put in prison to help his brother, and Mel sacrificed herself to bring peace to her village

Significance

This book shows the fight for Irish to govern themselves against not only Great Britain but themselves

Critique

• Archaeologist Felicity and her daughter Cora come to examine the body and Fergus falls in love with Cora

Negative: Book was not enticing. The story peaked in the beginning when the body was found.

Historical Inaccuracies

• It's reported that a bomb exploded and killed two civilians , Fergus believes that his running the packages assisted in this attack

• Fergus turns himself in to Owain but Owain doesn't arrest him

During the time that the book was placed and what the author described, there were no historical inaccuracies except for the fictional characters.

Positive: It was easy to understand even without previously knowing anything about the troubles in Ireland. The characters were described well in detail.

• Felicity tells Fergus that Mel wasn't a child but a dwarf and that was probably the reason for her death

• Fergus' family gets a call from the prison saying Joe has slipped into a coma but if they wanted they could drip feed him, which they decide to do

• At the same moment another bombing occured and this time Owain was one of the victims

• It is revealed that Uncle Tally was responsible

Summary/ Synopsis

Historical Context

• Fergus and his uncle found the body in the bog at the north-south border

• Fergus learned his brother Joe had joined the hunger strike

• Soon Joe's friend Michael asks Fergus to carry packages across the border for the IRA, he refuses

• The book takes place in Ireland during the early 1980's which the height of their troubles.
• In 1960 a civil rights movement for political power, social provision, and cultural recognition began.
• In 1969 the government in London deployed British troops to try and keep order.
• By the 70's, the PIRA started a campaign of violence against the British which led to Northern Ireland being governed from London
• In 1994 there was a ceasefire to try and regain peace.

• While all this is happening Fergus is having dreams about the child in the bog, Mel

• When Joe's state starts getting worse Fergus agrees to run the packages if he will try and help Joe

• While running the packages Fergus befriends a British soldier Owain

Owain- British Soldier

Siobhan Dowd

• Pale, freckles, scrawny
• Friendly, musical, joker

Uncle Tally- Fergus' Uncle

Characters

• Burly
• Introvert, distant

• Dowd also wrote A Swift Pure Cry, which won the Branford Boase Award and the Eilis Dillon Award
• She lived in Oxford with her husband
• Sadly she died of cancer in August 2007, leaving her book Bog Child unpublished
• Before her death, she put together the Siobhan Dowd Trust which is a charity set up to allow young people in areas of social deprivation to have books

Fergus- main character

Cora- Crush of Fergus

• Fair, lean, long hair, tall
• Smart, Kind, Caring

Joe- Fergus' brother

• Short hair, fair, thin
• Moody, wild, artistic

• Athletic, thin,
• Charismatic, passionate, humorous

Mel- Bog Child

• Dwarf, pretty, dark hair
• Kind, selfless,

Main Quote

"We suffer more from the sins of omission than the sins of commission."

The quote symbolizes the multiple sacrifices that were made throughout the book.

Title Explanation

• In the beginning the main character, Fergus, is near the north-south border of Ireland.
• He was collecting peat and looked into the cut and saw a body in the bog.
• Because of the body's short stature, it appeared to be a child.

Bog Child

By: Stephanie Baylor and Rachel Tripp