40 pages 1 hour read

Michael Patrick MacDonald

All Souls: A Family Story From Southie

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1999

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Themes

Silence and Loyalty

Not being a snitch—that is, not talking to the cops or reporting crimes—is the ultimate mark of respect for a Southie resident, even if keeping quiet means doing a life sentence in prison. This is partly because of Whitey Bulger’s encouragement and partly because of the Irish nationalism that many of Southie’s citizens cling to. The emphasis on silence is short-sighted: it takes away the voice of people who might create change, and also has the ability to make them blind to the fact that change could be possible. It is not until mothers who have lost children to Southie’s criminal activities begin to speak out that others realize working toward creating a better neighborhood is also a type of loyalty.

Family

The MacDonald family is close-knit. When they move into Old Colony, they have no reputation. Within a couple of weeks, they have made it clear that they are each willing to fight any person who picks on any one of them. Once they are seen as a tough family, they are accepted into the neighborhood and respected. MacDonald’s love for his siblings—and his anguish over his brothers’ deaths, and Kathy’s fall—is emblematic of way in which family is viewed throughout the book.