In the first chapters of Amongst Women, John McGahern introduces Moran as stalwart but cold. In his small town, he stands out as someone who doesn’t play along with small-town community values. Moreover, the rumors about his role in the war remain integral to how his neighbors view him. Moran’s connection to the past introduces the theme of The Individual in a Changing World. An important part of his characterization is the mystery that hovers around him. McGahern reveals different layers to and perspectives of his characterization through Rose’s point of view. While others gossip about him, she “[finds] him attentive, intelligent, even charming, but with a distinct sense of separateness and pride that she [finds] refreshingly unlike any of the other local men” (23). Rose characterizes Moran as vilified because of his differences, an aspect she finds appealing as someone who is likewise different—she is unmarried in her thirties, which is considered unusual. While this deepens and complicates Moran’s characterization, the townspeople’s “dark mutterings” and her mother’s resistance to the match foreshadow that Rose is not seeing the whole picture.

Moran’s characterization is also developed through the mysterious dynamics between him and his children. Luke’s absence is a constant and sensitive question that implies there is something destructive about his relationship with Moran. Luke’s inability to be a part of his family, even with his sisters, foreshadows revelations of internal and external conflict within the family. Moran’s daughters are devoted to him, but as adults, they too will move away. However, they will choose to look past the more unpleasant memories of their childhood for the sake of Moran’s well-being. This emphasizes McGahern’s message about the complexity of the family unit. In this novel, families are imperfect but necessary to an individual’s happiness and sense of self. This introduces the theme of The Individual Versus the Collective.

Amongst Women uses a narrative structure in which the past and the present switch back and forth. This narrative structure creates a mysterious and tense tone as more about Moran’s past is revealed to illuminate his present situation. The interplay of the past and the present brings into question certain parts of Moran’s life, such as family memories and his friendship with McQuaid. For example, when Moran’s daughters decide to reunite on Monaghan Day, “[f]orgotten was the fearful nail-biting exercise Monaghan Day had always been for the whole house; with distance it had become large, heroic, blood-mystical, something from the impossible could be snatched” (2). With time, Moran’s daughters feel distanced from the tension that informed their childhood. However, intermingling past and present, McGahern affirms the past’s influence on the present, a fact that’s strengthened when Moran’s children exhibit some of his traits later in the novel.

An important historical allusion in this novel is the Irish War of Independence. Fought between 1919 and 1921, the Irish War of Independence was both a victory that won Ireland its liberty from England and a civil war fought between Irish people. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) fought the British Army, but the British Army was allied with the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC), a group in Ulster County in the North who considered themselves English. When Moran refers to the “Tans”, he is referring to the Black and Tans, British loyalists from Ulster County who fought viciously against Irish independence. Both the IRA and the Black and Tans were considered paramilitary organizations, but the Black and Tans had political and material partnerships with the British Army. The Irish War of Independence was notoriously difficult and divided the Irish people.

The ripple effect of this war is portrayed in Moran’s friendship with McQuaid. Moran is disappointed in the state of Ireland and wonders if fighting the war was worth having what he perceives as a weak government. McQuaid, by contrast, staunchly supports the Irish government. Their strained friendship reflects the stresses of a postcolonial nation attempting to create its identity in the world, as well as the inequalities present in the new Republic of Ireland. Here, McGahern touches on the class differences and pervasive poverty in early to mid-20th-century Ireland. Intercommunity divisions—and Moran’s stubborn personality—run so deep that even war camaraderie cannot keep their friendship intact. Therefore, the ramifications of the war are still relevant to how Moran interacts with his community.