The Body in Pain and Millennial Ireland in “At the Clinic” by Sally Rooney

Abstract

Sally Rooney is a recent phenomenon in Irish literature, being considered by critics a “new Jane Austen” since her narratives revolve around a part of society, which corresponds to her own generation, that of millennials, but from an Irish perspective of the post-crash period, a moment of economic and social reconstruction subsequent to the failed economic boom, known as Celtic Tiger. Therefore, supported by the historical context of post-crash Ireland, in this article I demonstrate that in the short story “At the Clinic” (2016), by Sally Rooney, the body is represented as a place of suffering and at the same time of resilience. Considering how Dillane, McAreavery and Pine (2016) deal with the body in pain, we investigate the way in which Marianne and Connell, the two protagonists of “At the Clinic”, deal with the (in)expressibility of pain, physical and emotional. In this regard, the discussion will revolve around what Chris Weedon (1987) means by common sense and normality and if (and how) these concepts are indirectly present in the way in which Connell and Marianne relate in “At the Clinic”. Finally, I conclude that the subjectivities of these main characters are mutually constructed and that, for Marianne, at the same time that she has to deal with the physical pain during the extraction of an inflamed tooth in a dental clinic, she also ends up dealing with the emotional pain caused by her dysfunctional family and a string of abusive relationships. However, when we look closely at the subjectivities that constitute Connell and Marianne, we realize that what lies at the crux of “At the Clinic” and Normal People is the fact that the individual becomes political.