payment page
If Little Chandler represents failed aspirations, then Ignatius Gallaher represents those aspirations realized. Gallaher did what Little Chandler never could. He left Dublin, he became a writer, and he is committed to his bachelorhood and has resisted the societal pressures to become a family man. Gallaher is Little Chandler’s narrative foil—a character who contrasts with the protagonist to better highlight or differentiate certain qualities of the protagonist.
Little Chandler is unable to act on his desires so he depends on Gallaher to provide experiences he can participate in vicariously. Little Chandler admires and envies Gallaher. Even when he realizes that Gallaher refuses his invitation to see his home and family out of disinterest, he keeps such sentiments to himself. In Gallaher, an old friend who has done well for himself, Little Chandler sees the hope of escape and success. This friendship sustains Little Chandler’s fantasies, allowing him to dream that Gallaher might submit one of his poems to a London paper, and allowing him to feel superior because he has foreign connections. At the same time, as the meeting at the pub progresses, Little Chandler feels cheated by the world since Gallaher can succeed and he cannot, and so his friend provides a barometer to measure and judge himself against.
