“An Encounter” is set in Dublin, Ireland in the early 20th century. At this time in Ireland’s history, the Irish Nationalist movement was pushing for freedom from England’s colonial rule. Many Irish people believed that the widespread poverty and sense of alienation that they experienced was due to England’s ongoing exploitation of Ireland’s people and land. This conflict also had a religious component—most people in Ireland were Catholic, and England had a pro-Protestant bias.
Joyce alludes to the conflict between Ireland and England at a few points in the story. When the narrator’s Irish Catholic school teacher Father Butler refers to “National Schools” with disdain, for example, he is communicating his frustration with the multi-denominational schools the English were founding in Ireland. While starting multi-denominational schools may not seem offensive in a different context, this was one of the strategies England employed in order to assert its colonial influence in Ireland and challenge the power of the Catholic Church-backed Nationalist movement.
In another moment, a group of “ragged” children call the narrator and his friend Mahony “swaddlers,” a pejorative term for Protestants. This moment hints at how pervasive the conflict is—even though they do not understand the complexities of geopolitical conflict, these young children know that to call a proud Irish person a Protestant is an extremely offensive act.
