Eliza Character Analysis

Father Flynn’s sister. Eliza took care of Father Flynn in his old age along with their other sister, Nannie. While Nannie immediately falls asleep when the narrator and his aunt join her and her sister after the wake, Eliza remains awake and begins to share memories of Father Flynn. She comments that he had a “beautiful death” and was a “beautiful corpse,” although the narrator’s descriptions are ample evidence to the contrary—when he sees Father Flynn in the coffin, he describes the priest’s face as “very truculent, grey and massive.” She shares stories about Father Flynn’s deteriorating health in his last days—particularly notable is her recollection that she went to give him soup and found him lying back with his mouth open and his breviary fallen to the floor. Since the breviary is an important text for the priests to read and recite every day, Father Flynn allowing it to fall to the ground suggests that he was no longer able to successfully complete the responsibilities of priesthood. Eliza and her sister seem to believe, superstitiously, that Father Flynn’s poor health began when he broke a chalice, a belief that characterizes both her and Nannie as somewhat irrational and superstitious in their religiosity.