Vocabulary in Philadelphia, Here I Come!

A mocking but affectionate nickname Private Gar uses for his father S.B., suggesting someone odd, emotionally distant, or impossible to reach.

An emphatic, informal expression meaning to leave a place urgently and with strong feeling, often out of frustration or desperation.

The act of permanently leaving one's home country to settle in another; here it refers to the long Irish tradition of young people departing for America in search of better opportunities.

The evening or day immediately before a significant event; used here to mean the night just before Gar's departure for Philadelphia.

A woman employed to manage a household's domestic work; Madge also functions as a surrogate mother figure who raised Gar after his own mother died.

Deeply devout and obedient to religious teaching; used here with irony, since being pious has not saved S.B. from profound unhappiness.

Consistently hard-working and diligent; Private Gar lists it as one of S.B.'s virtues, yet the word feels hollow against his father's emotional emptiness.

Morally honest and respectable in conduct; here used to describe S.B.'s outward character, which contrasts painfully with his inability to connect with his son.

A British and Irish intensifier used for strong emphasis, roughly equivalent to 'damned' or 'absolutely'; it sharpens Private Gar's frustrated pity for his father.

To make the effort or trouble to do something; Private Gar uses it to question why Public Gar keeps trying to communicate with a father who never responds.

A parent's formal approval or permission for a child's relationship or marriage; S.B. withheld this from Gar's romance with Kathleen, effectively ending it.

Not changing, growing, or moving forward; used to convey that life in Ballybeg has become dull, trapped, and without future prospects for young people.

Noisily energetic and rowdy; describes the loud, joking manner of Gar's friends Joe, Ned, and Tom, whose high spirits mask the shallowness of their visit.

A person trusted with one's private thoughts and feelings; Boyle is the only adult outside the home to whom Gar can speak honestly.

A complete inability to act or speak; here it describes the emotional deadlock between Gar and S.B., who cannot express love or regret to each other.

Lacking genuine feeling or substance despite an impressive surface; used to describe Lizzy and Con's American success, which feels empty and unconvincing to Gar.

Easily broken or destroyed; the shared memory of the blue boat is described as fragile because it is the one tender moment between father and son, yet neither can hold onto it.

Comes back into awareness after being buried or forgotten; the blue-boat memory briefly returns, offering a glimpse of warmth between Gar and S.B.

Impossible to undo or go back on; the departure is irreversible because once Gar boards the bus, his old life in Ballybeg is permanently left behind.

The point of highest tension or decisive turning point in a dramatic work; Episode Three is the climax because it is the moment of actual departure that the whole play has been building toward.

An elected member of a legislative body; Kathleen's husband holds this title, marking the Doogan family's wealth and political standing, which the O'Donnells cannot match.

Having a great deal of money and material comfort; the Doogans' affluence is the social gap that S.B.'s refusal of blessing reinforces.

Lower in social rank or worth in someone else's eyes; the Doogan family regarded the O'Donnells as inferior, meaning not good enough for Kathleen to marry into.

One of the three named sections into which Friel divides the play, each covering a distinct block of time on Gar's last night and morning in Ballybeg.