“Clay” is one of only three short stories told through the eyes of a female main character (the others being “Eveline” and “A Mother”). It tells the story of an aging unmarried Catholic woman who is working at a laundry run by a Protestant Christian organization. At this time in Ireland, girls and women who were former prostitutes, had children outside of marriage, or were otherwise considered “immoral” were often sent to such laundries to be “reformed.” Although these were often places where terrible abuse took place (as the documentary for the listening task “Magdalene Laundries” explains), Maria seems to enjoy her work and the author does not portray any obvious abuse happening at her workplace.
The word “clay” is never written in the story, but it is implied that during a traditional Halloween game in which players are blindfolded and pick up items from a table that Maria picks the “clay” which has been cruelly put there by a neighbour girl, meaning that according to the superstition she will die within the coming year. Some have interpreted Joyce’s intention to portray Maria as “dead” in a way already, hyper-focused on small unimportant details of life and living a mundane daily routine.
First, you can try writing an essay based on the "A" option of the writing task of the exam which uses a fragment from "Counterparts."
Writing Task: The Complexity of Loneliness
This first listening task is based on an American news travel segment about Halloween in Ireland and its origins. “Clay” takes place on Halloween, which is referred to by the older term of “Hallows Eve” in the story. As the video explains, Halloween originates from ancient pagan Irish culture but has continued since the introduction of Christianity and is still extremely popular today. Although the specific games and traditions that are shown in the story are not mentioned, it might be interesting to have a background on the importance of the holiday to Ireland and also learn more about its origins. Note: on the exam, these listening tasks normally have 8 instead of 10 questions, and the audio is usually roughly a minute shorter.
Listening Task: Halloween's Ancient Irish Origins