The Whaler

The Irish short story The Whaler is written by Joe Sheerin and published in 2000. The story’s main theme is of universal validity because it deals with what every boy and girl will realize somewhere in their childhood: that nobody’s perfect.

The story takes place in a town-land in Ireland by the Donegal coast. The surroundings are characterized by having colds seas, hills and meadows. The action takes place on a May morning but it’s difficult placing the exact ‘when’ of the story. The Gaelic expression, which is used, tells us more about the Whaler than that the story should take place in the past, since Gaelic can still be heard today in Ireland. The story could be more or less contemporary or it could take place hundred years ago, but I don’t think the timing is very important since the themes of the story are still relevant today.

The narrator is a young boy who is about 10 to 12 years old. He has a passion for, and familiarizes himself with whale hunting with su...