From The Price of my Soul by Bernadette Devlin

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From The Price of my Soul by Bernadette Devlin

“The combined effect of Mother Benignus and my fellow students turned me into a convinced Republican, and a year of absorbing the lesson, “We are Irish. We are proud of our history, our dead, our culture, and our language,” groomed me for the talent competition.” (192)

Devlin was constantly surrounded by strong minds, opinions, and lots of propaganda at a young age (187). Because of this, she turned into a raging republican for Ireland (189). She memorized lines for debates, and naturally inherited a strong, angry passion for the republican ideology just like the people around her (188). 

I think many people can relate to adopting similar views as their family or peers. I know I can relate to this in a big way. My whole family is extremely right-leaning politically. Both of my parents are strong-minded conservatives who majored in political science in college. At a very young age, I was taught about the greatness of figures like Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher. I listened to conservative talk shows and podcasts. My parents' influence on me was very strong. It wasn’t until I got older and met more diverse-minded people that I considered other positions on political controversies. 

My upbringing and schooling was not half as strict as Devlin’s, which she described as “Stalinism” (194). Her upbringing makes her choice to grow more open minded and teach British history that much more significant (195). All history is important, and I find it sad that so much history is only taught from one point of view. 

Later becoming a member of the British Parliament, this writing is very significant (187). It gives so much insight into her intelligence, humility, and her early moments of independent thought. I find it so sad she and her husband were almost assassinated (187). I feel like if those terrible people who attempted to kill her read this, they would be able to see that a person is much more than politics.