So, finally, we come not to the Salmon of Knowledge, but the knowledge, that is Salmon. Barnabas Salmon passes away, with a prayer card in his hand that encapsulates his entire belief.
‘All things are passing-God alone suffices.’
As his life story slowly unfolds, it becomes increasingly fitting, that he should depart on the feast day of the Good Thief.
Has his mission been successful? It is disappointing that his parishioners ask the following.
‘Who would tend to the lonely, the sick and the elderly now?’
If the ghost of Barnabas Salmon was to suddenly appear, they would surely hear a booming voice declare, ‘YOU.’
As people ponder his passing, they see clearly, he was a human bridge between people and church.
Donal Ryan is both shocked and confused, but to his credit, looks critically at his own failings, rather than those of a man he never really understood.
Father Brendan O’Sullivan, in his sermon, catches the essence of Barnabas Salmon the man. His fascination with a mixed bag of writers, not for the stories they told, but for the message their own life story gave out.
‘What Barnabas perceived in them was their desire, as individuals, to impart to the world, stories concerning the heroics of the human soul.’
In other words, ‘their personal search for perfection in an imperfect world.’
As the writer of this story, this in a nutshell was my purpose in creating the character of the Rural Gentleman. This is a character who views the whole of humanity, moving forward like a migrant caravan towards eternity. The only way to secure the final reward, is by ensuring to the best of individual ability, that everyone gets over the finish line, with their soul intact.
When Clarissa addresses the congregation, she uses distinctly religious language. ‘Please do not let your hearts be troubled.’
It is clear that Barnabas Salmon, schooled her thoroughly in what to say, and how to say it. Clarissa herself, survives a serious illness. What would have become of Barnabas Salmon’s story, if she had passed before him?
Yet another example of his faith and trust, that it is, ‘never too late.’
There are many things Clarissa clarifies, and much of what she has to say, backs up Salmon’s assertion, that one must never judge. For example, she clarifies Salmon’s regret about the incident involving the posh school uniform. ‘The epitome of privilege,’ takes on a whole new connotation. The same applies to her romance, with the younger Barnabas Salmon. Yes, there was opposition on the grounds of class, now we know the nature of that opposition in its fullness.
In this funeral mass, the stoic, somewhat judgemental, Madge Healy, undergoes her transformation to the person, she will be much happier being.
‘She closed her eyes and pictured him, and in her heart she knew that the solution to all her doubts and unhappiness lay deep within her being.’
From now on, the memory of this man, will be her arbiter, when it comes to understanding others.
Without doubt, Barnabas Salmon spent happy days in the village of Droumbally. However, it is clear from Clarissa’s words, that he was not blind to the failings of that community.
‘His mission though, on coming back to the place of his birth was not just to console his mother, but to reach out to her community. to tell them first hand, of the dangers invited by an insular, closed approach to life.’
Clarissa closes her eulogy, with one final reference to the mantra of Salmon’s life. Despite his physical ill health, he survived his mother.
‘He knew that Bridie Clancy was so very afraid of meeting her God alone, but God at the very last minute, did not let her down.’
The chapter ends with a final reference to William Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience,’ and the necessity of cherishing pity, ‘lest you drive an angel from your door.’
As Salmon would say, the words speak for themselves.