There is a subtle change in Owen’s attitude towards Manus. When Doalty refers to Manus as a “stupid bloody fool” for running away, Own says, “I told him that.” This shows his concern for his brother, since he advised him to stay and defend himself. Also, when Lancey asks about Manus’ whereabouts, Owen blatantly lies saying that he is at a wake. He directly defies the English in order to protect his brother, and hopefully buy him some more time.
When Captain Lancey enters to inform them on the course of action in response to the disappearance of Yolland, Owen is shocked at the coldness and detachment of his words. In the stage directions on Page 79, it says “Owen hesitates, trying to assess the change in Lancey’s manner and attitude” He is humiliated when the Captain orders, “do your job- translate” Owen thought that they were friendly, accepting, but now he realizes that they would never treat him as an equal. This reinforces the authority of Captain Lancey and the English. This time, quite in contrast to his previous translations, Owen does not distort the meaning of the Captain’s words. He translates directly, since he feels that the people need to hear exactly what is going on.
Owen starts to react to this change in Lancey’s manner. “Owen stares at Lancey” when Lancey delivers his instructions, and exclaims, “You’re not!” out of defiance.
In the past Owen pointedly asks Manus to speak English for the benefit of the British, yet here he uses the Gaelic place names to answer Captain Lancey’s questions. I think this is because he is analyzing his role in the situation and reassessing his allegiance. This is emphasized on page 87 when Hugh is looking at the name book- Owen snatches it away saying, “It’s only a catalogue of names” and continues, “A mistake- my mistake- nothing to do with us” I think this shows that Owen regrets, and is ashamed of his role in the renaming, and of his affiliation with the British. At one point (Pg 84) Owen stoops to pick up the name book, then changes his mind. I think this is an example of Owen trying to distance himself from the operation, and perhaps he sees it as useless, with no continuity for his job in the operation since Yolland is gone.
Doalty does not trust Owen because he thinks that he is on the British side and refuses to give out information about the Donnelly twins. However he does recognise that there is a change in Owen, and he says, “Give me a shout after you’ve finished with Lancey. I might know something then”
It is quite difficult to figure out exactly what Own is feeling at this time. He is obviously shocked and horrified by the threat made by the English to him and his community. There is an element of betrayal- Owen feels betrayed by the British, and also begins to feel as though he himself has been betraying his own people and culture.
Owen is a very important element in the plot of the play. He is the link- the bridge between the English and the Irish. Friel presents Owen in a way that encourages us to make our own judgments about him. We are left to make up our own minds about to what extent has Owen changed his allegiance. At the end, Owen rushes off to see Doalty. Is it to prevent him from fighting against the British? Or to help him? I personally think that there is enough evidence in this particular section of the play to indicate that Owen has had a sort of ‘change of heart’ and is therefore going to assist Doalty is defending their community and culture.
Word count- 752
