Sean O'Faolain was an Irish writer who often used the relationship between society and individual characters to show his readers how the Irish struggled with adjusting its conservative past with a modern present. O'Faolain's stories do not leave the reader with the satisfaction that things will be better. His protagonists have all been shunned from society and experience all sorts of loss. O'Faolain shows how these characters overcome their realities through inventive ideas. O'Faolain's Foreign Affairs, a collection of short stories, shows how the Irish, caught in a limited and culturally conservative environment, search for imaginative escape routes to a more fulfilling lifestyle. The characters in O'Foalain's book do not literally travel but instead, use their imaginative and daring sides to free themselves and think outside of the box.

In An Inside Outside Complex, Bertie Bolger, an antique dealer, is dissatisfied with his conservative and boring life. To satisfy his desire for a more fulfilling existence, he engages in voyeuristic acts, such as spying on a widowed dressmaker named Maisie.

Bolger falls in love with Maisie, marries her and leaves her. Later, he accepts her and commits to their life together. Maisie represents an alluring but sometimes confining familiarity, which he both fights and pursues.

Fugue," which is a story in Midsummer Night Madness tells a story about revolution in romantic tones, which shows a great deal of irony. A young Irish rebel flees through the mountains of West Cork from advancing "Black and Tans." Distant outlooks of the hills and valleys...

The man is actually running for his life in the story, as he is the enemy in this limited and culturally conservative environment, yet the story shows that he still finds escape, through whatever means he is able to.
For example, the man meets a young woman in a farmhouse, where he is hiding. His romantic relationship with this woman shows the reader that he longs for love and is truly lonely and afraid as he runs from his enemies. It shows the reader that although, at this point and time, freedom and love are impossible for this man, and so many others like him, there is always a dream beyond the actions.

O'Faolain's novel, Bird Alone also paints a picture of how the rebellious feel and respond to their situation. This book shows a correspondence between national insurrection against the political oppressor and personal rebellion against the moral repression of Ireland. This story is also set in Cork.

The main character, Corney Crone, escapes the traditional sexual oppression of his community when he impregnates his girlfriend, Elsie Sherlock, in his freethinking ways. She is shamed by her family and kills herself. Corney is left to grieve for her, to regret his vain gesture, and to live as a moral recluse in his own city. This novel shows how people were oppressed by…