¶ … play by J.M. Synge "Riders to the Sea" tells of the hardships a family has had to endure and the sacrifices and risks that they have to continue to take in order to survive. The play is inspired by Synge's personal experiences and observations from living on the Aran Islands "for a number of years…with peasant seamen and their families" ("J.M. Synge"). The play is able to provide "a window in to the life of the people in ancient times: the life of the Aran community is archaic: untouched by modern life, untouched by colonialism. In the play, Synge comments on the power of the sea as both a provider and as a force that destroys. Through irony, structure, and narrative, "Riders to the Sea" demonstrates how a family must sacrifice everything they have in order to attempt to survive. The play opens with Nora and Cathleen, Maurya's daughters, discussing a body that washed ashore and preparing to make an identification of the body as their brother Michael, who has been missing. As the sisters discuss the unidentified remains, their last surviving brother, Bartley, is preparing to make a journey to sell a horse. Nora contends...

Herself does be saying prayers half through the night, and the Almighty God won't leave her destitute with no son living" (Synge). This statement is significant because it puts religion up against the forces of nature.
Although Maurya has been through so much and has lost all her sons, except for Bartley, she knows that "It's the life of a young man to be going on the sea, and who would listen to an old woman with one thing and she saying it over?" (Synge). Maurya also comments on the imbalance of nature due to the sea taking men before their time. She also recognizes that their remote location is a major influence on the sacrifices that families make to live. "In the big world the old people do be leaving things after them for their sons and children, but in this place it is the young men do be leaving things behind for them that do be old" (Synge). Unfortunately, Maurya's observation rings true as she and her daughters receive word that Bartley has been thrown from his horse and drowned…