Gilfoyle's Gilded Age and Tammany Hall

Gilfoyle would start off each of his chapters with a selection from a primary source that would be used to frame the chapter and ground it in reality. For instance, there are excerpts from Appo’s diary at the start of most chapters, which serve to present a backdrop of Gilfoyle’s story: the primary source serves as the ground floor of the narrative, and Gilfoyle expands the reader’s vision by constructing a sense of what the world that Appo inhabited would have looked like. Primary sources are littered throughout the chapters as well, a poem by Driscoll to the Sisters of Charity included in the chapter on Danny Driscoll. Driscoll’s conversion from thug and brute into a Roman Catholic martyr of sorts for the working class Irish community in New York is made more vital and alive by the inclusion of Driscoll’s poem to Sister Mary. The poem is a touching tribute and a sign of how deeply Driscoll was thinking about leaving this world and going into the next. It helps to reinforce the description of Driscoll’s execution, as Gilfoyle describes it, with Driscoll asking Jesus for mercy just before he is executed. This type of interweaving of primary sources with the main narrative makes the story come to life in a way that would not be possible were Gilfoyle simply relying on narrative to tell the story. But because he backs up the descriptions and depictions with real-life snippets that are cut from the cloth of real life history, the narrative becomes larger than life in a way: it becomes filled with the shadows and spirits of the past, haunting every word as their own words intermingle with the narrator’s. It is a highly effective way of dramatizing the history and grounding it in fact at the same time.
Context was provided, for example, with respect to Driscoll’s poem, by depicting the background of Driscoll’s life first, his arrest, his trial, his incarceration, and his last days, when he began to prepare his soul for death, turning back to his religious faith that was so important for the Irish community, as it was the one thing they all had in common at the end of the day. Driscoll’s “good death” as evidenced by his poem and words to those around him on the day of his execution were an inspiration to the whole Irish community, which is why they all flocked to the funeral despite the attempt by his family to keep it private. Gilfoyle thus excellently brings context to the primary sources he uses so that they blend right in with the narrative and do not really stand out at all—as the author has given the reader such a sense of their voice already that the combination of narrative and primary source feels organic through and through.
The new element of the Gilded Age that Gilfoyle exposed me to was the importance of culture and faith to some of these communities—especially that of the Irish, who had their highs and lows during the time of Tammany Hall. Instead of seeing the city as a dungeon of vice and deplorable characters, the chapter on Driscoll especially helped to show how there was more to this community than vice and crime and violence and power. The conversion of Driscoll on his deathbed and the community’s favorable response showed that the real fight during this era was between sin and grace for these people: they wanted to have their way while here on earth, but, if given the chance to put it all into perspective, they rejoiced whenever one of their own did just that and made the right decision to humble himself and prepare to meet his maker without any guile or hatred in his heart. This picture of the Gilded Age showed that behind all the corruption and seediness was still some character and heart that made the era very human and sympathetic in a way that otherwise would be hard to see had Gilfoyled not presented it in this way.