"A New Place": St. Joseph and the Context of Love in Claire Keegan's Foster

I argue that the character of John Kinsella in Keegan's Foster alludes to the archetypal St. Joseph of the Roman Catholic tradition. I suggest that this allusion emphasizes the revivifying of the protagonist's sensory experience that occurs during the narrative, a revivification that is fundamentally interpersonal. The allusions cast the tone of incarnational love over the events of Foster , highlighting the power that such attentive care can afford to another person, and in particular, to the life of a child. The Josephite allusions are often (though not always) implicit, primarily evinced through the themes of fostering, work, silence, and protectiveness.