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The Commitments By Roddy Doyle: An Analysis

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Roddy Doyle, author of The Commitments, portrays a young Irish bands’ dreams of becoming a Dublin soul group that impacts others. In the beginning, The Commitments, as they call themselves, are motivated by the desire to represent a genre of music their people can relate to; but as time passes by, certain band members’ hunger for fame and fortune outweighs their desire for a creative outlet. Joey, Jimmy, and Deco’s desire for fame and fortune dictates The Commitments and eventually causes them to break up. The Commitments slowly come together with the help of one man, Joey Fagan. Joey brings maturity and experience to the band as he teaches each member how to play with soul. From the beginning, Joey wants the band members to believe that he is a big deal. He …show more content…

The Commitments easily fall into Joey’s trap, hoping that he will be able to make them famous too. Soon enough Joey becomes the dictator of the once “democratic band”. He begins making major decisions for the band that he believes will bring them fame and fortune such as critiquing each band member to perfection, picking out all the songs they perform, and giving approval on every move the band makes. After The Commitments complete their first few gigs Joey’s desire for fame becomes stronger. Joey exemplifies his longing for fame as he talks to the tabloids about their next gig: “Tell the people, Joey the Lips told the sap, to put on their soul shoes because The Commitments are coming and there’s going to be dancing in the streets… And there’ll be barricades in the streets too, said Joey the Lips” (Doyle 113). Joey’s bragging about the popularity of The

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