"On the left side" is a short story taking place in a small town of the 1980s called Conn. Conn is a city dominated by the Christian Catholic church. The huge church, in which the narrator sits on the left side because of her indignation at Father O"Rourke, is called St Finbar's and is the pride of the very religious community. To the people of Conn, the church and the Christian way of life are as much a way of existence determined by tradition and social circumstances as it is because of an actual belief in God. Christian values and norms are buried so deeply in these people that they see no alternatives to these. How they act and deal with everyday situations is mostly dictated by the weekly sermons, the confessions and the counseling by Father O"Rourke. I believe the town has become one big mass due to the strict following of religion, which is also kind of ironic since this mass shows the first diversities, in probably long time, at a Christmas mass. .
That sister O'Halloran has become pregnant with Friday, and thereby not following the dictations of her religion, is of course a great disappointment to this very religious society which has donated money in a long time so that she can do Christian work in Africa. She is the pride of the town, and when she has fallen to sin it is almost as though the little town has paid donations to a heathen for many years. Heathens in this town are not well seen and the word is almost a course word. Surely it is not a word without negative connotations. I think that the people of the town almost see the whole situation as if they have been demoting Catholism with their donations because of the sister's sin. .
Generally in the town there is a great indignation toward the sister who has sent her son home to visit until the Christmas mass. First when Father O"Rourke with his sermon on this day openly scolds the sister and her innocent son, do some of the townsfolk begin to change their opinions.