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Mickey looks up to and tries to emulate Sammy, who serves as a father figure for Mickey due to the lack of his own father. Eddie also looks up to Mickey and wants to learn from him. Throughout the play, Mickey repeatedly says he is "nearly eight" to show his desire to grow up quickly to help his struggling mother financially. When Eddie offers to share candy with Mickey, Mickey's reluctance to accept shows how he is accustomed to having little while Eddie, from a wealthier family, does not mind sharing. The language used by Mickey and Eddie greatly contrasts - Mickey uses slang while Eddie speaks in proper sentences, representing their differing social classes and upbringings.

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Blood Brothers Task 2 At the beginning of page 27 it is obvious that Mickey aspires to be and looks up to Sammy. This is made evident as Mickey talks about what Sammy does, for instance when he ‘Wees straight through the letterbox of the house next door’ and then he says that he tried to do it himself but couldn’t because he is only seven. The way that he mimics Sammy’s actions shows that Sammy is an influential figure to Mickey; this could be because of the lack of a fatherly role in Mickey’s life. The fact that Sammy is considered a bad role model in society could be foreshadowing to how Mickey will be in the future if he follows in Sammy’s footsteps. He could end up like Sammy. It also seems as if Eddie looks up to Mickey as after Mickey says that he is ‘pissed off’ Eddie says, ‘you say smashing things don’t you? Do you know anymore words like that?’ This shows that Eddie wants to learn from Mickey and copy him, to be more like him. He wants to fit in with Mickey and have a ‘cool’ friend, or be accepted by him. Throughout the beginning of the play Mickey’s character repeats the line, ‘I’m only seven, but I’m not, I’m nearly eight.’ This shows that he wants to grow up quickly and, because of his social background he might feel like he has no choice but to grow up quickly so that he can help his mother with the financial problems and get a job. So, this could be a device to show the audience that Mrs Johnstone’s financial problems have a large effect on her children. When Mickey teaches Eddie ‘The F word’ Eddie says, ‘when I get home I’ll look it up in the dictionary’ The fact that Eddie has a dictionary and has been brought up with books, when Mickey doesn’t even know what a dictionary is, shows a huge contrast in social class as Eddie is obviously more educated than Mickey. Such a contrast in the two characters adds a strange sense of comedy into such a tragic musical. This makes the audience question the genre of the play. When Eddie offers Mickey a sweet, Mickey’s reaction to his generosity could be an indication to the fact that the two boys are from a different class, because Mickey is so used to having to share his things out that he keeps them to himself, where as Eddie doesn’t mind sharing because he knows that he could easily get more. Also this part in the play could be foreshadowing to when Eddie offers Mickey money at the end, however the crucial difference is that Mickey doesn’t accept the offer at the end of the play. I believe this is because Willy Russell wanted to highlight the fact that Mickey has had to grow up and get things for himself, in contrast to when he was a child and could just take what he wanted without caring. Mickey and Eddie’s use of language is a huge contrast. For example Mickey uses slang, like when he says, ‘Y’ know our Sammy? Y’ know what he sometimes does?’ This use of an elision shows that he is less educated and from a lower class background than Eddie. Eddie’s
use of language shows the complete opposite to Mickey’s as he talks in long, complete sentences with no slang used. I think that Willy Russell wanted to make these two character’s voices so different to show how differently twins can turn out if they are brought up in different backgrounds, but he wanted to heighten this by making the actors exaggerate with the use of their voices and add comedy to it.

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Extract 2 answer

  • 1. Blood Brothers Task 2 At the beginning of page 27 it is obvious that Mickey aspires to be and looks up to Sammy. This is made evident as Mickey talks about what Sammy does, for instance when he ‘Wees straight through the letterbox of the house next door’ and then he says that he tried to do it himself but couldn’t because he is only seven. The way that he mimics Sammy’s actions shows that Sammy is an influential figure to Mickey; this could be because of the lack of a fatherly role in Mickey’s life. The fact that Sammy is considered a bad role model in society could be foreshadowing to how Mickey will be in the future if he follows in Sammy’s footsteps. He could end up like Sammy. It also seems as if Eddie looks up to Mickey as after Mickey says that he is ‘pissed off’ Eddie says, ‘you say smashing things don’t you? Do you know anymore words like that?’ This shows that Eddie wants to learn from Mickey and copy him, to be more like him. He wants to fit in with Mickey and have a ‘cool’ friend, or be accepted by him. Throughout the beginning of the play Mickey’s character repeats the line, ‘I’m only seven, but I’m not, I’m nearly eight.’ This shows that he wants to grow up quickly and, because of his social background he might feel like he has no choice but to grow up quickly so that he can help his mother with the financial problems and get a job. So, this could be a device to show the audience that Mrs Johnstone’s financial problems have a large effect on her children. When Mickey teaches Eddie ‘The F word’ Eddie says, ‘when I get home I’ll look it up in the dictionary’ The fact that Eddie has a dictionary and has been brought up with books, when Mickey doesn’t even know what a dictionary is, shows a huge contrast in social class as Eddie is obviously more educated than Mickey. Such a contrast in the two characters adds a strange sense of comedy into such a tragic musical. This makes the audience question the genre of the play. When Eddie offers Mickey a sweet, Mickey’s reaction to his generosity could be an indication to the fact that the two boys are from a different class, because Mickey is so used to having to share his things out that he keeps them to himself, where as Eddie doesn’t mind sharing because he knows that he could easily get more. Also this part in the play could be foreshadowing to when Eddie offers Mickey money at the end, however the crucial difference is that Mickey doesn’t accept the offer at the end of the play. I believe this is because Willy Russell wanted to highlight the fact that Mickey has had to grow up and get things for himself, in contrast to when he was a child and could just take what he wanted without caring. Mickey and Eddie’s use of language is a huge contrast. For example Mickey uses slang, like when he says, ‘Y’ know our Sammy? Y’ know what he sometimes does?’ This use of an elision shows that he is less educated and from a lower class background than Eddie. Eddie’s
  • 2. use of language shows the complete opposite to Mickey’s as he talks in long, complete sentences with no slang used. I think that Willy Russell wanted to make these two character’s voices so different to show how differently twins can turn out if they are brought up in different backgrounds, but he wanted to heighten this by making the actors exaggerate with the use of their voices and add comedy to it.