English
Literature
Revision
Booklet on the
Texts
1
Contents
Pg 3 – 20 Of Mice and Men (Unit 1 Section A)
Pg 21 – 29 A Christmas Carol (Unit 2b Section B)
Pg 30 – 40 Blood Brothers (Unit 2b Section A)
Pg 41 – Final Revision Tips
*IMPORTANT NOTE!*
This revision booklet has been designed to help
you learn as much about the books you’ve read as
possible. You should use it: complete the tasks
and do the extensions tasks because that is revision
– not just reading a booklet!
**IMPORTANTERER NOTE**
Remember what you have been taught and what
you have learned. Hard work always pays off.
2
Of Mice and
Men – John
Steinbeck
3
John Steinbeck and 1930s America
John Steinbeck was born in 1902. His father was an accountant and his mother was a
teacher. Steinbeck had a fairly comfortable upbringing and was born and raised in Salinas,
California. He spent his summers working on nearby ranches and later with migrant workers
on Spreckels ranch. He became aware of the harsher aspects of migrant life and the darker
side of human nature, which supplied him with material expressed in such works as Of Mice
and Men. He also explored his surroundings, walking across local forests, fields, and farms.
America experienced some of its harshest times in the 1920s and
30s. Towards the end of the 20s, money was difficult to come by
and the cost of living was constantly rising. In 1929, America’s
big banks suffered the Wall Street Crash, losing billions of
dollars of people’s money. Businesses and families lost
everything they had saved. Unemployment was at an all time
high, with a third of the population out of work. People living in
cities flocked to the countryside to find work on farms and
ranches. Those fortunate enough to find work clung on to it with all they had, sometimes
earning only a pittance, because a pittance was better than nothing.
Bad farming, combined with severe weather conditions resulted
in much of the fertile farming land being destroyed. Those
workers, who had already struggled to find work when leaving
the city, were forced to uproot again and leave the so-called
‘Dustbowl Plains’ of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas in favour of
California – the golden state.
The American Dream – the US government, to try and combat the Depression of the 1930s
created a ‘New Deal’ for Americans, getting them back into work and telling them that if
they worked their hardest, they could achieve the American Dream – owning their own land,
being their own bosses and living happy successful lives.
Of Mice and Men was published in 1937.
Complete the tasks on the following page about the context of
this book.
4
1. How did Steinbeck use his personal experiences to help him write the book?
2. Explain three ways Of Mice and Men reflects the time in which it was written.
1.
2.
3.
3. What messages of American life and society did Steinbeck communicate in his book?
5
Setting
There are many settings in the book that have important meanings.
George and Lennie’s Farm:
The farm that George constantly describes to Lennie—those few acres of land on which they
will grow their own food and tend their own livestock—is one of the most powerful symbols
in the book. It seduces not only the other characters but also the reader, who, like the men,
wants to believe in the possibility of the free, idyllic life it promises. Candy is immediately
drawn in by the dream, and even the cynical Crooks hopes that Lennie and George will let
him live there too.
What do you think this Farm represents?
6
The River Bank:
The book starts and ends at the same place: a peaceful, idyllic river bank. The location is
beautiful: lush, green, fertile, cool, full of wildlife. Lennie and George emerge here after
fleeing the town Weed, where Lennie got them into trouble. They also return here after
Lennie kills Curley’s wife. This is where Lennie dies, imagining the farm George promised
him they would one day own.
Why is this setting important?
The Bunk House:
All the men (except Croks) share the bunk house as their accommodation. It is where they
discuss their working days and important issues, such as Candy’s dog and the farm that
George and Lennie dream of. This is where the men spend most of their time, excluding their
working day.
Why is this setting important?
7
Crook’s Bunk:
Crook lives separated from the other workers. His room has more signs of ownership, such
as books and photos. Crooks is very protective of his private space and doesn’t like people
simply wandering in. However, Crooks soon welcomes the company that George and Lennie
provide.
Why is this setting important?
Any more?
Can you think of any other settings which may be important to the
story?
8
POSSIBLE TEXT QUESTION:
Steinbeck uses many settings in his novel. Discuss how settings are
important in Of Mice and Men.
Plan your answer below.
9
Characters:
Read the following character analyses and, in each box that follows,
summarise the important information and add your own ideas or
observations.
Lennie
Although Lennie is among the principal characters in Of Mice and Men, he is perhaps the
least dynamic. He undergoes no significant changes, development, or growth throughout the
story and remains exactly as the reader encounters him in the opening pages. Simply put, he
loves to pet soft things, is blindly devoted to George and their vision of the farm, and
possesses incredible physical strength. Nearly every scene in which Lennie appears confirms
these and only these characteristics.
Although Steinbeck’s insistent repetition of these characteristics makes Lennie a rather flat
character, Lennie’s simplicity is central to Steinbeck’s conception of the novella. Of Mice
and Men is a very short work that manages to build up an extremely powerful impact. Since
the tragedy depends upon the outcome seeming to be inevitable, the reader must know from
the start that Lennie is doomed, and must be sympathetic to him. Steinbeck achieves these
two feats by creating a protagonist who earns the reader’s sympathy because of his utter
helplessness in the face of the events that unfold. Lennie is totally defenseless. He cannot
avoid the dangers presented by Curley, Curley’s wife, or the world at large. His innocence
raises him to a standard of pure goodness that is more poetic and literary than realistic. His
enthusiasm for the vision of their future farm proves contagious as he convinces George,
Candy, Crooks, and the reader that such a paradise might be possible. But he is a character
whom Steinbeck sets up for disaster, a character whose innocence only seems to ensure his
inevitable destruction.
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George
Like Lennie, George can be defined by a few distinct characteristics. He is short-tempered
but a loving and devoted friend, whose frequent protests against life with Lennie never
weaken his commitment to protecting his friend. George’s first words, a stern warning to
Lennie not to drink so much lest he get sick, set the tone of their relationship. George may be
terse and impatient at times, but he never strays from his primary purpose of protecting
Lennie.
Unlike Lennie, however, George does change as the story progresses. The reader learns that
he is capable of change and growth during his conversation with Slim, during which he
admits that he once abused Lennie for his own amusement. From this incident George
learned the moral lesson that it is wrong to take advantage of the weak. Of Mice and Men
follows him toward a difficult realization that the world is designed to prey on the weak. At
the start of the novella, George is something of an idealist. Despite his hardened, sometimes
gruff exterior, he believes in the story of their future farm that he tells and retells to Lennie.
He longs for the day when he can enjoy the freedom to leave work and see a baseball game.
More important than a ball game, however, is the thought of living in safety and comfort with
Lennie, free from people like Curley and Curley’s wife, who seem to exist only to cause
trouble for them. Lennie is largely responsible for George’s belief in this safe haven, but
eventually the predatory nature of the world asserts itself and George can no longer maintain
that belief. By shooting Lennie, George spares his friend the merciless death that would be
delivered by Curley’s lynch mob, but he also puts to rest his own dream of a perfect, fraternal
world.
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Candy
One of the book’s major themes and several of its dominant symbols revolve around Candy.
The old handyman, aging and left with only one hand as the result of an accident, worries that
the boss will soon declare him useless and demand that he leave the ranch. Of course, life on
the ranch—especially Candy’s dog, once an impressive sheep herder but now toothless, foulsmelling, and brittle with age—supports Candy’s fears. Past accomplishments and current
emotional ties matter little, as Carson makes clear when he insists that Candy let him put the
dog out of its misery. In such a world, Candy’s dog serves as a harsh reminder of the fate that
awaits anyone who outlives his usefulness.
For a brief time, however, the dream of living out his days with George and Lennie on their
dream farm distracts Candy from this harsh reality. He deems the few acres of land they
describe worthy of his hard-earned life’s savings, which testifies to his desperate need to
believe in a world kinder than the one in which he lives. Like George, Candy clings to the
idea of having the freedom to take up or set aside work as he chooses. So strong is his
devotion to this idea that, even after he discovers that Lennie has killed Curley’s wife, he
pleads for himself and George to go ahead and buy the farm as planned.
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Curley’s wife
Of Mice and Men is not kind in its portrayal of women. In fact, women are treated with
contempt throughout the course of the book. Steinbeck generally depicts women as
troublemakers who bring ruin on men and drive them mad. Curley’s wife, who walks the
ranch as a temptress, seems to be a prime example of this destructive tendency—Curley’s
already bad temper has only worsened since their wedding. Aside from wearisome wives, Of
Mice and Men offers limited, rather misogynistic, descriptions of women who are either dead
maternal figures or prostitutes.
Despite Steinbeck’s rendering, Curley’s wife emerges as a relatively complex and interesting
character. Although her purpose is rather simple in the book’s opening pages—she is the
“tramp,” “tart,” and “bitch” that threatens to destroy male happiness and longevity—her
appearances later in the novella become more complex. When she confronts Lennie, Candy,
and Crooks in the stable, she admits to feeling a kind of shameless dissatisfaction with her
life. Her vulnerability at this moment and later—when she admits to Lennie her dream of
becoming a movie star—makes her utterly human and much more interesting than the
stereotypical vixen in fancy red shoes. However, it also reinforces the novella’s grim
worldview. In her moment of greatest vulnerability, Curley’s wife seeks out even greater
weaknesses in others, preying upon Lennie’s mental handicap, Candy’s debilitating age, and
the color of Crooks’s skin in order to steel herself against harm.
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Crooks
Crooks is a lively, sharp-witted, black stable-hand, who takes his name from his crooked
back. Like most of the characters in the story, he admits that he is extremely lonely. When
Lennie visits him in his room, his reaction reveals this fact. At first, he turns Lennie away,
hoping to prove a point that if he, as a black man, is not allowed in white men’s houses, then
whites are not allowed in his, but his desire for company ultimately wins out and he invites
Lennie to sit with him. Like Curley’s wife, Crooks is a disempowered character who turns his
vulnerability into a weapon to attack those who are even weaker. He plays a cruel game with
Lennie, suggesting to him that George is gone for good. Only when Lennie threatens him
with physical violence does he relent. Crooks exhibits the corrosive effects that loneliness can
have on a person; his character evokes sympathy as the origins of his cruel behavior are made
evident. Perhaps what Crooks wants more than anything else is a sense of belonging—to
enjoy simple pleasures such as the right to enter the bunkhouse or to play cards with the other
men. This desire would explain why, even though he has reason to doubt George and
Lennie’s talk about the farm that they want to own, Crooks cannot help but ask if there might
be room for him to come along and hoe in the garden.
14
Themes and symbols:
A theme is an underlying issue, idea, or message that is important to
the story. Symbols are items, characters, or events that are used to
represent something else.
Major themes:
See if you can make a few notes under each of the heading below
about these themes.

Loneliness

Friendship

Dreams

Inequality
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
Power (or the lack of it) in its many forms
Important Symbols
Animals are important symbols in the book. See if you can fill this
table out with ideas of their significance.
Animal
Relating to which character
and which events?
Mouse
Candy’s Dog
The puppy
A ‘bear’
This animal
doesn’t
actually
appear in the
book, but
think about
it…
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Why is it important?
Important Quotes
Look at each of the quotes and make brief notes under each about
their context (where they’re from in the book, who says them, about
who, to who etc…) and why they are important.
1. "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no
family. They don't belong no place. . . . With us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got
somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.”
2. "Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want. God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so
easy. I could go get a job an' work, an no trouble.”
3. "We could live offa the fatta the lan'."
4. "S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play
rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like that?”
5. “They fell into a silence. They looked at one another, amazed. This thing they had never
really believed in was coming true.”
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6. “Lennie, who had been watching, imitated George exactly.”
7. "Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it
ain’t even funny."
8. “Look, Candy. This ol’ dog jus’ suffers hisself all the time. If you was to take him out
and shoot him right in the back of the head, rightthere, why he’d never know what hit
him.”
9. “George said, "She’s gonna make a mess. They’s gonna be a bad mess about her. She’s a
jail bait all set on the trigger. That Curley got his work cut out for him. Ranch with a
bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl, specially like her."”
10. “She had full, rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were
red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress
and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers.”
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Sample Questions: all taken from past papers, so not likely to be
in your exam. But preparing wouldn’t hurt, surely! Also, it gives you
an idea of what they are like, what to expect and what to practise.
Extract Questions (obviously without the extracts!)
Perhaps good revision would be to think about which moments from the book you
would expect to accompany these questions.
1. Look closely at how George and Lennie speak and behave here. What does it reveal about
their relationship?
2. Look closely at how Curley’s wife speaks and behaves here. How does it affect your
feelings towards her?
3. With close reference to the extract, show how John Steinbeck creates mood and
atmosphere here.
4. With close reference to the extract, show how John Steinbeck presents Slim’s character
here.
Text Questions
1. How does Steinbeck present the theme of friendship in the book?
2. Imagine you are Slim. At the end of the novel you think back over what has happened
since George and Lennie arrived at the ranch. Write down your thoughts and feelings.
Remember how Slim would speak when you write your answer.
3. How does John Steinbeck’s presentation of George throughout the novel affect your
feelings towards him?
4. “Loneliness is at the heart of this novel.” To what extent do you agree with this
statement?
5. For which character in Of Mice and Men do you have the most sympathy? Show how
John Steinbeck’s presentation of your chosen character creates sympathy for him or
her.
6. How is the relationship between Curley and his wife important to the novel as a
whole?
7. How is the character of Crooks important to the novel as a whole?
8. A critic said about Of Mice and Men: “the characters are powerless.” Do you agree?
Give reasons to support your opinions.
19
Space here for your own notes and ideas:
20
A Christmas
Carol – Charles
Dickens
21
Charles Dickens Biography
Dickens was born on 7th February, 1812, the second of eight children born to John and
Elizabeth Dickens. He spent the first none years of his life living in Kent, a county in the
southeast of England. Despite being a kind and loving man, John Dickens was financially
irresponsible and with a large family to provide for, found it very easy to rack up large debts.
As a result of this, the family moved to Camden Town in London, in 1822. John Dickens
continued to live beyond his and his family’s means and in 1824, he was finally arrested and
sent to debtor’s prison. Shortly afterwards, and probably as a result of being unable to
provide for herself and her eight children, Elizabeth Dickens moved the rest of the family into
prison with John.
Charles, however, did not join the rest of the family and was sent to live with a family friend,
where, at 12 years old, he was sent out to work. He joined other child labourers at a blacking
factory (where shoe polish was made), sticking labels onto bottles for 10hours a day. This job
made a lasting impression on Dickens; the conditions and pay were poor and the employers
cruel.
When John Dickens’ grandmother died and left him a sum of money, John was able to pay
off his debts and was released from prison. Charles did not immediately leave the factory, at
his mother’s request and this only served to heighten his disregard for the poor working and
living conditions that the working classes had to endure.
When eventually Charles returned to school, he attended The Wellington House Academy,
which he described as being haphazard, full of poor discipline, brutality, desultory teaching
and a run-down atmosphere. Despite this, Charles did well at school, becoming a law clerk
and then a court reporter, which taught him a great deal about the bureaucracy and
shortcomings of the English legal system.
Dickens’ first novel, The Pickwick Papers, was published in monthly instalments in 1836,
when Dickens was still only 25. Oliver Twist, Nickolas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop
and Barnaby Rudge were all published in monthly instalments between 1837 and 1841.
Dickens married Catherine Hogarth in 1836 and the subsequently had 10 children. A
Christmas Carol, one of Dickens’ most famous and well loved works was published in 1843,
reportedly under rushed circumstances in order to meet the financial demands of his wife’s
fifth pregnancy.
In 1858, Dickens left his wife Catherine, although they did not divorce: it was still unheard of
for someone as famous as he was. It is widely believed that Dickens had a long standing
affair with an actress named Ellen Ternan, who was with him for the last 13 years of his life.
On his death, Dickens settled an annuity (an anuual sum of money) on Ternan, meaning she
was financially secure for the rest of her life.
Dickens travelled a great deal, visiting America twice, Switzerland and Italy and wrote a
great many novels on top of those mentioned above: David Copperfield, Bleak House, Hard
Times, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations being the most well known.
22
Victorian England
Conduct some research into Victorian England. As far as possible try to link what you found
out to the books, life and times of Charles Dickens as an individual living through these
times.
Use the template below for your ideas.
Area of research
Key information
How this affects Dickens
Poverty and
Money
Working
Conditions
Industrial
Revolution
Women and
Children
London Life
23
Characters:
Ebenezer Scrooge - The miserly owner of a London counting-house, a nineteenth century
term for an accountant's office. The three spirits of Christmas visit the stodgy bean-counter in
hopes of reversing Scrooge's greedy, cold-hearted approach to life.
Bob Cratchit - Scrooge's clerk, a kind, mild, and very poor man with a large family.
Though treated harshly by his boss, Cratchit remains a humble and dedicated employee.
Tiny Tim - Bob Cratchit's young son, crippled from birth. Tiny Tim is a highly
sentimentalized character who Dickens uses to highlight the tribulations of England's poor
and to elicit sympathy from his middle and upper class readership.
Jacob Marley - In the living world, Ebenezer Scrooge's equally greedy partner. Marley died
seven years before the narrative opens. He appears to Scrooge as a ghost condemned to
wander the world bound in heavy chains. Marley hopes to save his old partner from suff ering
a similar fate.
The Ghost of Christmas Past - The first spirit to visit Scrooge, a curiously childlike
apparition with a glowing head. He takes Scrooge on a tour of Christmases in his past. The
spirit uses a cap to dampen the light emanating from his head.
The Ghost of Christmas Present - The second spirit to visit Scrooge, a majestic giant clad
in a green robe. His lifespan is restricted to Christmas Day. He escorts Scrooge on a tour of
his contemporaries' Holiday celebrations.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come - The third and final spirit to visit Scrooge, a silent
phantom clad in a hooded black robe. He presents Scrooge with an ominous view of his
lonely death.
Fred - Scrooge's nephew, a genial man who loves Christmas. He invites Scrooge to his
Christmas party each and every year, only to be refused by his grumpy uncle.
Fezziwig - The jovial merchant with whom the young Scrooge apprenticed. Fezziwig was
renowned for his wonderful Christmas parties.
Belle - A beautiful woman who Scrooge loved deeply when he was a young man. Belle
broke off their engagement after Scrooge became consumed with greed and the lust for
wealth. She later married another man.
Peter Cratchit - Bob's oldest son, who inherits his father's stiff-collared shirt for Christmas.
Martha Cratchit - Bob's oldest daughter, who works in a milliner's shop. (A milliner is a
person who designs, produces, and sells hats.)
Fan - Scrooge's sister; Fred's mother. In Scrooge's vision of Christmases past, he remembers
Fan picking him up from school and walking him home.
The Portly Gentlemen - Two gentlemen who visit Scrooge at the beginning of the tale
seeking charitable contributions. Scrooge promptly throws them out of his office. Upon
meeting one of them on the street after his visitations, he promises to make lavish donations
to help the poor.
Mrs. Cratchit - Bob's wife, a kind and loving woman.
24
Structure:
The structure of this story is really easy to follow and understand.
Summarise each of the staves below and comment on the important
outcomes of each stage of the novella.
Stave 1: Marley’s Ghost
Summary of the Stave:
Important Outcomes of the Stave:
Stave 2: The Ghost of Christmas Past
Summary of the Stave:
Important Outcomes of the Stave:
Stave 3: The Ghost of Christmas Present
Summary of the Stave:
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Important Outcomes of the Stave:
Stave 4: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Summary of the Stave:
Important Outcomes of the Stave:
Stave 5: The End of It
Summary of the Stave:
Important Outcomes of the Stave:
26
Themes:
A list of major themes has been provided below. You should make
notes on each one – events, characters etc.

Change

Poverty and Injustice

Greed

Life and Death

Memory and Regret

Family
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Important Quotes:
Look at each of the quotes and make brief notes under each about
their context (where they’re from in the book, who says them, about
who, to who etc…) and why they are important.
1. Marley was dead: to begin with.
2. Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching,
grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!
3. "If I could work my will," said Scrooge indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with
'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with
a stake of holly through his heart. He should!"
4. "If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the
surplus population.
5. “Bah! Humbug!”
6. "I wear the chain I forged in life," replied the Ghost. "I made it link by link, and yard
by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its
pattern strange to you?"
7. "The school is not quite deserted," said the Ghost. "A solitary child, neglected by his
friends, is left there still."
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8. “There was a boy singing a Christmas Carol at my door last night. I should like to
have given him something: that's all."
9. “when they faded, and looked happier yet in the bright sprinklings of the Spirit's torch
at parting, Scrooge had his eye upon them, and especially on Tiny Tim, until the last.”
10. “The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached. When it came, Scrooge bent
down upon his knee; for in the very air through which this Spirit moved it seemed to
scatter gloom and mystery.”
11. "Ghost of the Future!" he exclaimed, "I fear you more than any spectre I have seen.
But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man
from what I was, I am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart.
Will you not speak to me?"
12. "I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!" Scrooge repeated, as he
scrambled out of bed. "The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.”
13. “Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny
Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a
master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city,
town, or borough, in the good old world.”
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Blood Brothers
– Willy Russell
30
Willy Russell and 1980s Britain
Willy Russell was born and raised in Liverpool. His parents were book publishers and often
encouraged him to read. He left school with one O-Level in English and went on to become
a hairdresser. He later went back to studying and wrote many plays which centred around
working class characters: mainly working class women.
In Educating Rita, a working class hairdresser attends an Open University course in order to
‘better’ herself. In Shirley Valentine, a working class woman realises how dull her life is,
leaves her husband to go on holiday and while there, discovers who she really is. In Blood
Brothers, a working class woman is exploited by her middle class employer to give away one
of her twins, with devastating consequences.
1980s Britain was an intriguing time and place. What can you remember about it from your
lesson on the context of the play?
Make notes below:
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Characters:
There are only a few principle characters in the play, but they are all
very distinctive and have their own importance and symbolism. Look
at the comments below, and add your own ideas, examples and
reasons.
Mrs Johnstone:
She is 25 years old at the start of the play and has already had seven children.
Often she makes rash decisions on impulse rather than thinking carefully over the
consequences of her actions.
She has a strong, generous character knowing almost instinctively what’s right and wrong,
although her circumstances make it hard for her to be a straightforwardly ‘good’ person.
She is naturally a kind and loving mother and finds it hard to discipline her children and keep
them under control.
She is lively and has a zest for life.
She is poor and trapped by poverty.
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Mrs Lyons
She is presented by Russell as a lonely housewife, with a cold character who finds it difficult
to be affectionate towards others.
Russell creates this character as an inconsiderate, pampered but dependent individual.
She is a self-centred character who uses others for her own gain.
She is an over-protective mother, who is always anxious about Edward.
She is shown to be overcome by anxieties and suspicions.
Mickey
He is created by Russell to be a friendly, excitable boy in Act One.
He looks up to his older brother Sammy and often feels like a cast-off in comparison to him.
He is very shy about his emotions.
He is energetic, bright and witty, but not very well educated.
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He likes Edward’s generosity and, in turn, enjoys being able to show him new things.
Mickey is a victim of his own upbringing and society.
Edward
Edward is presented by Russell as a friendly, generous character.
He is raised in a middle-class home and is educated at a private school.
As a child, he feels restricted by his upbringing.
He is shown to be an impulsive character and one who doesn’t think too deeply about the
consequences of his actions.
He seems to lack compassion and does not sympathise with Mickey’s plight.
Linda
She is presented by Russell as naturally kind and compassionate character.
She is quite feisty and humorous.
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Linda is strong-willed and very supportive of Mickey.
Linda is from a poor family like Mickey.
She is innocent, despite having an affair with Edward.
She is a doomed character.
Sammy
He is an aggressive and threatening kind of character.
He is presented as anti-social and criminal.
He is the embodiment of everything bad about the working class stereotype.
The Narrator
He is the embodiment of fate.
Has no class, or social status, from what we can see.
35
Themes:
Growing Up
Many works in drama and literature have a theme of ‘growing up’. Russell’s play is in part
just this. Life, for the children, is shown to be a carefree game in Act One. But the pressures
of growing up in different backgrounds and educational systems are shown to bring problems
later on.
It is the different experience of growing up that ends the friendship between Edward and
Mickey. For example after Mickey loses his job Edward tries to be positive about his
situation. But Mickey tells Edward that he cannot understand living on the dole. He says that
Edward hasn't had to grow up like him, to face the difficulties of the adult world. He says that
they don't have anything in common any more.
Men and women
All three major female characters in the play (Mrs. Johnston, Mrs. Lyons and Linda) suffer at
the hands of the men in their lives – they are either let down by their husbands or receive no
affection from them.
Russell presents a world where the roles of women and men are sharply separate, as a result
of the roles given to men and women in their social classes. The female characters tend to be
more passive, the male characters are shown as being active and macho.
Money
Russell’s play has money and materialism as a theme. Mrs. Johnstone’s life in debt, buying
things on the ‘never-never’, leads to problems. But Mrs Lyons’ wealthy existence fails to
bring her contentment and happiness either.
Money controls the relationship of Edward and Mickey too – once Edward returns from
university as a wealthy man, Russell suggests that his friendship with the penniless Mickey
can no longer be the same, as he cannot appreciate Mickey's reaction to being jobless. And
nor can Mickey's pride allow him to accept financial help from Edward.
Friendship
In the play, the friendship between Eddie and Mickey is initially strong despite their different
social backgrounds. Russell is saying that children can make friends easily and form strong
relationships even if their parents don't approve. He is suggesting that human nature is blind
to social conventions.
But in the adult world, unemployment and poverty hits Mickey. Edward seems to him to be
from a different world. Russell seems to suggest that friendship is dependent upon shared
experiences. Once the two characters go their separate ways, shaped and moulded by
education, wealth and social status, tensions develop between them.
Education
This theme is linked to social class. Russell shows that wealth brings different educational
opportunities and these lead to very different lifestyles. Eddie and Mickey are educated
differently. One goes on to university and a successful career in politics, the other to a factory
job making boxes. Redundancy and lack of opportunity then lead Mickey to crime, drug
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addiction and depression. Without a better education Russell is saying that Mickey had few
options, and so we are asked to see Mickey's mistakes in a sympathetic light.
The effects of education shape the lives of the women in the play too. When Mrs Johnstone
loses her husband she falls into poverty from which her lack of education has provided her
with no easy means of escape. She can take unskilled work, and also has to rely on the State
for rehousing to a better place.
Compare her with Mrs Lyons who also, despite presumably a middle-class education, is still
not self-reliant. In this case Russell is suggesting perhaps that the traditional lives the women
lead have less freedom, even when they are educated.
Nature vs. Nurture
The 'nature versus nurture' debate is about how much a persons life is determined by their
inherited genetics (their 'nature') and how much is determined by the environment they grow
up in ('nurture'). The boys are identical twins and so the difference in the way their lives turn
out must be a result of their different upbringings and social positions. Russell uses the twins
idea to persuade us that attitudes in society influence peoples lives more than their individual
efforts at wanting to do well.
Russell's play is deliberately objecting to a view that was popular in the UK at the time the
play was written. Margaret Thatcher's right wing conservative government claimed that
everyone who wanted to work hard could be successful. But Russell clearly objects to this
view.
Fate, bad luck and destiny
Each of the major characters is presented as being trapped and plagued by various kinds of
misfortune and bad luck. Russell seems to be asking us to consider whether there really is
such a thing as fate or destiny or whether life pans out because of natural rather than
supernatural reasons, because of the way we are educated and live.
So although fate and superstition is a recurring idea, everything in the play leads to question
whether these things really exist.
Social class
Family and friendship for characters from two different social classes form the heart of the
play. Russell shows how wealth brings privilege, even down to the way the Johnstone's and
the Lyons are treated differently by the law.
The four main characters can be seen to be social stereotypes, presented dramatically in order
to emphasise certain important differences in social class. Russell does this to show the
unfairness that it results in.
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The Songs
Look at the names of each song below. What do you
think the song shows or represents?
Song
What is shows or represents
Marilyn Monroe (and various
reprises of throughout the play)
My Child
Easy Terms (only for a time, I must
not learn to call you mine… living
on the never never)
Kids Game (and you know that if
you cross your fingers, and you
count from one to ten, you can get
up off the ground again…)
You Know the Devil’s Got Your
Number
My Friend (I wish that I could be
like, kick a ball and climb a tree
like, and be just a little bit like my
friend)
Bright New Day (end of Act 1
song)
I’m Not Saying A Word (the song
Edward sings to Linda)
Take A Letter Miss Jones
Tell Me It’s Not True (the last song
of the show)
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Quotes:
Again, make notes under each quote about their context and their
importance.
1. “And did you never hear the story of the Johnstone twins?”
2. “Never put new shoes on the table”
3. “Give one to me”
4. “if either twin learns that he was once a pair, they shall both immediately die.”
5. “Do you wanna be my blood brother, Eddie?”
6. “Yeh, I know loads of words like that. Y’know like the “f” word.”
7. “I love the bones of every one of them. I'll even love these two when they come
along. But like they say at the Welfare, kids can't live on love alone.”
8. “And who’d tell the girl in the middle of the pair the price she’d pay for just being
there.”
9. “I took him, but I never made him mine.”
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10. “Yeh, but you're still a kid. An I wish I could be as well, Eddie, I wish I could still
believe in all that blood brother's stuff. But I can't, because while no one was looking
I grew up ... In your shoes I'd be the same, I'd still be able to be a kid. But I'm not in
your shoes, I'm in these lookin' at you. An' you make me sick, right? So just take
yourself away. Go an' see your friends an' celebrate with them. Go on ... beat it
before I hit y'.”
11. “I could have been… I could have been him!”
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Final Tips for Revision
 You should not treat this booklet as the only revision
you’ll need to do. These are just a collection of short
activities that will help your own, personalised revision.
 Remember, you should not just tell the story in your
text style questions: always try to comment on
messages, impact on the reader, effects etc. This is
analysis.
 The extract question requires close reading of the
extract given, so use lots of appropriate textual details
in your answers.
 Do not feel under pressure to memorise all the quotes
in this booklet. You might know your own selection of
quotes better. Only use the quotes in the exam if they
are appropriate and useful.
 Check out online resources such as SparkNotes and
Your Notes.
 You should also be able to download a stack of
revision apps to your smartphone – apparently even
revision needs an App these days…
 If you need help: ask! We care about your grades
too!
 Practise is the best form of preparation. You only
need 20 minutes for the extract questions and 40
minutes for the text questions.
 If you can, invest in a copy of the texts.
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