Mrs. Lyons says this because Eddie (her adopted son) has been playing with Mickey (Mrs. Johnstone son) at the johnstone home. The irony of this statement is that Mickey and Eddie are the same and they always will be. Mickey and Eddie are actually twins. Their mother Mrs Johnstone was pushed into letting Mrs Lyons adopt Eddie. Mrs. Johnstone couldn’t afford to keep both babies and with the bribery and persuasion of Mrs Lyons decided to make the decision to give him away. Mickey lives in a shabby council house in Liverpool and his mum, Mrs Johnstone is extremely poor.
‘If my child was raised in a palace like this one he wouldn’t have to worry where his next meal was coming from’ Part of a song from the play. This shows that mrs johnstone is ‘jealous’ of mrs Lyons and worries about her children and how she is going to provide for them. Mrs Johnstone is a poor working class mother and as I have already stated is very poor. Eddie however lives in a large well dressed house, his mother and father love him and have no trouble providing for him and even buy him gifts on a regular basis. ‘His mother hugs him and his father produces a toy gun for him’
This shows that Eddie has loving parents. At seven years of age Mickey and Eddie both behave very differently in comparison to each other. Mickey is always ready to try anything as long as it sounds fun and exciting although sometimes he does know the consequences. Edward is very cautious with what he does, he will however do almost anything that Mickey tries because he thinks that its ‘cool’ and exciting, he doesn’t know the dangers or the consequences of things either because he isn’t streetwise. Mickey and Eddie both speak very differently. Mickey speaks in a very common Liverpool accent, he swears a lot and doesn’t know the proper word for many things.
‘Cos me mam says’ This shows that Mickey speaks in a common Liverpool accent. Eddie speaks in a very ‘posh’ Liverpool accent. ‘Oh that sounds like super fun’ This shows that Eddie speaks in quite a ‘posh’ accent. When Mickey and Eddie get in trouble with the police, the police speak very differently to each of their parents because of who they are. To Mrs Johnstone the police speak very authorative and warn her. ‘Well they’ll be no more bloody warnings from now on. Either you keep them in order Mrs. or it’ll be the courts for you, or even worse, wont it?’
The police speak to Mrs Lyons very politely and advise her.
‘An’ er as I say, it was more of a prank, really, Mrs Lyons, I’d just dock his pocket money if I was you.’ At fourteen years of age Eddie and Mickey both go to different schools. Eddie goes to a strict boarding school and Mickey goes to a normal secondary school. Both schools are quite strict. A quote from eddies school teacher ‘No sir? Am I to punish you Lyons? Am I to have you flogged?’ A quote from Mickey’s school teacher ‘You’re both suspended’ Both of these quotes show how strict the different teachers of Mickey and Eddie are.
Eddie and Mickey also behave very differently around girls and especially around Linda. Mickey is very shy and doesn’t like interacting with Linda. ‘I didn’t tell y’ nothin’. I didn’t ask y’ to come, y’ followed me’ This quote shows that Mickey is scared of talking to Linda and being with her. Eddie however is jealous that Mickey is liked by girls and would jump at the opportunity to talk to a girl. He knows what to say and likes interacting with them. LINDA: What y’ doin’ in town, Mick? MICKEY: We’ve erm, we’ve…
EDWARD: We have been undergoing a remarkable celluloid experience! This quote shows that Mickey is shy around Linda and Eddie is not. When Eddie leaves school he goes to university to go into further education. He will go on to do well and probably have good job prospects. When Mickey leaves school he starts work straight away in a low paid job. He could be sacked at any time and he has little job prospects. “They’ve started layin’ people off in the other factory y’ know” This shows how bad Mickey’s job prospects are, he is likely to be one of the next ones to be sacked because he is an inefficient worker, and he is late to work e.t.c.
Mickey and Linda are now married and have a baby on the way. Their relationship has developed and they are continuing with their life, despite the fact that Mickey has no job. ‘Because while no one was looking I grew up…because you didn’t need to; an’ I don’t blame y’ for it Eddie… Go on . . . beat it before I hit y’ Mickey is feeling the stress of being unemployed and is feeling the effects of n t behaving in school. He is jealous of Eddie and believes that because he has not faced all of the hardships that Mickey has then he doesn’t have to worry. On the other hand Mickey does. Under all the stress, Mickey resorts to crime to solve his financial problems. This ending in Mickey getting a 7 year jail sentence causes him to become depressed. Mickey is given anti depressant tablets and becomes addicted to them.
LINDA: Mickey you don’t need your tablets! MICKEY: Linda! LINDA: Mickey. You’re workin’ now; we’re livin’ on our own you’ve got to start makin’ and effort.’ This shows how desperate Mickey and Linda’s situation is. In the final scene the music builds up and enormous amount of tension. Leading up to the final moment when both brothers are killed. The music lets you know that something is going to happen. The twin’s difference in background set the scene for their premature death. Mickey was a poor low class boy who was destined to be poor and jealous of Eddie. Eddie was a rich high class boy who would be willing to help his friend, Mickey thought this as an insult and it was probably the reason that both twins were killed prematurely.
