As Edward has grown up with Mrs Lyons and her husband, he has inherited their way of life and their views on money. In act 4, scene 2 Edward offers Mickey some money when he is hard up but Mickey refuses it, as his mother did he threw it on the floor. By making a contrast Russell has achieved to show that even though Mrs J and Mickey are poor they are still good people with feelings. Rich people like Mrs L and Eddie are naive because they use their money to get what they want, not caring about anyone else. Russell has tried to say that the rich and the poor are like magnets, repel instead of getting along.
In act 2, scene 7 the policewomen treats Mrs Johnston as is she were just a piece of dirt on the road, she was supposed to report Mickey’s prank, which she did, after she had done this though she started to call the whole family a bunch of criminals just because they were poor. Whereas when the policewoman is talking to Mrs L, she says that Edward shouldn’t be punished. The attitude of the officer has now changed from mean to kind and treats the Lyons family like royalty.
Guy Sweetman
At the start of the play, the narrator asks the audience to Judge Mrs Johnston’s crime for themselves. By the end of the play, does the audience believe that Mrs Johnston has a stone in place of a heart or has Willy Russell persuaded us otherwise? Willie Russell wanted the audience to see tat just because Mrs Lyons has money she gets treated with respect from local services. Whereas Mrs Johnston has very little money so gets treated like a criminal with absolutely no respect.
In act 4, scene 2 the different class backgrounds affected the twins. Eddie is still mentally youthful, fun well educated and can have a laugh without having to worry about money. On the other hand Mickey has grown up, become very serious, has little education and no job. The twins have taken two completely different paths. Since Eddie was taken from his biological mother, he has been bought up to take over a factory, have a big house and everything he wanted. Mickey is struggling to live after a childhood of his mother being in debt. To confirm my view Mickey says”Christmas? I’ve had enough of that already and it isn’t even here yet. See, there’s very little to celebrate Eddie. Since you left I’ve been walking around all day, every day, looking for a job.”
Russell is trying to make it seem like there are two different types of people and they should be bought together to be equal. Marilyn Monroe started her life as Norma Jeane Baker. She was fostered in 1933 by a close friend, Grace Mckee. On July 23, 1946 Marilyn signed her first 20th century Fox studios contract. Marilyn tragically died at the age of 35, suspected of a drug over dose. Marilyn Monroe is interesting in this play because she acts as a sort of idol for Mrs Johnston. They were both good looking but they went to waist because of stupid accidents. For Mrs J it was getting married and having lots of children, for Monroe it was taking drugs.
By the end of the play I don’t think that Russell intended the audience to blame Mrs Johnston for the tragedy, which occurred. The purpose of getting the narrator to suggest that she had committed a terrible crime was to get the audience thinking from different points of view. This is so that they understand how two different minds work, he rich and the poor. I think that Russell was successful in this play because it shows one story but two different ways of looking at it. For example a criminal is in court for doing something wrong so the judges are only looking at the case from the victim’s point of view. Whereas the criminals view may be totally different because he may of done what he did for a good reason.
