A Kestrel for a Knave
For this assignment, I shall be looking at Barry Hines' novel 'A Kestrel for a Knave'. The story focuses on a day in the life of Billy Casper, a fifteen-year-old schoolboy growing up in an environment lacking in many ways. In this assignment I am to look at examples of deprivation in the various areas of Billy Casper's life.
Barry Hines writes about a young boy growing up in the 1960's. Despite the fact that the Welfare State had been in place for over twenty years, Hines' novel sheds much light on the kind of life some children still had to live, in order to survive in societies that should have been well developed. The text writes in extensive detail about how a boy like Billy had to live, and I felt quite sympathetic towards Billy - for him having to endure so much abuse in one day. Considering the Welfare State had been firmly in place for two decades, reading this novel opened my eyes to how some families had to live.
Barry Hines was a teacher and he would have had first hand experience of what life was like for some children of the era. Maybe, through such a novel, Hines hoped to raise awareness by outlining the poor standards in which people were living. I shall now therefore like to explore ways in which Billy's life lacked.
Firstly I am going to write about how Billy's life lacked within the home. I found that Billy was heavily denied of material possessions. For example - quite early on in the text - we learn Billy is deprived of the basic necessities of food.
'There were a packet of dried peas and a half-bottle of vinegar on the shelves. The bread bin was empty.'
Such extreme circumstances caused Billy to steal; he stole a box of eggs, a chocolate bar and some milk. He did not steal for the adrenaline rush, nor did he do it out of spite or for peer pressure - Billy stole because he needed to do it to survive.
Secondly, I discovered Billy is deficient of satisfactory clothing. In the very early stages of the text, Jud takes Billy's clothes, and so he is left with no other option but to wear his Mother's sweater.
'He placed the clock on the mantelpiece then picked up his Mother's sweater from the settee and pulled it on over his shirt.'
Billy also wears the cheapest footwear around at the time, known as 'pumps', which were probably uncomfortable and not very durable. Furthermore, he wears an old battered coat called a windcheater, which sports a broken zip. I feel Billy found the coat handy for thieving - it has those large inner pockets perfect for storing stolen goods. People in the sixties were quite well developed in the context of fashion - the 'Swinging Sixties' owes its name to the fashionable rock stars sporting their flared trousers and gaudy coloured blouses. And so most people living in this time, even by their standards, would have dressed much better than Billy, and so even they may have been shocked by his sorry attire.
Another aspect of material deprivation shows how inadequately Billy's house is furnished. He and his older brother Jud are made to share a single bed that they struggle to fit in, and also there are no curtains in their room to give them any sense of privacy.
Most of the above deficiencies are chiefly due to the lack of money Billy's Mother and Brother have put into keeping the house fully furnished and stocked of food. However, the lack of money is not due to poverty - but due to the reckless and irresponsible attitude Jud and his Mother share. This is reinforced when we learn Billy's house actually has a garage - a feature rather uncommon to housing of the sixties.
I would now like to move on to extensive emotional deprivation Billy endures within the family. Billy endures a lot of verbal abuse from his Mother and Jud. For example, the way in which his Mother speaks to him before school - calling him a 'Dozy bugger' and trying to hit him suggests that she doesn't care much for her son. Billy also suffers Jud's torment when he learns that Billy is reading a falconry book in order to train a wild kestrel.
'An' what better off will tha be when tha's read it?'
'A lot, ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
I would now like to move on to extensive emotional deprivation Billy endures within the family. Billy endures a lot of verbal abuse from his Mother and Jud. For example, the way in which his Mother speaks to him before school - calling him a 'Dozy bugger' and trying to hit him suggests that she doesn't care much for her son. Billy also suffers Jud's torment when he learns that Billy is reading a falconry book in order to train a wild kestrel.
'An' what better off will tha be when tha's read it?'
'A lot, 'cos I'm goin' to get a young kestrel an' train it.'
'Train it! Tha couldn't train a flea!'
Billy is made to suffer physical abuse within his home life. Whilst Billy and Jud share the bed, Jud wings out at him and gives Billy a kidney punch, leaving him winded. And after an argument with his Mother, even his Mother is prepared to hit him.
'They faced each other under the table, and then Billy feinted a move forward. His mother dived, at nothing'
I would now like to move on to the emotional abuse in which Billy is subjected to. Emotional abuse plays a large part in Billy's problems, and at the end he is forced to suffer the emotional torture brought about by Kes' murder. This scene kills Billy emotionally, and in his despair, he looks to his mother for comfort. But not even his own mother can comfort him; she holds him off ashamed and embarrassed and tells him 'It's only a bird'.
Another aspect Billy is made to endure is his educational suffering. He is in fourth year at school, however, he is failing to make any academic progress. Neglectful teachers teach most of the subjects and so Billy is not given the chance to learn to the best of his abilities. However, Billy's English lesson takes quite a well-formed structure in which he is given a chance to shine. Nevertheless, we are reminded of his educational starvation when we look at his 'Tall-story', which is full of incorrect punctuation, non-existent capitalisation and grammatical errors. Billy's essay reveals a great deal about his home life, and we realise that such a peaceful scenario would be unattainable. Later on in the story, Billy visits the careers advisor to discuss career ideas. Not only does the advisor spiel off his default speech - one with which he repeats to all the pupils, he fails to listen to Billy, and so the boy is left with no ideas or guidance for his future whatsoever. Moreover, we get a greater sense of the poor education Billy is submitted to - as we hear him explain how he would do well in an office seeing as he has a 'job' to read and write. This verifies that even Billy himself is aware that he is barely literate. In his PE lesson he is given no encouragement or help by his teacher, merely ridicule and cold-hearted bullying. In addition, in his Maths lesson - when it is quite clear that he is not working - Billy is merely instructed to 'get on' before the teacher returns to reading his book. The poor standard of education offered to the pupils is not solely due to the teachers. In the sixties, schools were not offered any kind of educational regime such as today's National Curriculum, and consequently some pupils were denied an education sufficient enough to provide them with any qualifications required for a decent future career.
Another aspect in which Billy was deprived was personal education. Firstly, I felt that he was in no way given any sort of teaching concerning his health and hygiene. The way in which Mr.Sugden forces Billy into a cold shower when he is filthy, is certainly not going to help Billy's hygiene problems. We learn that Billy is not clean at all in his personal habits:
'His ankles were covered in ancient dirt'
Similarly, it is highly unlikely that pupils caught smoking are going to give up their habit by being caned. If the boys were more aware of the consequences of their habit, they might truly do something about it - however, they are not given any advice on this matter. Furthermore, during assembly, we witness Mr.Gryce's indifference to the fact that someone has a cough- showing the general indifference felt towards pupils' health and well-being.
In Billy's registration sessions, he is not given a chance in which children of today are given the encouragement to develop self-pride, self-respect and support. Billy is left to have his self-respect wiped away by the cruel teachers with who constantly criticise him. The teachers do not act in any way that would improve the dreadful situation at home. He is given no sort of role-model, he is bullied and abused constantly by both staff and pupils; emotionally insulted by the games teacher when he is made to wear old women's bloomers for a football game.
Billy finds himself culturally deprived, in the way that he finds himself unable to become a member of the library - and so, once again, this gives Billy no option but to steal from a bookshop in order to teach himself how to train Kes. Jud does not in any way encourage Billy's self-teaching, he treats his brother's possessions with no respect and furthermore, Jud throws the falconry book across the room after criticizing Billy's wish to learn by himself.
Billy is socially deprived and, from the book, we do not notice any evidence of any kind of extended family with which could support Billy. We find that his neighbours are indifferent towards his familial situation.
'Ee, what a family that is'.
Hine's writes of how Billy is environmentally deprived. Billy's immediate environment - his neighbourhood - is described as a 'snotty sleeve'. However, when Billy takes walks into the fields we witness some beautiful descriptions of this natural environment he loves so much. In fact, Hines describes this beautiful environment for several pages in order to emphasise Billy's love of the countryside.
Concluding this section of my essay, I feel that all the above factors contribute to the extreme amount of deprivation Billy is made to endure.
If Barry Hines' novel was to bring about change, he needed to create a novel that was effective. Therefore, I shall now like to explore the ways in which Hines made such a powerful story in order to put his message forth successfully.
Firstly, I found the title rather interesting. The title is in fact a quotation taken from a book about falconry named The Book of Saint Albans, which was a book to be prized in the Middle Ages - maybe suggesting how talented Billy must have been in order to have successfully trained a Kestrel. However, maybe this title merely tells the reader the only thing Billy managed to achieve. Also, I noticed that - considering the kestrel does not play a large part in the book - this must imply that the kestrel is the only good that Billy ever achieved. The word 'knave' is quite significant as it means 'boy' in the old English language used in the Middle Ages. However 'knave' can also be interpreted as 'wrong' - and so, in this light, Billy is far from being a highly talented falconer, but merely perceived as a wrong doer. More obviously, the title is relevant since the text, of course, focuses on the relationship between the boy and his kestrel.
I would now like to move onto the story itself. Billy is the central character and one with whom we can all relate - we have all struggled with our school and home life, and on most levels we can understand how he might feel in most of the situations. The novel also incorporates some comic relief in order to keep the story from becoming too depressing. For example, readers will enjoy the part in which Billy has his PE lesson and will take pleasure in seeing Billy's response to Mr.Sugden's behaviour. It is clear that, from his attitude given toward the football lesson, Billy simply doesn't care. When made to wear shorts that resemble an old lady's bloomers, he makes a joke:
"He stepped into the shorts and pulled them up to his waist. The legs reached halfway down his shins. He pulled the waist up to his neck and his knees just slid into view. Boys pointed at them, shouting and laughing into each other's faces, and other boys who were still changing rushed to the scene"
The reader picks up from this scene the further neglect shown by the teachers. This is revealed through Hines' use of irony - while the teacher should be helping the children learn how to play football; Mr.Sugden is focusing wholly on himself. It was as if bolstering his self-esteem was more important than the pupils' progress. However, this story contains an equal amount of sadness; the depressing and bleak ending leaves us feeling hopeless, yet with a lot to think about in terms of how this boy had to live.
Another feature Hines uses to make the novel powerful is the opening. We almost immediately grasp just how much Billy lacks in several areas of his life. The story opens and we are instantly told there are no curtains, and shortly after Jud hits Billy and steals his clothes, leaving him to wear his Mother's sweater, and then he is shouted at before leaving school for the day. The quick succession of abuse Billy is put through in such a short space of time grips the reader with a powerful sort of sympathy, which encourages us to carry on reading.
Another element used by Hines is the ending. Hines' uses the ending as a powerful way to fill the reader with thoughts about Billy's unsatisfactory lifestyle. Kes is Billy's only true friend, and the only thing in his life that he truly respects. Kes builds Billy's pride and self-respect, and when Jud cruelly deals with Kes, the reader is left shocked. Billy buries the kestrel, and he goes to bed. Such a simple and depressing ending, as I mentioned before, heightens our awareness of the state in which Billy lived. We realise that, no problems are solved for Billy and, as the story draws to a close, his prospects seem no better.
Another feature with which Hines makes an interesting read is the structure. Hines focuses on a sole day of Billy's life - in order to show to the reader how much Billy is made to endure in a single day. This leaves us thinking that if this is just one day, this means that Billy has had to live like this for the best part of his life. Furthermore, this gives us an idea of how a number of other children had to live: with substandard food, clothes, and emotional treatment.
I also noticed that Hines varied the pace within the novel. We see that scenes such as Billy's PE lesson are given in great detail - and such scenes are elaborated on in order to entertain us. Equally, I found that many parts of the novel are very much glossed over and are delivered rather briefly. For example, we are not given too much information in regards to the training of Kes, and we are left with a brief and rather abrupt ending. I feel that the novel is delivered in this fashion to help us receive the message clearer - we are given the brutal facts in plain text while other more enjoyable scenes are elaborated on, in order to keep us entertained. It gives the story a greater sense of reality - maybe that Billy would rather keep his bad experiences brief and would rather draw on the happier incidences.
Another technique Hines uses is the inclusion of detail within the text; such instances include the phonetic representation of direct speech. I find that such a technique gives the novel a greater sense of realism, as we read the words as we would hear them be pronounced.
Another method delivered by Hines through the text is the portrayal of the characters - we are almost convinced that they exist. Hines does not represent Billy in a sentimental way, nor is he perceived as a romantic character. We see both the strengths and weaknesses that Billy possesses. For example, although Billy's mother was ready to hit Billy, he does not retaliate violently, but rather respectfully - by waiting until he's far away and then throwing eggs at the house. However, we also see Billy's negative aspects - his readiness to cry, his cheeky attitude and his dirtiness. Giving us an unbiased representation of Billy makes this character seem more real and this way we can learn to love him and pity him for what he truly is.
Also, in terms of character, Hines portrays even the nasty characters in a way that could help the reader understand the causes of their bad behaviour. For example we may put Jud's evil behaviour toward Billy down to jealousy as in one of Billy's memories, whilst Billy is taken out to the cinema by his father, Jud is left behind to sit and play in the car outside the house - while presumably the mother is inside the house preoccupied with a boyfriend. Similarly, My.Gryce's cold and cruel attitude could be understandable since we learn that, whilst he's worked at the school for over thirty-five years, he's been working there with nothing and has been shown no respect:
"I thought I understood young people, I should be able to with all my experience, yet there's something happening today that's frightening, that makes me feel that it's all been a waste of time... Like it's a waste of time standing here talking to you boys, because you won't take a blind bit of notice what I'm saying".
Another characteristic Hines uses in order to create an effective novel is the person in which it is written. Hines writes the novel in third person, however he does not write as an omniscient author. I think this is a powerful way to put across the characters, since by this technique not even we, the sympathetic readers, are allowed into Billy's thoughts, giving the heightened feeling of isolation and loneliness Billy is made to endure.
In conclusion, I feel that Billy Hines was successful in conveying the issue of deprivation through the use of the novel 'A Kestrel for a Knave' and therefore brought about the need for change effectively.