The narrator is an ambiguous character, so he can also be portrayed as neutral, just telling and observing the story, or someone understanding and sympathetic, watching the events unfold.
The prologue introduces the play, making the audience feel like the story is already written and Mickey and Eddie are destined to die.
“An’ did you never hear how the Johnstones died?”
This is yet another reason to believe that fate is in control. However, there are powerful arguments to suggest that it is more coincidence and class that causes the deaths of the twins, for example, when Mrs Jhonstone has twins when she might have been able to cope with just one baby, and when Mr Lyons fires Mickey.
As small children, Mickey and Eddies friendship isn’t greatly affected by the difference in class, they are both envious of the other, showing that neither really has a better childhood, although one has more money, so has a higher chance of being successful in life. But inevitably, as they get older, Mickey is more directly affected by the poverty he lives with, and when Eddie moves on to university, a barrier develops between them, illustrating the contrasts between their lives and making their futures seem even more decided.
Some characters are also affected by superstition, especially Mrs Jhonstone, who, although she denies, it is very superstitious
“The shoes”.
This explains partly why she gives one of the twins away, because it is Mrs Lyon’s manipulation that forces her, rather than fate or coincidence.
“They say…they say that if either twin learns that he was once a pair they will both immediately die”
It is only after this that fate, and coincidences seem to take control. This is ironic because it is only the made up superstition that eventually comes true; as Mrs Lyons is corrupted by it until she will do anything to keep the twins apart, even going so far as to tell Mickey about Eddie’s affair with Linda, resulting in their deaths.
Mrs Lyons and Mrs Johnstone both want the best for their sons, but they still contribute to the final tragedy, Mrs Lyons being almost obsessive about Eddie, perhaps because she is afraid of losing him, but ending up doing more harm than good On the other hand, Mrs Johnstone seems to be a good mother, giving her son the space he needs in his adolescence, “Go on ‘y randy little sods” and loving him without the smothering Eddie has grown up with. But in some ways she can be viewed as a bad parent, because she gave away one of her children, and even just by having so many In the first place.
In my opinion, none of the things wrong with her are her own fault, more to do with the class she is in. Her actions, (e.g. buying things she knows she can’t pay for) are out of necessity, even though they affect the futures of all her children.
Mrs Lyons would be, in the audience’s eyes, even more responsible for the tragedy, because of her early manipulation of Mrs Jhonstone, and at the very end, when she triggers Mickey’s “madness” by telling him about Linda’s affair with Eddie.
But these things can also be explained.
In the earliest stages of the play, Mrs Lyons has a very strong desire to have a baby, and would do anything to get one, having failed to naturally conceive the child she wants so badly. This is a natural desire, and even though the method she uses to get one isn’t regarded as an acceptable thing to do, it is understandable. She also tries to be a good parent, which shows in how possessive she is of her son, but she ends up shaping his downfall. Ironically losing him in her attempts to keep him close.
In conclusion, I think that all the characters are partly responsible for the death of the twins, and this is what makes the play so powerful and emotional, because it relates to life, and there are so many things which didn’t have to happen, and could have changed the out come.
There are lots of things to suggest that fate is in control, but it is never stated directly, it is just left for the audience, so in the end, it is the way the individual interoperates the story, that decides what is in control.