In my opinion Helen did love her daughter she just didn’t know how to treat her, maybe it was because she had her at a young age? She seems to think she should treat her daughter like a friend, she even encourages her underage daughter to drink ‘You don’t smell it, you drink it!’ I think the only way Helen knew to make her daughter love her was the way she made men love her, by getting her drunk.
Helen did want her daughter to make something of her life I feel. She encouraged her to draw, saying her drawings were very good ‘Have you ever thought of going to a proper art school and getting proper training?’ But I think the main reason she wanted Jo to make something of herself was so she could sponge of her. Helen says to Jo ‘When you start earning you can start moaning.’ In my opinion she’s saying to Jo you make some money and get us somewhere nicer. She’s not taken the task upon herself to find her and her daughter somewhere nice to live she’s going to wait for her daughter to did it for them. Not a typical loving mother and daughter relationship, Helen is reliant on her daughter Jo.
Helen is in my opinion lazy with regard to her relationship with her daughter. She is constantly asking her daughter to do stuff around the house ‘Pass me that bottle’ ‘Have we got any aspirins left Jo?’ Here is another example of Helen being reliant on her daughter. She also becomes strangely jealous of Jo’s gay friend Geof. She is constantly rude to him ‘Oh shut up Geof’ ‘Sling your hook’ I believe she is jealous of his strong bond with Jo. She feels jealous of their close relationship and doesn’t like him around as she feels inadequate compared to him. Jo maintains through out the play that she wants to be rid of her mother ‘as soon as I get a full-time job, I’m leaving Helen and starting up with a room somewhere’ so for Helen to know there’s someone in her life she wants there, that person being Geof it must make her feel less important. Even for Helen who shows no real care for her Jo to know that her own daughter feels like that must be difficult. I think part of her feels she should have a close loving relationship with Jo I just don’t think she knows how to or more importantly can be bothered.
Peter, Helens latest fling who becomes her husband comes across as a decent sort of guy at first, however he is sleazy ‘Helen you look utterly fantastic’ ‘Got your blue garters on?’ He does turn nasty towards the end when their marriage isn’t going so well ‘Look at Helen, isn’t she a game old bird? Worn out on the beat but she’s still got a few good strokes left.’ and ‘I dragged you out of the gutter once , If you want to go back there it’s all the same to me.’ The way he speaks down to Helen are reminiscent of his character, he believes himself to be above everyone else, better looking, better dressed, better educated, a real snob.
Geof takes a mothering role in Jo’s life, which I don’t think she always appreciates. ‘I’ll buy you one for Christmas. If you ask nice I’ll buy you two.’ ‘I’ll stay here and clear this place up a bit and make you a proper meal.’ I think Jo actually likes having a figure to look after her but I think she finds it difficult sometimes as she’s not used to it, she’s used to fending for herself. ‘Why don’t you leave me alone?’ I think that all this shows that despite Jo’s though exterior she does want looking after and companionship, especially from her mother even though she denies it, as that is what Geof is doing for her, being a substitute mother.
Geof , a single gay man was evicted from his flat by his landlady because she caught him with another man. In those days being a sexually active gay man was frowned upon so he was probably quite ashamed about the reason for his eviction and that is why he tries to hide it from Jo. When she asks ‘has your landlady thrown you out?’ Geof replies ‘Don’t be silly,’ but later tells her the truth. Geof also agrees to move in with Jo, taking on the responsibilities of looking after a Jo and her baby. Also when Jo tells him her baby will be black he is extremely accepting and doesn’t seem to care. In my opinion this is due to the prejudice he has faced about being gay. Another time his kind and compassionate character is seen is when he tries to get Jo and Helen talking again despite Jo telling him exactly what her mother is like he still persists and tries to build bridges in their relationship with them and get Helen to help out with the baby. ‘Your mother should know, do you have her address?’ When he meets Helen though he is struck by how rude and uncaring she is and sticks up for Jo telling Helen. ‘If I’d known you were going to bully her like this I’d have never asked you to come!’ Here he shows true loyalty for Jo by sticking up for her.
In my opinion Geof is a very lonely young man he didn’t seem to have any other friends besides Jo in the play, other than young man he was found in his flat with but in his own words ‘he didn’t really know the guy’ . We can’t really be sure of his past because the play doesn’t mention it but I feel he’s faced a lot of prejudice about his sexuality and perhaps that is why he so understands Jo. He doesn’t seem to have any family, and I think he was trying to make Jo and the baby into a surrogate family for himself. I feel he was the nicest character in the book but he did become quite irritating as he was too nice all of the time. All the other characters had floors and attributes that made them lovable or unlovable. Geof however, was just quite bland. Helen for instance was an interesting character because she was so unpredictable, she could have a new boyfriend at any moment, or get drunk and do something ridiculous. Goef on the other hand was predictable but provided the rock of the story. He was Mr. Reliable that Jo could turn to he wasn’t an interesting character like Helen but was a vital part of the play.
