The narrator also plays a part in the theme of superstition. During Act one the narrator is singing “shoes upon the table an’ a spiders been killed” this emphasizes that superstition is going to cause something bad. This shows the division in society in “blood brothers” as Mrs Johnstone would worry about this but Mrs Lyons would just believe that money would solve everything. The narrator creates more dramatic tension when he talks about superstition. He also talks about the devil “Now y’ know the devil’s got your number” this would create tension and especially frighten the audience. Russell uses the narrator as a characters conscience to create more of an effect. This has been shown when the play is acted as the narrator goes right up to each different characters as a shadow of themselves. The narrator is also there to emphasise the importance of what has happened and how it will affect the rest of the play. This gives the audience the idea that if something one character has done could affect what happens to another character.
Another theme that affects the division of society is the language used. Mrs Lyons and her family have an upper class accent and Eddie has a more advanced vocabulary compared with Mickey, the Johnstone’s however have a Liverpudlian accent and use slang words such as “y’ know”. It is noticed more when Mickey and Edward first meet. Mickey calls his mother “mam” but Edward calls his mother “mummy” so already the difference in society is noticed by the actions of children. There are many different words used in “blood brothers” that separate society and each character reflects the language depending on their class. The theme that money cannot buy happiness is shown in these childhood scenes. The difference in society also appears when Edward mentions a dictionary and Mickey is unaware of what it is “When I get home I’ll look it up in the dictionary”. Edward’s reference to an object which would most often be associated with older people even when he is talking to another boy his own age shows that he has had more opportunities early in life mostly in education.. Mickey is clearly less concerned with his education. The evidence for this is “It’s a, thingy innit?” here the different types of language are also shown. This explains that the different types of language used and the advantages of education can also divide society. Mickey calls Edward “Eddie”, this suggest that he is poor because Mickey is the only one who calls Edward “Eddie” “D’ they call y’ Eddie?” “No”. So this proves that most of the people that Edward knows mainly his parents call him Edward.
The law has a different view on the upper and lower class. When Mickey, Edward and Linda are throwing stones at windows, Eddie is told by Linda and Mickey that if they are caught to say “Waiting for the ninety two bus”. When this happens and Eddie is rude to the policeman he is not punished very much. In fact the punishment given to the two boys is very different. Mickey is returned to his mother with the Policeman telling her how naughty Mickey has been, supposedly so that she will punish him. He also insults them many times. However when Eddie is taken to his parents the policeman states that “it was more of a prank” and his parents are told to “just dock his pocket money”. Even the fact that Edward gets pocket money suggests that he is of the upper class. He also says that it was Mickey’s bad influence that prompted Eddie to commit the crime “I’m not sure I’d let him mix with the likes of them in future” so this shows that the authority don’t think much of the lower class and the policeman’s actions clearly show this. The policeman treats Mrs Johnstone as if she has no rights and acts like he is above her or is better than her, showing his disrespect for her. However, it is noticeable that the policeman is not concerned with informing the Lyons of Edwards actions but more interested about making himself look good in front of someone who is of higher class than himself. The fact the policeman has no demeaning comments for Mr and Mrs Lyons proves this “He’s a good lad”. The policeman is noticeably lower in class than Mr Lyons, so Will Russell again shows the difference in class from upper class, to working class and finally to lower class.
Dancing is a theme used in “Blood brothers” regularly by Mrs Johnstone. Every time that dancing is mentioned something bad takes place. Dancing is a symbol of happiness but this happiness only lasts for a short period of time. After the happy period there is a bad occurrence. At the beginning of the play Mrs Johnstone is singing about how she used to go dancing and her husband compared her to Marilyn Monroe. “He told me I was sexier than Marilyn. And we went dancing” shortly after this was mentioned Mrs Johnstone mentioned that he ran off with a girl who was compared to Marilyn Monroe “Me husband, he’d walked out on me, a month or two ago, for a girl they say who looks a bit like Marilyn Monroe”. This confirms that once dancing is mentioned something bad will happen or something will go missing. There is dancing and Mickey loses his mind. When dancing is mentioned it is also linked with Marilyn Monroe, “It seems like jail’s sent him off the rails, Just like Marilyn Monroe, His minds gone dancing, Can’t stop dancing” As Marilyn Monroe and dancing were both mentioned Mickey lost his mind. He started to take anti-depressants, this is shown when Linda is talking to Mickey “I get depressed but I don’t take those” this shows that once dancing and Marilyn Monroe was something bad was going to happen and the bad occurrence was Mickey taking anti-depressants. This is also a bit like fate as this was inevitably going to happen or it was Mickey’s destiny to lose his mind. The audience would never be very comfortable because there would be a build up of tension and the tension would drop but in the end the tension mounts up so high the audience would almost fell as if they are in the play.
During the play of “Blood brothers” Russell is aiming to show the division of class. He is trying to show that no matter what class you are in there are things involved in that class that make you jealous of people in other classes. Class has a lot of impact on who a person is but the character of that person also has an effect. Edward is in a higher class than Mickey yet Edward would like to be in Mickey’s class and Mickey would like to be in Edward’s class. So Edward has learnt that money does not buy everything but Mickey’s life has not been very good to him so he still believes that money can buy happiness. It is quite ironic that Mrs Lyons believes that money solves everything and that it can by love but Mrs Johnstone has hardly any money yet she is able to have children and she loves them very much. Mrs Lyons may have a lot of money but she has to buy children and buy them happiness. This plan is not very good because buying happiness for Edward turned into paranoia and Mrs Lyons neglected Edward by not allowing him play with other children and not giving him a very happy childhood instead she sent him to a private school so he had to be more concerned with his studies instead of having fun.
Dramatic irony affects the audience because they know what will happen when the characters don’t. The audience knows that the twins are both going to die but the characters do not know that they will ultimately die. This would make the audience feel rather uncomfortable because they know that both Eddie and Mickey will die.
The final scenes also have a dramatic affect and these affect the audience in different ways. This starts when Sammy and Mickey rob a filling station. This builds up pressure on the audience as someone is killed and suspense is also created when the brothers rush home to escape there punishment. They end up going to prison and this affects Mickey dreadfully “MICKEY, placed in a prison cell, stands quietly crying”. Once Mickey has come out of prison he starts to take anti-depressants and this is where the audience is introduced to Edward and Linda’s affair. This creates a massive amount of suspense and anticipation this would also shock the audience and cause them to worry about the characters. The concluding scene when Mickey threatens Edward with a gun is extremely tense. Mickey has just found out that his wife was having an affair with his enemy and old friend. This sent Mickey into a rage and he eventually shot Edward. “The gun explodes and blows Edward apart.” The police then shot Mickey “They open fire and four guns explode, blowing Mickey away”. The narrator utters a few words and this would cause a great amount of tension as he asks them questions about how we the English live and how the way we act influences others.
A question that has not been answered in the play is whose fault was it that Edward and Mickey died? To begin with it might have been Mrs Johnstone’s fault that they died as she gave Edward away and she also told them that they were both brothers. It may have been her fault but she still had the best intentions for them. It may have also been Mrs Lyons fault as she told Mickey that Edward and Linda were having an affair and she also persuaded Mrs Johnstone to give her one of the children. It may have been Linda’s mistake about having the affair which ended Mickey’s and Edward’s life, it could have also been Edwards fault for letting the affair begin. It might have been Sammy’s violence which killed them because he was the person who wanted Mickey as his accomplice and when Mickey went to prison he became addicted to anti-depressants. It may have been Mr Lyons as he fired Mickey and this is what started Mickey’s jealousy for Edward. Personally I think that it was Mickey’s own fault because although he tried hard to come off the anti-depressants he should never have done the job in the first place and should have been happy that Eddie could help him get a job
The narrator final words “And do we blame superstition for what came to pass? Or could it be what we, the English, have come to know as class? This shows that the English stereotype believe that if you are superstitious you are in the lower class. Most sceptics believe this and Russell shows this in “Blood brothers” to show how some people’s actions affect the lives of others. The narrator is there to ask the audience how they feel about people higher or lower in class than themselves. The play allows the audience to think about whether they will treat others with compassion and not judge people on what class they are in. the narrator also creates an atmosphere and keeps people in suspense throughout the play.
Russell’s overall message is to treat others in a good way and that class does affect life and it does affect people. He clearly shows that everyone needs protection and the difference in class has a difference in protection. For instance Mickey has a gun to protect himself, whereas Edward has money to protect himself. Russell wants to also show that there is always something more desirable in another class and that money cannot by happiness. In “Blood brothers” Russell depicts his own life so may be biased towards the lower class and against the upper class. Mickey had far less opportunities than Edward, this led Mickey into a life of crime, which leads him to a depressed life and added to his jealousy of Edward. Edward attends a private school, university and has many opportunities so he obtains a good career. The lower class can’t afford to go to university and do not have many opportunities. The fact the twins have the same blood but are very different and have had very different experiences shows that class can mould people and change them for better or worse. If Edward was left with his mother and if he lived in poverty would he have turned out like Mickey or would he have been differently. Perhaps another point Russell is trying to make is that who you are is who you will always be and wealth or poverty would not change you or that wealth can change a person and they might become shallow and obsessed with money.
