The kestrel is Billy’s opportunity to express his love to someone.
The first example where we see that the kestrel plays and important part in Billy’s life is in pgs 33-35. These pages explain the scene where Billy goes to the library to get a book out on falconry.
“ I want a book on falconry.”
From the story we can tell that Billy is the not the kind of person who would normally go to the library, but he has become so interested in the kestrel that this interest has driven him to the library. When Billy arrives home, Jud makes fun of him, telling him that he can not read and has no chance at all of training a kestrel,
“ Train it! Tha couldn’t train a flea!”
Billy is so determined to learn about the kestrel that he ignores Jud and carries on reading the book. From this we can see that the kestrel is having a positive influence on Billy and is encouraging him to learn.
In pages 64-70, Billy is in Mr. Farthing’s lesson learning about “Fact and Fiction.” Billy is made to stand up and talk about something. Mr. Farthing persuades Billy to talk about his hawk. Even though Billy is normally very self-conscious and too embarrassed to speak in front of the whole class he gave a ten-minute talk to the class on his hawk and how he had trained it. He told the class everything he had done with the kestrel since he had got it from “Monastery Farm.” This talk shows us how much Billy has learned about the kestrel. The Kestrel has helped to boost his self-confidence and it has also encouraged Billy to learn.
In pages 83 and 85 Mr. farthing is talking to Billy. When Mr. farthing said,
“Have you been in trouble with the police lately.”
Billy said,
“No, Sir!”
This shows us that since Billy got the kestrel he has stopped “hanging around” with McDowell and therefore stopped getting into trouble. Billy is very interested and passionate for the kestrel,
“I got interested in it that it seemed to take all my time up.”
Billy also expresses his feelings for the hawk and tells us that he is not bothered about having any friends and would like to be a “lone wolf.” This shows us that Kes is the best friend that Billy has ever had and he is the only person that Billy can trust.
“Mr. Farthing followed him slowly, then as Billy reached the corner he called his name.”
He asked if he could see the kestrel sometime.
This scene is described in pages 112 – 119. Mr. Farthing comes to Billy’s house to watch Billy fly Kes. Billy describes his feelings for the hawk. In this scene we see how much Billy cares for the hawk. When the hawk was flying we can tell from the words,
“It’s brilliant!”
that Billy is filled with awe and was extremely proud of his best friend Kes. He loved showing his most treasure to someone else that understood how he felt.
In conclusion the kestrel is very important in Billy’s life. From being a lonely, very shy and mischievous boy he has become more determined to learn, less self-conscious and he does not get in trouble because he does not “hang around” with McDowell. Since Billy got the hawk he has learned a lot about it. The kestrel is Billy’s hobby so he does not mind that he has no friends because Kes is the best friend Billy has ever had. The kestrel encourages Billy and is someone that Billy can talk to who will understand.
