One way that Russel shows us the difference between the two social classes is a technique called cross cutting, this is showing once scene and then after it showing an almost opposite of this, Russel uses technique throughout the play however one main scene is when Micky, Eddie and Linda are caught by a policeman throwing stones at windows. When the policeman is telling the children’s parents he talks to Mickey’s, who is from a poorer background in a more threatening tone and more assertive, however it then cross cuts over to him telling Eddies parents about what happened and he seems more friendly and happy, also the scene’s are very different, when he is at Eddies house he is invited in and given a glass of brandy, he also removes his hat which is a common sign of respect, however at Mickey’s he is just standing there with a serious face. This is a big indication of how much social class meant in Britain at the time because even through the boys had been caught doing the same thing the policeman was a lot less annoyed at the higher class citizens. Another dramatic technique used is stereotyping, Russel completely over-exaggerates both Mickey and Eddie to make them easier to recognise, he makes Eddie out to be the rich snob and Mickey out to be the common poor boy.
Another way he tells us about social class is the language they use, Eddie who is the twin that is given away to the higher class or ‘posh’ family speaks very differently to Mickey, who stays with his mother. Eddie speaks perfect English and uses much bigger words as appose to Mickey who speaks in slang and uses rather smaller words. This shows a huge difference in social class when they are talking to each other as you can really notice the language gap, this shows a difference in social class because even if they were both brothers and born from the same mother they speak completely differently to each other because class defined who people were at that time and how they acted.
The narrator in Blood Brothers is shown to be a bitter and depressed working class man who seems to be attracted to these two twins, he reveals from the start that should they ever find out they are twins they will both die, which in the end does happen, he also plays minor parts throughout the play. The way in which he is portrayed is also quite important, he is shown as an average man which at the time is sad and depressed as he is probably living in poverty himself.
The final device that Russel uses to show social class is the context and time period that it is set in, the 1980’s was very famous for the north south divide, which was when the people down south had lots of money where the people form up north were living in poverty. It also shows us that people that had lots of money didn’t care about those without it, we can see this from the scene with Mr Lyons at work where he is giving orders for someone to fire a person and he shows no remorse or pity for them he just says ‘Bla bla bla’ like they have no value. This is common for the time period, the higher class not caring about the lower class and it is a great example Russell showing this like he does throughout the play. Another example of using the context to show social class is when Mrs Lyons attempts to kill Mrs Johnstone, had it of been the other way round with the lower class attempting to kill the rich person she would have been locked away without a sentence but because it was the high class person the police wouldn’t have believed Mrs Johnstone and might have even locked her up this also shows a huge gap between the two social classes.
Finally, I think Russell makes it very clear about the huge gap between the rich and the poor was in 1980s. You notice this by the way the characters talk to one another e.g. Eddie and Mickey. Also the actions taken, e.g. when Mrs Johnston gave Eddie to Mrs Lyons because she was very poor and couldn’t afford to have more children. Russell also makes it clear about how bad unemployment was then. We know this because it’s very clear throughout the book and even Mickey one of the main characters doesn’t have a job and so this may be due to the different class systems. Mickey who is poor and lower class is unemployed although Eddie his twin has just graduated from university and is higher class. This shows that the class systems can effect a child’s education and opportunities when grown up.
