Yosser feels like he does not need anyone else to help him and so it’s as if he is walking away from the job rather the job walking away from him.
But in Yosser’s story, even though his stereotype becomes real his character stays the same, but because the author uses clever techniques so it entitles us to see deeper into his life.
We see that, actually, he is a caring and slightly heart warming character that just needs someone by his side to help him through his unemployment and his struggle through this rough stage off his life.
The play ‘Yosser’s story starts with a dream sequence. Alan Bleasdale touches on the fact that the only way the audience can understand and get through into Yosser’s mind is to find a different way to express his feelings. So he does this by showing us into his dreams.
Yosser’s dream shows him and his children walking through the park and then going slowly wading into the lake. His children start disappearing one by one and Yosser is yelling for them. This is suggesting he has a secluded weakness, to him the most significant thing in his life are his children and I don’t think he could bear the thought of losing the closest thing to him. He fears for them, and he feels he needs to protect them as he couldn’t live without them.
In a pleading attempt to grab someone’s attention he yes to his friends,
“Come on boys, it’s me Yosser! I’m losing my kids!”
They choose to ignore him as they pass on their boat, just staring bluntly with cold eyes. This shows how he is helpless and very alone.
Then Yosser wakes up from this dream. He has beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. He looks very insecure and worried that something might have happened. He turns cautiously to look for his kids and finds them sleeping motionless and the other side of the room.
Because Yosser is on the dole he can barely afford to pay his rent. He goes to speak to a councillor about this and his life in general, but he refuses to leave his kids outside, he is very insecure; though he finally leaves them right outside the door (which is ajar).
Yosser believes he can manage the house, and do pretty much everything involved in the house e.g. cleaning, cooking and maintenance.
‘I can manage, no sweat, I can cook, course I can cook.’
This language is demonstrating that in his own mind he is capable of cooking and managing the house, however the repetition suggests that he is insecure of himself and that he is trying to convince himself he can do it.
In the scene where Yosser is in the pub with his kids Alan Bleasdale uses juxtaposition to compare Yosser to a rich good-looking, well-off, famous footballer. This is showing that Yosser’s life isn’t as great as he is making out to be and shows us that he is very poor, dirty and worthless. It is a very good way to make the audience judge Yosser against the footballer. It manipulates Yosser and makes him look like a wimp.
When Maureen has her soliloquy we felt anger towards her because she is making up a lot about Yosser saying that he used to hit his kids but we know that it is a lie because he loves his kids so much. We know that Yosser is a good person and she just doesn’t understand him.
In the end Yosser’s children are taken from him, he is brutally beaten up and believes his life needs to end. He believes he is a failure at life. We feel very sympathetic for him. He then walks into the park and sadly tries to drown himself, he even fails at this, he is so torn apart by this; the fact that he didn’t even manage do commit suicide.
I think this play is very dramatic. The author puts his point across using clever techniques and soliloquies to show us into deep emotions. I enjoyed it because it has an interesting plot and good use of language. It made me think about the situation Yosser was in, and how I would have acted and felt in his life.
