Willy Russell wrote Blood Brothers using a lot of interesting language. Some of the way that he does this is to use the continuing references to guns throughout the play. He also has two different classes in the play so they speak in totally different ways. Willy Russell makes good use of the narrator by showing that he is always there. He has a very big part in both Act One and Two constantly saying what the audience is thinking.
One of the recurring techniques that Willy Russell uses is reference to superstition. He uses it all the way throughout the play and the way that he uses it is always very dramatic. At the beginning of the play you have Mrs. Johnstone saying to Mrs. Lyons:
“Oh my God, Mrs. Lyons, never put new shoes on a table…You never know what will happen.”
To that Mrs. Lyons laughs at her and says:
“Oh…you mean you’re superstitious?”
This indicates that Mrs. Lyons doesn’t believe in superstition. This is a turning point in the play. Not only is it the first use of a superstition but from here on not only does she notice superstitions more but whenever they come up she denies them vigorously and then changes the subject. This continues most of the way through the play until half way through the first act where she sees her husband putting Edwards shoes on the table, she rushes to the table and throws them off.
Another way in which Willy Russell uses different techniques to give depth to his play is to use the repetition of guns. This is very important point because all the way throughout the play guns are used. At the begging of the play cap guns are used to shot imaginary Indians. Then as the play progresses the cap guns are used to shot each other. The next gun that they use is sammy’s air gun to shot targets in the park. The next step is to use a real gun to rob a filling station. That is where the first fatality is.
“An alarm bell is heard, followed by an explosion from the gun.”
The next time that gun’s are used is at the very end when Mickey shoots Edward. Shortly after that Mickey him self is shot by the police.
“Nobody move, please. It’s all right, it’s all over, just stay where you are.
This shows that as they grow up, the guns that they use increase in firepower.
A third technique that Willy Russell uses to give depth to Blood Brothers Is to use the narrator to jump three years in about three minutes. Half way through the second act, Mickey, Edward and Linda are all having fun without a care in the world doing things at the fun fair and at the beach
“It’s just another ferry boat, a trip to the beach”
In the space of just over two pages the narrator skips forward three years. In the time that speeded up there is not much going on apart from Mickey, Edward and Linda are all having fun. There is a few references to death and sadness in this part of the play, like when the narrator says,
“And who’d dare tell the lambs in spring,
What fate the later seasons bring.
Who’d tell the girl in the middle of the pair
The price she’ll pay for just being there.”
I think that this is a very clever technique of showing that they are all having great fun, while at the same time hinting of bad things to come.
The way that Mrs. Lyons character is very manipulative is another way in which Willy Russell uses different techniques to keep the audience interested. At the start of the book she is very nice to Mrs Johnstone but when her new baby is threatened you see a very different side of her. She makes up a superstition to suit her.
“Because. . . . Because if you tell anyone… and these children learn of the truth, then you know what will happen, don’t you? You do know what they say about twins, secretly parted, don’t you?”
This is giving Mrs. Lyons time to think of something that will stop Mrs. Johnstone from tacking her baby. Mrs. Johnstone starts to get very worried and says’
“What? What?”
All of this has given her enough time to think of something that she thinks will make sure that no one ever knows the truth,
They say…they say that if either twin leans that he once was a pair, they shall both immediately die. It means, Mrs. Johnstone, that these brothers shall grow up, unaware of the existence. They shall be raised apart and never, ever told what was once the truth. You won’t tell anyone about this, Mrs. Johnstone, because if you do, you will kill them.”
This shows that Mrs. Lyons is well able to manipulate the truth in her favor.
The way in which the end of the story is told at the begging is a clever technique to use because the audience knows what will happen but they don’t know how it will happen. At the begging of the story Mrs. Johnstone says,
“An, did y’ never hear of the mother, so cruel,
There’s a stone in the place of her heart?
Then bring her on and come judge for yourselves
How she came to play this part.”
This is saying to the audience that you have been told the end of the story and now you can make your own judgment on who was in the wrong.
All the way throughout the story there are constant references to Marilyn Monroe. At the begging of the story it is things like,
“He said that I was sexier than Marilyn Monroe”
Towards the middle of the story this is said,
“Though it was kind of him,
Said I reminded him of Marilyn Monroe”
At the end of the story, this is said,
“It seems like jail’s sent him off the rails,
Just like Marilyn Monroe”
This shows that as the story progresses, the way that Mrs. Johnstone looks as Marilyn Monroe deterates.
In conclusion I think that the way that Willy Russell