Mrs Kay understands the difficulties the pupils in the progress classes are going through because they come from poor families. She knows the parents do not take them out much so she wants them to have a good day out, We know this because she says to them “That’s the only rule today think of your self but think of others as well”. At this point the audience likes her because we can see that she is kind and understanding.
However Mrs Kay can be seen as a hypocrite in the play. At the castle she says to Mr Briggs “You will never teach them because no one knows what to do with them” she yet she is trying to teach them. Also Mrs Kay starts tell Mr Briggs she says. “Whales Is not going to furnish them with a education.” This shows she knows the children won’t learn anything but it is the first time she has talked the children.
She also just wants the children to have a good day because she says to Mr Briggs. “Can’t we just give them a good day out?” This shows that she wants the children to have a good day out. Mrs Kay takes the children to the places that they were not meant to go unlike Mr Briggs We can tell this because Mrs Kay says “I thought it would be a good idea if we called in to the zoo” This shows that she is taking the children out to have more fun and not caring how much it is going to cost. Russell is showing her to be irresponsible as she does appear not care about the job even though it pays her wages.
Mr Briggs is a very strict teacher. At the start of the play on the coach Mr Briggs begins to compile a list of rules. We know this because he says “But a lot of you haven’t been on a school trip before so you won’t know how to behave. So I’ll tell you.” Mrs Kay lets the children do what they want but Mr Briggs wants to show them that on this day he is in charge and he does not want any bad behavior. He is a traditional teacher and the audience like him at this point.
To address this to Mrs Kay and he says “Do you really think it is wise letting them pour in all at once.” He is proven right when the children steal from the shop. Mrs Kay is shown as a soft touch as she wrongly trusts the children
At the zoo Mr Briggs does not want the children to go off on their own he says “I don’t know if these people can be trusted on their own” again Russell shows us that Mr Briggs is right. The audience feels that Mrs Kay is not being responsible no watching the children and letting them steal the animals. The audience feels she should know better because she teaches them.
At the castle Mr Briggs is angry with the way the day is going. He tells Mrs Kay “it’s a shambles the whole ill organized affair” the audience feels he is right because Mrs Kay has not planned the outing. We understand Mr Briggs is annoyed that the children are not learning anything.
However after this Mr Briggs changes a bit and starts to join in more. He changes after having to save carol from falling from the cliff and becomes caring and kind like Mrs Kay. When car tells him she is going to jump he says “what are you trying to do to me” This shows that he is afraid and angry he also admits that he cares because he says “if I did not care why I would be up here.” The audience feels sympathy for Mr Briggs at this point because he has to do what no teacher should have to do. They also see he does care but in a different way to Mrs Kay.
In the middle of the play he begins to respect the children more and takes them to the fun fair we can tell this because on the stage directions it says “On the waltzed the kids, including Mr Briggs” he does this because after talking to Carol on the cliff he has realised they should have a fun day out because they won’t have many more.
At the end on the play Mr Briggs returns to his normal self after destroying the memories of the day by showing the film to the light this also showed him at the fair having a good time this is what the stage direction says. “He pulls open the film and exposes it to light.” This shows that he has now gone back to his normally self.
My conclusion is that we are expect to respect the teachers but in to different ways like Mr Briggs we see change from start to the middle and back to his normal self at the end.
And Mrs Kay is always kind and caring all the time and we never see her shout at the children only have fun.
