Also, it is rather ironic when the Narrator says that ‘life has no ending when you’re sweet sixteen’, for both him and the audience know that their lives will come to an end. This may lead us to believe that he doesn’t care about the boy’s lives and is just playing with their fate. This would, furthermore back up the theory that the Narrator is the Devil and is a malicious character.
The Narrator plays a key part in the song for he continuously mentions what will happen as the children age throughout the song. He is a powerful character, as he is aware of the twins demise while the youngsters are oblivious. However, he is also powerless because he is unable to prevent their inevitable deaths. It is commonly believed he cares slightly about the brother’s doom, but doesn’t consider helping them or warning them. For example, in the second verse he says ‘But leave them alone, let them go play’ which could mean that he believes the children’s well-being isn’t as important as maybe the audience and characters see it. This may lead us to believe that the Narrator is somewhat emotionless and like the children doesn’t ‘care for what’s at the end of the day’.
The wistful atmosphere continues with the brother’s demise implied throughout. For instance, on the second verse where the children are starting to grow up, words like ‘glare’ and ‘midnight hour’ are used. These words are quite sinister and predict worse to come as the children grow up even more. For the music in that verse, Russell has chosen to use a saxophone, which is commonly related to maturity and implies a sexual atmosphere. This is to prove that the children are indeed, developing.
The song is sometimes seen as a microcosm of the play, with it going from a dreamy and hopeful mood to a more sinister mood as the youngsters grow up. This build up can relate to the children maturing because they have gone from a life of fantasy and fun and games to a life of reality in adulthood where class matters and Edward, Mickey and Linda have a lot more problems. Particularly when Linda is at a shooting range at a fairground and misses all three shots, which is unlike when she was younger playing with a gun and hit all the targets she wanted to. This could mean that life is no longer ‘all fun and games’ now that she is becoming an adult, and that she now needs to face the harsh reality.
In the next verse, the warnings get a lot more obvious and clear. In this case, the children ‘don’t even notice the broken bottles in the sand’ and ‘oil in the water’, which justifies that the children are blind to their fate and that there will always be a reminder of the day when the boy’s will have their lives taken. Moreover, oil and water doesn’t mix, which reminds us of the class differences between Edward and Mickey that will cause them to fall out.
Russell wants the Narrator to be a ‘moral spokesperson’, highlighting the problems with the class system and what problems it can cause. Russell wants the audience to change the way they think about the class system and make a difference. The Narrator serves his Brechtian function by asking the audience whether the death of the brothers was to do with superstition or class. Russell is trying to tell us that class shouldn’t matter, but unfortunately it does.
