On the other hand, Billy has one horrible brother (Judd), a mum, but this time his dad has run away from home. Again, they’ve not got much money as his mum has a spending problem so not much room for food, etc. With no support, his mum doesn’t think there’s a reason for buying his PE kit now when he’s about to leave school!
Both of the boys have a problem- bullying in one specific lesson- PE, by one specific teacher- their PE teacher.
‘When Billy saw the stare of his jaw as she ran at the ball, he stopped and dropped down, and the ball missed him, went over him, back in the net. He knelt up, his left arm, left said and left leg striped with mud.’
This quote proves that Billy Casper is being bullied for the slightest thing- ‘Slack work’. Billy could have ended up with a bruise, graze, or a severe injury like a black eye. Of course, this depends on the power of the kick, which in my opinion was a hard kick.
It’s no different to Solomon Morris:
I turn to go. The ball hits me with full force on the face. I stumble. He comes across.
“Sorry sol, it was an accident.”
I see him through as blur. My head is thumping I wipe my face in my sleeve, and taste salty tears. I have to get away.’
The same again! Bullied by the cruel teacher! It’s not his fault he’s uncoordinated. All the class knows that, but then why doesn’t Watkins support him?
This shows that Billy and Solomon are physically abused, but it doesn’t stop there; they’re also verbally abused:
‘ “Casper! Casper, get down lad! That do you think you are, an ape?”
“No sir, I’m just keeping warm.”
“Well get down then, before I come and make you red hot!”
‘God help up; fifteen years old and still doesn’t know the positions of a football team.’
The two quotes above show that Billy is being verbally abused and proves that Sugden thinks he’s too thick for his age. It’s quite an insult actually. The second quote shows that Sugden is picking on Billy while Billy’s struggling to keep warm.
Again with Solomon, he is being verbally abused:
‘What are you going to do? Go crying home to mummy?’
This takes place at the same time as the physical, so for poor Solomon it’s two for one.
With the verbal abuse, the teachers both have a sarcastic attitude, and act like they have no care in the world. There are very powerful words used to describe the teachers and the way they communicate:
‘Sneers’
‘Red hot’ (threat), etc.
Not all teachers are like this though. For example, when a kindergarten teacher comes to use the gym, she acts helpful towards Solomon, yet harsher with Watkins. Watkins on the other hand tries to cover up what he’s done to Solomon by saying things that go something like “Here’s our top PE student now, aren’t you Sol?”
Straight away the teacher is on his back saying expressions like “This looks like a case of bullying.”
Watkins has an answer for that. When she is gone, he says ‘Bitch!’ This shows that he is very angry at her for either helping Solomon, or in my opinion for trying to get the truth about what happened to Solomon.
Unfortunately for Billy, there is no helpful teacher so far…wonder if there will be one later on…
So, to sum up my findings. Who is suffering the most? Solomon or Billy? An account of the offences:
Billy- 5
Solomon-4
Who has the most insulting actions?
Watkins-4
Mr Sugden-4
So, they’re both as evil as each other. In my opinion, I think Solomon has a larger risk than Billy because Watkins is his form tutor as well as his PE lesson.
Comparing the two books was helpful because we know that we don’t have a tough life as Billy and Solomon.