Our Day Out.

""That's not a lake, love. It's the sea."

Another way Willy Russell shows the difference in the two characters, is the difference in the tone of voice each character has. Mr Brigg's voice is very much formal and positive when talking to the children. He is always determined to put across what ever he's got to say, even when Carol is on the edge of the cliff he still shout at her.

"I'm talking to you Carol Chandler."

Willy Russell gives Mrs Kay a kind and gentle voice to compromise Mr Brigg's voice. Mrs Kay's voice helps to put across the motherhood figure to the children. Apart from the argument with Mr Briggs her voice is always calm and considerate. An example of this is when Carol doesn't know where Wales is,

"Carol... we're going on a coach love. Look it's over there."

Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay have a big confrontation while they were at the castle. Mr Briggs started the argument by expressing his thoughts about how unorganised the trip was.

"It's a shambles, the whole ill organised affair."

During the argument Willy Russell shows the two different views of education. Mrs Kay admits that she's already given up on the progress classes education and sees that this one day out isn't going to teach them all they need to know. She also says that the children weren't born to be successful.

"Most of them were rejects on the day that they were born because they were born in the

wrong place to the wrong parents."

Mrs. Kay says.

Mr. Briggs replies by saying,

"That's a fine attitude for a member of the teaching profession to have."

However Mrs. Kay always had a reply to whatever Mr. Briggs had to throw at her. I think that Willy Russell is on Mrs. Kay's side of the argument as he lets her

finish the argument by her taking the children to the beach, even though Mr Briggs didn't want her to.

Another very important part of the story/ play is when the teachers lose Carol Chandler. Mr. Briggs finds her on top of a cliff just looking out to sea. As he approaches her she threatens to jump off if he comes any closer,

"Try and get me an' I'll jump over."

As Mr. Briggs negotiates with Carol we see that she is clever enough to work out that if she jumps Mr. Briggs would be in big trouble when he gets back to school. Eventually Carol decides to come after she has been promised that she won't get into any trouble, when back at school. As she turns around she slips towards the edge with just enough time for 'Brigzzy' to save her.

During this short time that Carol and Mr. Briggs are together, he realises what type of background the children with him today, and the children back at school come from, and that some of the children were born and bred in poverty with no expectation of success. The children see education as an irrelevance.

At once after this we see Mr. Briggs change as he takes them all to the fair. Mr. Briggs realised that what Mrs. Kay said was true about the children.

However as the coach approaches the school after the day out Mr. Briggs returns to his normal self by straightening his tie and placing his cowboy hat on Andrew.

As the children got off the coach and dispersed into the streets still full of excitement from the day out, we see Mr. Briggs screw up the camera film and expose it to the light with the days highlights on that Mrs. Kay had given him to develop. He then gets in his nice car and drives out of the district passing students on the way out.

I think that by ending the play like this, Willy Russell is on Mrs. Kay's side during the story/ play, as he would have been at school. Then nearing the end he realises that unless you have a teacher who wants you to learn and who has high hopes of you, nobody would learn what they should while at school.