A Kestrel for a Knave
by Barry Hines
A Kestrel for a Knave tells the story of a disadvantaged teenager, Billy Casper, who lives in a mining town.
How would you feel if you just worked, but you didn't have an ambition, you are surrounded by people who have accepted their lot in life and that you won't be allowed to hope for better? You aren't told right and wrong, you are told what is. It is pushed in your face for you to deal with. This is what children like Billy were told (1950s).
We learn that Billy is a character who is entirely on his own; no help is given from anyone, not even his family. Billy is very badly neglected by his family and we see how he thinks that nothing is going to improve and emphasises throughout the novel that he can never make anything of himself. He is in trouble with the police for theft; he shares a bed with his brother and goes to a school with some off-putting and cruel teachers, and has nothing to look forward to but the day when he to goes to work in the Hades coals mine.
by Barry Hines
A Kestrel for a Knave tells the story of a disadvantaged teenager, Billy Casper, who lives in a mining town.
How would you feel if you just worked, but you didn't have an ambition, you are surrounded by people who have accepted their lot in life and that you won't be allowed to hope for better? You aren't told right and wrong, you are told what is. It is pushed in your face for you to deal with. This is what children like Billy were told (1950s).
We learn that Billy is a character who is entirely on his own; no help is given from anyone, not even his family. Billy is very badly neglected by his family and we see how he thinks that nothing is going to improve and emphasises throughout the novel that he can never make anything of himself. He is in trouble with the police for theft; he shares a bed with his brother and goes to a school with some off-putting and cruel teachers, and has nothing to look forward to but the day when he to goes to work in the Hades coals mine.
