1. Blood Brothers Task 2
At the beginning of page 27 it is obvious that Mickey aspires to be and looks up to Sammy.
This is made evident as Mickey talks about what Sammy does, for instance when he ‘Wees
straight through the letterbox of the house next door’ and then he says that he tried to do it
himself but couldn’t because he is only seven. The way that he mimics Sammy’s actions
shows that Sammy is an influential figure to Mickey; this could be because of the lack of a
fatherly role in Mickey’s life. The fact that Sammy is considered a bad role model in society
could be foreshadowing to how Mickey will be in the future if he follows in Sammy’s
footsteps. He could end up like Sammy.
It also seems as if Eddie looks up to Mickey as after Mickey says that he is ‘pissed off’ Eddie
says, ‘you say smashing things don’t you? Do you know anymore words like that?’ This
shows that Eddie wants to learn from Mickey and copy him, to be more like him. He wants to
fit in with Mickey and have a ‘cool’ friend, or be accepted by him.
Throughout the beginning of the play Mickey’s character repeats the line, ‘I’m only seven,
but I’m not, I’m nearly eight.’ This shows that he wants to grow up quickly and, because of
his social background he might feel like he has no choice but to grow up quickly so that he
can help his mother with the financial problems and get a job. So, this could be a device to
show the audience that Mrs Johnstone’s financial problems have a large effect on her
children.
When Mickey teaches Eddie ‘The F word’ Eddie says, ‘when I get home I’ll look it up in the
dictionary’ The fact that Eddie has a dictionary and has been brought up with books, when
Mickey doesn’t even know what a dictionary is, shows a huge contrast in social class as
Eddie is obviously more educated than Mickey. Such a contrast in the two characters adds a
strange sense of comedy into such a tragic musical. This makes the audience question the
genre of the play.
When Eddie offers Mickey a sweet, Mickey’s reaction to his generosity could be an
indication to the fact that the two boys are from a different class, because Mickey is so used
to having to share his things out that he keeps them to himself, where as Eddie doesn’t mind
sharing because he knows that he could easily get more. Also this part in the play could be
foreshadowing to when Eddie offers Mickey money at the end, however the crucial
difference is that Mickey doesn’t accept the offer at the end of the play. I believe this is
because Willy Russell wanted to highlight the fact that Mickey has had to grow up and get
things for himself, in contrast to when he was a child and could just take what he wanted
without caring.
Mickey and Eddie’s use of language is a huge contrast. For example Mickey uses slang, like
when he says, ‘Y’ know our Sammy? Y’ know what he sometimes does?’ This use of an
elision shows that he is less educated and from a lower class background than Eddie. Eddie’s

2. use of language shows the complete opposite to Mickey’s as he talks in long, complete
sentences with no slang used. I think that Willy Russell wanted to make these two character’s
voices so different to show how differently twins can turn out if they are brought up in
different backgrounds, but he wanted to heighten this by making the actors exaggerate with
the use of their voices and add comedy to it.