Creating Sympathy for the Johnston Family in Blood Brothers

Creating Sympathy for the Johnston Family in Blood Brothers

Blood brother is a tragic tale about two twins who were parted at

birth and as a result, led very different lives. The playwright, Willy

Russell portrays the circumstances in which the twins were conceived,

born and parted and also gives us an insight into how society has the

influence of shaping individuals according to the classes they are in.

We, the audience are made to sympathize with Mrs. Johnston on many

occasions varying from the beginning of the play, even before the

twins are born to the end of the play, when we learn about their

unfortunate death.

In the play Blood Brothers we see the upbringing of two so called

blood brothers, Eddie and Mickey who are bought up in two different

lifestyles. Mrs. Johnston is the mother of seven children and is

already on the way of expecting twins that were to be parted soon

after. This is told to us via the narrator, who states, that the

mother “stood and watched brother parted from brother”. Willy Russell

uses various techniques to create sympathy for the Johnston family. We

also need to take into account the language barrier between the two

brothers because they have been brought up in two different back

grounds and have been taught different principles. Eddie seems to

behave in a more socially acceptable manner whilst Mickey is louder.

The play starts of by describing Mrs. Johnston’s life and her

marriage. The author quotes “that I was six weeks overdue” which makes

us the audience feel sorry for her. It also describes the place of

marriage which was at the registry office.

“We got married at the registry and had a do”.

This suggests to us the audience that the wedding was nothing too

fancy, not too expensive and that the marriage was sudden and

unexpectant. She got married because she was expecting a baby, in

difficult, circumstances to get married in. we soon learn that Mrs.

Johnson is trapped in her life. Soon after the wedding she still

wanted to enjoy herself as she did before but her husband became very

conscious of her appearance and felt embarrassed to be seen with her.

This is evident due to the fact that she gained weight and now

perceived herself to be “twice the size of Marillyn Monroe”. Russell

also uses a lot of ironic devices in the play. It’s ironic due to the

idea that her husband left her “for a girl, they say who looks a bit

like Marillyn Monroe”. The audience feels sympathetic towards her

because she has seven children and low self esteem.