Kes the Play
kes In this assignment I am writing about the play called”kes”how Barry Hines the author of Kes brought his characters to life. He has gone into great detail and time to produce this play by trying to bring his characters to reality by their language , the surroundings of that area and the clothing they wear. The area where this scene is set is in a rough, unpleasant place, Barnsley. Although Barnsley is local to us, it is an industrial working class area were poor unwealthy people go to work and try to make end meet to feed their families.
All these characters show how they act as normal on an ordinary day, because Barry Hines needed to get across the description that effect his characters in the play. Billy did not have a good relationship between his family his mom and brother. His mom does not care for Billy, all she wants to do is go to parities and knockabout with men, this shows that her children don’t come first in her life. Billy clothes are dirty and appalling with wholes and stains in them because he doesn’t wash his clothes.
In the morning when he wakes up his mom doesn’t leave tea in the pot for him and tells him to go to the shop for her to buy cigs, before he goes to school, so Billy will be late, Billy runs out the house and goes to school after having an argument with his mom to go to the shop for cigs. His mom doesn’t have any money for him for hi school dinner because she spent it the night before or she needs it for the night ahead. Billys brother Jud steals his snap for school and takes his bike so Billy’s got nothing for school.
Jud went out one night and got really drunk when he came home, Jud woke Billy up to undress him because he was too drunk to do it himself, it is the only way Billy can get his own back by slapping and shouting at him “you drunken sow og pig bastard. Billys school life is not much better than his home life; his school is run down, horrible and dirty. He thinks the whole world is against him and does get along with other kids in school he doesn’t knock about with any mate’s accept his kestrel bird.
Barry Hines the other of Kes describes a bewildering scene into which Billy fits appropriately when he is fighting over a schoolmate over his brother “Im not frightened of him that would be if he were here I bet I know somebody who could fight him. Soon the fight broke out in the playground everyone gathered round. There is one teacher in the school that takes and interest in Billy due to the hawk. He helped Billy against McDowel so Billy would not get into trouble.
The teacher Mr Farthering finds out about Billy’s hawk and asked if he could see the bird. The kestrel is the only pleasure Billy gets in his life, he found it in the formers land in the forest and asked if he could have it, ever since he has owned Kes (name of the bird) he’s been training it, he was so interested in this bird he went to the library to find a book on kestrel but he was not allowed to take it out because he was not a member so he stole it, because Billy was not wealthy his brother and him had to share a bed together.
Billy has a paper round, when he goes to collect his papers he steals chocolates and drinks he does this because he is hungry and he probably doesn’t get enough food at home. Billy does his papers in a bad area, the owner of the newsagent Mr Potter said Billys brother Jud gave Billy ? 10 to go and bet on a hoarse, so he went down prepared to bet for Jud as he was down there, Billy spoke to one of Jud’s mates and said it wasn’t worth betting on that hoarse, well Billy did not need to be told twice so he used the money to buy food for him and his bird.
As soon as Jud found out his hoarse won and there was no bet on it he went looking for Billy, but Billy hid every time he saw his brother, so Jud stopped looking and went to find Billys only friend in the world and killed his hawk. As soon as Billy found his bird he ran and buried it in the field and went to bed.
