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Beyond class, Blood Brothers explores several interconnected themes: the nature vs nurture debate, the role of fate and superstition, violence, motherhood, and friendship. This lesson examines each of these themes and shows how Russell uses them to reinforce his central argument about class inequality.
Mickey and Eddie are identical twins — they share the same DNA. This makes them a perfect "controlled experiment" in nature vs nurture:
Russell's conclusion is unambiguous: nurture determines outcomes. Everything that differentiates Mickey and Eddie — their language, confidence, education, careers, mental health — is the product of their environments, not their genes.
| Aspect | Mickey (Working-Class Nurture) | Eddie (Middle-Class Nurture) |
|---|---|---|
| Language at age 7 | Slang, dialect, swearing | Standard English, polite, wide vocabulary |
| Education | Comprehensive school; low expectations | Private school; university-bound |
| Confidence | Insecure; tongue-tied around Linda | Articulate; socially confident |
| Career | Factory → unemployment | University → councillor |
| Response to adversity | Depression, crime, pills | Has resources and support systems |
At age seven, the differences between Mickey and Eddie are visible but not yet damaging. They play together as equals. The class markers — Eddie's vocabulary, Mickey's rough language — are sources of amusement, not conflict.
This is crucial to Russell's argument: class does not create an insurmountable divide in childhood. It is the structures of adult society — education, employment, housing — that transform small differences into life-and-death inequalities.
Examiner's tip: When writing about nature vs nurture, emphasise that Russell deliberately uses twins to make his argument. The twin device removes all variables except class. If the play featured two unrelated boys, the audience could attribute their differences to genetics. By making them twins, Russell ensures that class is the only possible explanation.
Superstition is woven throughout Blood Brothers, creating an atmosphere of foreboding and inevitability:
| Superstition | Who Believes It? | Function in the Play |
|---|---|---|
| Shoes on the table = bad luck | Mrs Johnstone | Makes her vulnerable to manipulation |
| "If the twins learn the truth, they die" | Mrs Johnstone (Mrs Lyons invented it) | The "curse" that drives the plot |
| Broken mirrors, spilled salt | Mrs Johnstone | Reinforces her fatalistic worldview |
| "The devil's got your number" | The Narrator | Creates atmosphere of doom |
The crucial detail is that Mrs Lyons invents the superstition about the twins dying. She does not believe it herself — she uses it as a tool to control Mrs Johnstone:
"They say... that if either twin was to learn that he was one of a pair, they shall both immediately die"
This is deeply ironic. Mrs Lyons, the educated middle-class woman, creates a superstition that she does not believe in but that devastates the working-class woman who does believe it. This is another example of class power operating through knowledge and manipulation.
The twins do die when they learn the truth. But Russell makes it clear that the deaths are caused by social circumstances, not by supernatural forces:
The superstition is a red herring. The audience is tempted to see fate at work, but Russell's final question redirects us to the real cause: class.
Examiner's tip: A sophisticated essay will discuss the tension between the supernatural atmosphere (the Narrator's warnings, the "curse") and the social realism of the play's events. Russell uses superstition to create dramatic tension, but his ultimate message is that class — not fate — kills the twins.
The Narrator creates a powerful sense of tragic inevitability:
However, the Narrator also represents society's judgment. His final question — "superstition or class?" — suggests that the real "devil" is not a supernatural force but the class system itself.
| Interpretation | Evidence |
|---|---|
| The twins are fated to die (destiny) | The Narrator's warnings; the "curse"; the prologue |
| The twins are killed by class (social determinism) | Every event can be explained by class inequality |
| The twins are victims of their mothers' choices | Mrs Lyons's manipulation; Mrs Johnstone's fear |
| Russell uses fate as a dramatic device, not a belief | The final question redirects blame to class |
Violence escalates throughout Blood Brothers, mirroring Mickey's trajectory:
| Stage | Form of Violence |
|---|---|
| Childhood | Playful — toy guns, games of "cowboys and Indians" |
| Teenage years | Sammy's air gun; intimidation; petty aggression |
| Adulthood | Armed robbery; real guns; murder |
| Final scene | Mickey holds Eddie at gunpoint; police shoot Mickey |
Russell shows that violence is not innate to working-class people — it is the product of an environment where legitimate opportunities do not exist. Sammy's progression from childhood destruction to armed crime is a social trajectory, not a moral one.
The contrast with Eddie is telling: Eddie is never exposed to violence because his class background shields him from it. He does not have a "Sammy" in his life.
Examiner's tip: Discuss the symbolism of guns in the play. In childhood, guns are toys — innocent objects in innocent games. By adulthood, they are real weapons that kill. This progression mirrors the play's central argument: childhood innocence is destroyed by the class system.
Russell presents two contrasting models of motherhood:
| Mrs Johnstone | Mrs Lyons |
|---|---|
| Natural, instinctive, warm | Desperate, possessive, controlling |
| Has too many children; cannot afford them | Cannot have children; adopts Eddie |
| Loses Eddie but never stops loving him | Has Eddie but lives in fear of losing him |
| Maintains love despite poverty | Wealth cannot prevent paranoia and violence |
| Guided by emotion and superstition | Guided by calculation and control |
Russell subverts expectations. The "bad mother" (who gives up her child) is actually the more loving and admirable parent. The "good mother" (who provides materially) is actually manipulative and destructive.
This inversion challenges the audience's assumptions about class and parenting. It suggests that love and warmth — not money and status — are the most important things a parent can offer.
The friendship between Mickey and Eddie is genuine, joyful, and — for a time — transcends class. The blood brothers ceremony is the play's most hopeful moment:
"I will always defend my brother"
But Russell shows that class inevitably destroys cross-class friendships. As the boys grow up:
The blood brothers ceremony is also deeply ironic — they are already biological brothers. The ceremonial bond they choose is a pale imitation of the biological bond they do not know they share.
Examiner's tip: The destruction of Mickey and Eddie's friendship is Russell's most emotionally powerful argument against class inequality. If class can destroy the bond between twin brothers who genuinely love each other, Russell suggests, then the class system is fundamentally inhuman.
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