Blood Brothers - Characters test questions - Edexcel - GCSE English Literature Revision

1

Read the extract below and use it to answer questions 1-3.

MICKEY

Do you live up in the park?

EDWARD

Yes. Are you going to come and play up there again?

MICKEY

No. I would do but I’m not allowed.

EDWARD

Why?

MICKEY

’Cos me mam says.

EDWARD

Well, my mummy doesn’t allow me to play down here actually.

MICKEY

’Gis a sweet.

EDWARD

All right. (He offers a bag from his pocket.)

MICKEY

(shocked) What?

EDWARD

Here.

MICKEY

(trying to work out the catch; suspiciously taking one) Can I have another one. For our Sammy?

EDWARD

Yes, of course. Take as many as you want.

MICKEY

(taking a handful) Are you soft?

EDWARD

I don’t think so.

MICKEY

Round here if y’ ask for a sweet, y’ have to ask about, about twenty million times. An ’y’ know what?

EDWARD

(sitting beside MICKEY) What?

MICKEY

They still don’t bleedin’ give y’ one. Sometimes our Sammy does but y’ have to be dead careful if our Sammy gives y’ a sweet.

Why is it important that Mickey and Edward’s accents are so different?

To show that they are from different cities

To remind the audience that Mickey is working class and Edward is middle class

To demonstrate that Edward is older than Mickey

2

Why is Edward happy to give Mickey more sweets?

He doesn’t like sweets

He wants to bribe Mickey to be his friend

He doesn’t spend much time with other children so he is not used to protecting his possessions and his family give him what he wants so he can easily get more sweets

3

Why is Mickey surprised that Edward gives him sweets?

He is not used to his friend sharing sweets with him

He thinks that Edward is selfish

He doesn’t want any sweets

4

Read the extract below and use it to answer questions 4-6.

(EDWARD reaches his home and walks in. His mother hugs him and his father produces a toy gun for him. EDWARD, delighted, seizes it and ‘shoots’ his father, who spiritedly ‘dies’ to EDWARD’s great amusement. EDWARD and his father romp on the floor. MRS LYONS settles herself in an armchair with a story book, calling EDWARD over to her. EDWARD goes and sits with her, MR LYONS joining them and sitting on the arm of the chair.)

(MRS JOHNSTONE turns and goes into her house at the end of the song.)

(MR LYONS gets up and walks towards the door.)

EDWARD

Daddy... we haven’t finished the story yet.

MR LYONS

Mummy will read the story, Edward. I’ve got to go to work for an hour.

(MRS LYONS gets up and goes to her husband, EDWARD goes to the bookshelf and leafs through a dictionary.)

MRS LYONS

Richard you didn’t say...

MR LYONS

Darling, I’m sorry, but if, if we complete this merger I will, I promise you, have more time. That’s why we’re doing it, Jen, If we complete this, the firm will run itself and I’ll have plenty of time to spend with you both.

MRS LYONS

I just – it’s not me, it’s Edward. You should spend more time with him. I don’t want – I don’t want him growing away from you.

EDWARD

Daddy, how do you spell bogey man?

MR LYONS

Ask mummy. Darling, I’ll see you later now. Must dash.

(MR LYONS exits.)

How does the Lyons family seem in the stage directions at the start of this extract?

Separate

Happy

Angry

5

How does Mrs Lyons feel about Mr Lyons being away from the family?

She is upset and worried that he is not spending enough time with Edward

She is angry because she thinks he is having an affair

She is scared that he will meet the Johnstone family and find out the truth about Edward

6

Why is Mrs Lyons more worried than Mr Lyons about the time he spends away from Edward?

Mr Lyons wants Edward to go to boarding school

Mrs Lyons wants to have a break from spending time with Edward

She knows that Edward is not his biological son but he does not

7

Read the extract below and use it to answer questions 7-10.

MICKEY

Where’s me tablets gone, Linda?

LINDA

Mickey you don’t need your tablets!

MICKEY

Linda!

LINDA

Mickey. You’re workin’ now, we’re livin’ on our own – you've got to start makin’ an effort.

MICKEY

Give them to me, Linda.

LINDA

You promised.

MICKEY

I know I promised but I can’t do without them. I tried. Last week I tried to do without them. By dinner time I was shakin’ an’ sweating so much I couldn’t even work. I need them. That’s all there is to it. Now give.

(Pause)

LINDA

Is that it then? Are y’ gonna stay on them forever?

MICKEY

Linda.

LINDA

Look... we’ve managed to sort ourselves out this far but what’s the use if -

MICKEY

We have sorted ourselves out? Do you think I’m really stupid?

LINDA

What?

MICKEY

I didn’t sort anythin’ out Linda. Not a job, not a house, nothin’. It used to be just sweets an’ ciggies he gave me, because I had none of me own. Now it’s a job and a house. I’m not stupid, Linda. You sorted it out. You an’ Councillor Eddie Lyons.

(LINDA doesn’t deny it.)

Now give me the tablets... I need them.

LINDA

An’ what about what I need? I need you. I love you. But, Mickey, not when you’ve got them inside you. When you take those things, Mickey, I can’t even see you.

MICKEY

That’s why I take them. So I can be invisible.

(Pause.)

Now give me them.

(Music. We see LINDA hand MICKEY her bag.)

(MICKEY quickly grabs the tablets.)

(MICKEY exits.)

Why doesn’t Linda want Mickey to take his tablets?

She doesn’t believe that he’s really ill

She thinks they stop him being himself

She wants him to take stronger tablets

8

How is Mickey presented in the latter part of the play?

He has been worn down and made depressed by his life experiences

He hates his wife

He is lazy and doesn’t want to work

9

What is the significance of Edward arranging Mickey and Linda’s house and Mickey’s job?

Edward is really the father of Linda’s child, not Mickey

Mickey begged Edward to help him

Because of Edward’s higher class and more privileged life, he is in a much better position than Mickey and has more power than him

10

How has Linda changed from the start of the play?

She is happier than she used to be because she is married to Mickey

She has been worn down by the difficulties she has experienced and isn’t as happy as she used to be

She doesn’t care about her family any more