A KESTREL FOR A KNAVE

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A KESTREL FOR A KNAVE

• By Barry Hines

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A KESTREL FOR A KNAVE

• Introduction Stylistic features Key messages
• Key characters Billy, Jud, Mrs Casper, Mr Gryce,
  Mr Sugden, Mr Farthing
• Key incidents the opening, assembly, the games
  lesson, flying Kes, death of Kes.
• Kes
• Summary

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• The novel looks at how life for one boy is
  dictated by where he lives and the attitudes of
  those he lives with.
• All aspects of Billy Caspers life (other than
  with Kes) are sad and depressing. Others have a
  very low expectancy of what Billy can achieve in
  his life.
• Hines uses humour to present aspects of life as a
  way of lightening the mood and showing that all
  is not bleak, we can learn from this.
• The Kestrel is Billys only source of hope in the
  novel, an outlet from the rest of his life.
• Most of the novel shows a day in Billys life in
  chronological order, but there are a number of
  flashbacks to other scenes that have relevance to
  the story (such as finding the kestrels nest
  with babies in it) and also show Billys active
  imagination.
• The world of the novel is a cruel one and there
  is little sense of hope at the end of the novel.

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Key Characters

• Billy Casper
• Billy is the central character of the novel.
• His life is a dismal one and the novel follows a
  typical day in his life.
• He is not trusted by the shop keeper and this
  sets up the lack of faith anyone has in Billy,
  which explains his behaviour (cheating on him and
  gaining revenge) and the desire to escape the
  world he lives in.
• The theft of the orange juice and the eggs is
  merely because he is hungry and not being looked
  after.
• Billy has a vivid imagination and this comes out
  in many scenes, including his reading of the
  Desperate Dan comic (where he can escape into
  another world) and the assembly.
• He is strong, resourceful and independent.
• He is the knave in the title. Knaves were
  generally thieves, liars and cheeky, all
  characteristics Billy has through necessity to
  survive.
• Physically he is smaller and weaker than the
  other boys, but he has more endurance as shown by
  the cold shower episode.
• Billy is often described as dirty and it seems he
  rarely washes, but this is due to the bad example
  set for him at home.

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• At 15, Billy is about to leave school and is
  expected to work down the mine.
• At school Billy gets most satisfaction from his
  English lessons where he is allowed to use his
  vivid imagination.
• He is intelligent and, when given the chance,
  very skilful (especially with Kes)
• Jud
• Jud is Billys brother.
• He is aggressive, violent both physically and
  verbally not only to Billy, but his mother.
• He uses bad language to Billy and calls him many
  unpleasant names, threatening him with murder
  amongst other unpleasant things.
• He is arrogant, thinking he is Gods gift to
  women.
• His murder of Kes at the end of the novel seems
  to destroy all hope.
• When we first see Jud he is fighting and kicking
  Billy in their bedroom, which shows their poor
  relationship.
• He hates his job, down in the mine, but that is
  where most of the men are expected to work.
• Jud makes fun of Billy for getting a book from
  the library.

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• Mrs Casper
• Billys mother is presented as a pathetic figure.
• She is not much of a mother as the description of
  the house at the start of the novel proves it is
  cold, unwelcoming and there is no food.
• She is a coward and doesnt stand up to her own
  son Jud.
• She treats Billy badly, getting him to run
  errands for her.
• She uses bad language around Billy and even asks
  Billy for a cigarette showing the bad example she
  is.
• She spends ages getting ready for the pub,
  showing her vain side. She is more concerned
  about this than she is about Billy.
• Mr Sugden
• The PE teacher
• A comic figure who is a bully and just a big kid.
• He appears in the comic centrepiece of the novel,
  the games lesson.
• He is unfit and a cheat, a figure of ridicule
  amongst the boys.

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• Mr Gryce
• The headmaster of the school is presented as a
  comic figure. In the assembly his behaviour is
  vindictive and indiscriminate.
• He is made to seem foolish with the description
  of the papers falling off his lectern at the end
  of the assembly.
• In his study he is boring and does not listen to
  the boys, including the one who is just there to
  pass on a message, punishing them all
  indiscriminately.
• He is totally disinterested in caring for the
  youth of his day.
• His violence is shown fully with the caning of
  the boys in this scene and the seeming pleasure
  he gets from it.
• Mr Farthing
• Billys English teacher
• He understands Billy the most and is interested
  in him.
• He has the respect of the class, unlike the other
  teachers we meet.
• He can joke with the class, but has firm
  discipline when required.
• Mr Farthing shows a genuine interest in Billy's
  kestrel and comes to see it at lunchtime.
• He asks intelligent questions, allowing Billy to
  show his knowledge about kestrels.
• When he breaks the fight up in the yard he shows
  he is not to be taken lightly.

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• Key scenes
• The opening of the novel
• Both inside and outside of Billys house is
  presented as dark, cold, grey and miserable. The
  writer uses pathetic fallacy (where the weather
  reflects the mood of the scene) to emphasise how
  miserable life is.
• The assembly
• The whole scene is comic.
• Mr Gryce shouts at the boys and is presented
  comically as an angry figure who loses his temper
  at the slightest thing. He is one of many adults
  in the novel who have no care for the young.
• No one is interested in the prayers or the hymn.
• Billy day dreams about looking after his kestrel,
  showing what is actually relevant to him.
• Billy will be punished for daydreaming in
  assembly, showing the violence in the school
  system at the time.

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• The football match/ games lesson
• The comic centre piece of the novel
• Mr Sugden is a comic character and cant be taken
  too seriously.
• He uses big words but cant explain them.
• He pretends the match is a game between Liverpool
  and Manchester United, showing he is more
  immature than a lot of the boys.
• He bullies Casper and others into playing.
• He is a bad sport when they lose at the end,
  cheats by awarding his own team a penalty,
  scoring it himself and blames anyone but himself
  for their defeat.
• Many of the boys are narrated as stereotypes and
  not their real names to show how discriminating
  games lessons could be e.g. two fat boys
• The boys see through him though, calling him
  names.
• His true vindictive nature comes when he makes
  Billy take a cold shower. The boys find it funny
  at first but soon lose interest and the scene
  ends with Billy as a figure of pity and Sugden as
  an evil fool.

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• Flying Kes
• When Billy flies Kes, he is totally happy.
• It shows his skills as he knows all the technical
  terminology.
• He speaks to Kes gently and is rewarded by a
  positive response from the bird.
• The death of Kes
• This is a cruel twist to the novel and takes away
  all sense of hope.
• It is linked back to the disappearance of Billys
  father and his mothers affair with another man.
• It seems Billy will just be another victim of the
  cruel world he lives in.
• Billy retreats to the cinema which is boarded up
  and closed, showing the decline of the society he
  lives in. it is a dark depressing ending,
  reflecting the life he leads.
• There is a feeling that he will wake up the next
  day and all we be the same as before.

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Kes

• Kes
• Kes symbolises Billys escape from the harsh
  realities of the life he is in.
• It shows he has the ability to look after
  something (something his own mother lacks) and
  when in the right circumstances he is caring,
  mature and resourceful in a positive manner.
• He talks to it gently which is the opposite to
  how most people talk to him.
• Although Billy steals the library book (because
  he is abused by the adults again) he is genuinely
  interested in kestrels and the book will tell him
  how to look after one.
• The natural world
• The novel describes the natural world in detail.
• There is the greyness of the area where Billy
  lives.
• When we see birds and animals the language
  becomes more positive and conveys a sense of
  optimism.
• The scene where Billy find the birds in their
  nest shows the beauty and wonder of nature and
  also of Billys careful and caring side.

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Summary

• The world of the novel is a grim one.
• Billys life is miserable he has nothing to look
  forward to.
• Kes gives him a purpose in life, it is a means of
  escape from the life he leads.
• The adult figures largely dont care about the
  younger characters.
• The description of the scenes reflect the beauty
  of nature when Billy is with Kes and the dark,
  depressing side of nature when Billy is at home.
• The comedy in the novel ridicules most of the
  adult figures, particularly most of the teachers
  and Billy's family.
• Mr Farthing seems to be the only one genuinely
  interested in Billys talents.
• Life will carry on as it always has done after
  the novel ends.