I wish I was our Sammy Blood Brothers by Willy Russell. Teaching notes

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Lynne Hoover
7 years ago
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1 Teaching notes The following notes offer some suggestions for how students might respond to the questions on the student sheets. NB page references are taken from the Bloomsbury (1995) edition of the text. Task one Our Sammy s nearly ten. He s got two worms and a catapult An he s built a underground den. But I m not allowed to go in there, I have to stay near the gate, Cos me Mam says I m only seven, But I m not, I m nearly eight! I sometimes hate our Sammy, He robbed me toy car y know, Now the wheels are missin an the top s broke off, An the bleedin thing won t go. An he said when he took it, it was just like that, But it wasn t, it was dead straight. But y can t say nott n when they think y seven, An y not, y nearly eight. Y wanna see him spit, Straight in y eye from twenty yards An every time a hit. He s allowed to play with matches, And he goes to bed dead late, And I have to go at seven, Even though I m nearly eight. He draws nudey women, Without arms, or legs, or even heads In the baths, when he goes swimmin. But I m not allowed to go to the baths, Me Mam says I have to wait, Cos I might get drowned, cos I m only seven, But I m not, I m nearly eight. Y know what he sometimes does? He wees straight through the letter box Of the house next door to us. I tried to do it one night, But I had to stand on a crate, Cos I couldn t reach the letter box, but I will by the time I m eight Page 1 of 5

2 Task two What Sammy does p.32 - encourages the gang of kids to laugh at Mickey. Mickey is very upset: LINDA: I hate them! Mickey s reaction LINDA notices MICKEY quietly crying. (p.33) p.33 - steals from Linda s house. LINDA (undaunted, approaching Sammy): I ll tell my mother why all her ciggies always disappear when you re in our house An the half crowns. pp on the bus When the conductor refuses to give him a child s fare he produces a knife. Mickey is concerned: MICKEY: (worried): Sammy Mickey tries to fix the situation: He didn t mean it, Mister. Don t be soft. He, he was jokin. Sammy tell him, tell him you re really sixteen. I ll lend you the rest of the fare Mickey tries to calm him down: Sammy, Sammy put that away it s still not too late. (To the CONDUCTOR.) Is it Mister? pp the robbery. Sammy plans the robbery. He doesn t intend to use the gun but ends up shooting someone. He emotionally blackmails Mickey: SAMMY: What have y got? Nothin like me Mam. With a baby on the way and no job, Mickey feels he has no choice. Being caught and convicted for the crime is the beginning of Mickey s depression. MRS JOHNSTONE: The jury found him guilty Sent him down for seven years, It seems like jail s sent him off the rails, His mind s gone dancing Can t stop dancing Page 2 of 5

3 Task three When does Mickey stop wanting to be like Sammy? Why? By the time the gang are getting closer to being teenagers, the gap between Mickey and Sammy has widened and Sammy sees Mickey as a little kid. Sammy humiliates Mickey in front of the gang and this pushes the divide further. As they grow up what are the major differences between Mickey and Sammy? The choices Sammy makes are quite deliberate. He chooses to try to take things from other people; he weighs up the risks and decides it s worth taking. Mickey seems to try to protect Sammy or fix situations he has created. With the robbery he feels that he has no choice but to help his brother. Consider the question of a tight knit family and misplaced family loyalty. How do you think class affects their decisions? Do you feel any sympathy for the wrong choices Mickey and Sammy make? Ultimately having nothing and having no prospect or chance of changing that drives the characters to make some bad choices Page 3 of 5

4 Task one Highlight all the things that Sammy owns that Mickey is jealous of in one colour, and all the things that Sammy has done that Mickey respects in another colour. Our Sammy s nearly ten. He s got two worms and a catapult An he s built a underground den. But I m not allowed to go in there, I have to stay near the gate, Cos me Mam says I m only seven, But I m not, I m nearly eight! I sometimes hate our Sammy, He robbed me toy car y know, Now the wheels are missin an the top s broke off, An the bleedin thing won t go. An he said when he took it, it was just like that, But it wasn t, it was dead straight. But y can t say nott n when they think y seven, An y not, y nearly eight. Y wanna see him spit, Straight in y eye from twenty yards An every time a hit. He s allowed to play with matches, And he goes to bed dead late, And I have to go at seven, Even though I m nearly eight. He draws nudey women, Without arms, or legs, or even heads In the baths, when he goes swimmin. But I m not allowed to go to the baths, Me Mam says I have to wait, Cos I might get drowned, cos I m only seven, But I m not, I m nearly eight. Y know what he sometimes does? He wees straight through the letter box Of the house next door to us. I tried to do it one night, But I had to stand on a crate, Cos I couldn t reach the letter box, but I will by the time I m eight Page 4 of 5

5 Task two Make a table as shown below, and list some of the other significant things Sammy does in the play and where relevant, how Mickey reacts to them. You might like to look at pages 32, 33, and to start with. What Sammy does Mickey s reaction Task three 1. When does Mickey stop wanting to be like Sammy? Why? 2. As they grow up what are the major differences between Mickey and Sammy? 3. How do you think class affects their decisions? 4. Do you feel any sympathy for the wrong choices Mickey and Sammy make? Page 5 of 5

1 I... swim well when I was very young. A can B could C knew. 3 What... on Sundays? A does Mary usually do B does Mary usually

Test 2A 1 I... swim well when I was very young. A can B could C knew 2 When I got... I had a bath. A home B at home C to home 3 What... on Sundays? A does Mary usually do B does Mary usually C usually