Discuss the role of the Narrator and how he is important to the play “Blood Brothers” (Willy Russell)?

GCSE: English Literature

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The Narrator is one of the main characters; some would say the main character in the play “Blood Brothers”. His words open and close the play. He is an enigmatic figure and he has many different roles in the play. He appears dressed very formally in a suit, with a red carnation on his lapel. Why is he dressed like this? Maybe it’s a way of showing the audience that he is important and so we should listen to what he has to say? Maybe it’s a way of setting him off from all the other characters so we know he is different? Maybe it creates a bit of a mystery around him so we are a bit frightened and in awe of him. He speaks in local dialect (“An’ did y’ never …”) and in the opening speech, he sounds like he wants us to trust him and see him as a friend. On the other hand, he does not seem like the other characters and he always speaks in rhyming couplets, as a way of setting him apart.

One of the Narrator’s roles is a host or compere to the show. Maybe this is another reason why he wears a suit? He introduces the play and its main character (Mrs Johnstone) and he tells us what we are going to see (the story of the Johnstone twins). He appears at all the main moments in the play to comment on what has just happened or to sing a song about it. In fact, we come to realise that whenever the Narrator comes on stage, something significant has just happened or is about to happen. For example, he appears when Mrs Lyons and Mrs Johnstone make their pact on the Bible; he appears when Mrs Lyons predicts the twins’ death on the day they find out who they are; he appears when Mrs Lyons finds out about Edward’s locket: the list goes on! Like a host, he is “helping” us to follow the key events and main incidents in the story.
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