Thursday 12 January 2012

Billy Elliot.

The main character in the book is rather obvious - Billy Elliot, also the title of the book. Billy Elliot is a boy at the age of around 12, who lives in Northern England with his dad Jackie, his elder brother Tony and his grandma who he calls "nan". His mum died when he was around 10, and it is very obvious that he is still grieving over their loss. His dad and brother are both involved in the mining strike in the 1980's, and they all live in a lower class society.

Billy's dad forces Billy to take boxing classes, just like he did, and his dad did before him, but Billy doesn't want to. He gets fascinated by the ballet class rehearsing next to the boxing ring, and he starts to take ballet lessons instead of boxing classes without telling his dad. I'm only half way into the book, but his dad has already discovered Billy's secret, and he bans Billy from rehearsing ballet. From now on, he is banned from both boxing and ballet.

I can't identify myself with Billy, because I've always had the support from my family to do the activities that I want to do. Billy's dad and brother are not supportive of his choices, only his nan. This saddens Billy, but in the end, he follows his heart instead of his family's wishes.

Well, this sounds more like a summery of the book, but since the book is called Billy Elliot, and the whole book evolves around him, I couldn't really do it in another way.

Here's two trailers for Billy Elliot, the first one from the musical, and the second from the movie:

4 comments:

  1. "I couldn't really do it in another way" - you'll have to in the analysis, though (just to give you a heads up!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I still haven't decided if I'm going to write a report or an analysis (most likely an analysis, though), but when I have, I'll do my utmost to make the part about the main character shortened and better. What I'm writing on this blog is not what I'll be writing in the analysis, but I get your point!

      Delete
  2. Well, now I just want to catch the first plane to London and watch the musical...

    ReplyDelete