[lit-ideas] A Kestrel for a Knave
- From: "Luigi Speranza" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender "jlsperanza" for DMARC)
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 16 May 2016 11:58:58 -0400
Or is it Hughesiana?
Sent from my iPhone
On May 16, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Lawrence Helm <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I subsequently planted several trees frequented by all sorts of birds which I
can also see out my study windows. I took some photos out one a few months
back of a hawk ripping something apart and eating it -- looking as
malevolent the while as I've seen anything look -- made me think of Ted
Hughes and suspect him once again of bad behavior -- not like your llama (and
my hawk) -- also he never had wild life in England to approach what we have
here in the west -
Yet, Yorkshire, where Hughes hailed from, is rich in wild life. There's this
classic film, "Kes" (based on a novella, A kestrel for a knave, by a
Barnsley-born author), which may invite the Hughesian implicature.
Outside cadging money and daydreaming at school, the protagonist Billy has no
positive interests.
His greatest fear is ending up working down the pit as a coal miner, but he has
no apparent escape route until he finds an outlet through training a kestrel
that he takes from a nest on a farm.
His interest in learning falconry prompts Billy to steal a book on the subject
from a secondhand book shop, as he is underage and needs – but lies about the
reasons he cannot obtain – adult authorization for a borrower's card from the
public library.
As the relationship between Billy and "Kes", the kestrel, improves during the
training, so does Billy's outlook and horizons.
For the first time in the film, Billy receives praise, from his English teacher
after delivering an impromptu talk on his relationship with the bird.
Jud leaves money and instructions for Billy to place a bet on two horses, but,
after consulting a bettor who tells him the horses are unlikely to win, Billy
spends the money on fish and chips and on meat for his bird.
However, the horses do win (meaning Jud would have won over £10 if Billy had
placed the bet).
Furious at Billy and unable to find him, Jud takes revenge by killing his
kestrel, whose body Billy retrieves from the waste bin.
After showing the kestrel to Jud and his mother, in grief and rage, Billy
buries his kestrel on the hillside overlooking the field where he'd flown.
Speranza.
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