Danny

The play ‘Brother in the Land’ revolves around the conditions viewed through the eyes of Danny, a fifteen year old boy settled in the town of Skipley. As the play progresses, he begins valuing his family: his younger brother Ben, and parents Richard and Mary.

Before the nuclear attack struck the town of Skipley, Danny was a typical teenager, criticizing life at school, irritated by his younger brother. However, he soon begins giving significance to his family after coming back home to have discovered that he had lost his mother, and his father and brother were hiding in the cellars. He develops further maturity as his father, too, is demised be Rhodes. He assumes the role of Ben’s guardian and fulfills all his responsibilities of providing food and shelter.

He was courageous and actively participated in the ambush despite knowing that it might cost him his life. This taught him determination and learning to be organized and well planned in disastrous situations. He soon reveals his dramatic traits along with his present mindedness. He never exposed the secrets of the MASADA to the Civil Defence Team. This also shows his loyalty along with the fact that he is ingenious and diplomatic and possesses a persuasive speech. We can also appreciate his ability to observe things as he memorized the map of Kershaw’s Farm without which the ambush would have been unsuccessful.

At the same time, he is a forgiving and merciful boy who not only saved Chris when Kim was about to kill him but also saved Sophie’s father from getting killed by Charlie during badger hunting. This shows that despite the fact that people were being pushed to desperate measures during devastating times, he did not lose his composure to a wil extent. Shyness and meekness are one of the attributes of Danny’s personality which can be proved when he could not ask Kim out and could not express his feelings towards her which shows that he has a composed personality .He has an affection for Kim as he comforted her when she was depressed by the thought that they would never   be rescued. This shows his ability to comfort people and be empathetic without letting their spirits lie loose.

Thus, Danny managed to handle adverse situations in a very mature and tactful manner. He is portrayed as a Shadow Man later in the play to comment on the mistakes made by people in history and the dreadful conditions they  had to live through because of their own flaws.

Kim

Feisty and confident, Kim was a significant character in the play script. She dominates the frontline of the story alongside Danny.Aged fifteen years old, she was Maureen’s sister and resided in the town of Skipley. She was a friend of Danny although before the catastrophe struck the town, they were by no means close.

After the nuclear bomb had struck and caused havoc, the people who had managed to stay alive were determined to remain so. Kim, also, was the exception to this. She got into a fight with Chris over a bag of food. Chris fought aggressively but Kim attacked him back just as strongly. She refused to back down. Despite her young age, she acted sensibly as the storyline progressed and joined MASADA, in order to ensure her survival and stand up against the Civil Defense Team in this adverse situation. She also took part in the attempt to ambush the CDT. Once she had made this decision, she valiantly refused to listen to Danny’s pleas of asking her to stay back. She was headstrong and no one, not even Danny, someone she developed feelings for, could change her mind. Kim proved to be incredibly brave on numerous occasions. She claimed that she would rather die fighting than do nothing at all. She also showed her confidence and straightforwardness by asking Danny to ask her out. Danny claimed Kim was a fighter and a survivor. She proved her kindness by offering Ben her bowl of food immediately after the nuclear attack, even though she herself was hungry.

Throughout the play script, Kim observes and analyses situations very accurately and bluntly. She is fully capable of drawing realistic conclusions. A proof to her far sightedness was her reaction to her sister getting married and having a baby. She could foresee what the others chose to ignore; that the baby could be born with disabilities and abnormalities. Similarly, when Danny was optimistic about Thiery and the Swiss Team’s visit and believed the members of the MASADA were going to be rescued, Kim instead was realistic, perhaps even a tad bit pessimistic, and analyzed Thiery’s words very carefully. She is not one to beat around the bush and always voices her opinions vehemently. She never failed to state things the way she perceived them.

Kim is one of the strongest and most intricately designed characters. She proved to be a survivor and did not let the nuclear blast take the fire out of her strong person.

Rhodes

Perhaps the most dominant character in the play “Brother in the Land” is Rhodes. His confidence and independence during such a crucial period serve as his prominent traits while most were subject to trauma. His character is a melting pot of flaws which Swindells has left up to us to justify as Danny’s dialogues continue to paint a  negative picture of this supposedly ‘sadistic man’.
Rhodes is introduced to us as a mean and cruel personality while he addresses the children regarding the security measures to be taken in case of a nuclear attack that was bound to come in a highly pessimistic manner. Initially, we find this demoralizing for children when he says;
“You won’t be so happy when the authorities come to pick up
your dead relatives or what is left of them…”
Later, however, we realize that at such a crucial time children have to act maturely to cope up with the rest. Therefore, the painful reality would prove to be more beneficial than lying to them as they would be mentally prepared at times of need.
He is soon recognized to be brutal and inhumane with no concern for the human race. Danny even labels him as a man who is fond of war and relishes each and every minute of it by killing people like his father and, later, Ben. We have to accept the fact that desperate times call for desperate measures. He was relying on his own strength as he realized the gravity of the apocalyptic situation he was living in. He was well aware of the fact that it was the survival of the fittest. This shows his far sightedness. For this reason, he joins the MASADA to make survival easier for himself rather than serving mankind. He later betrays it and hides the stolen food in the cellar. Some might call him selfish for not sharing food with Danny, Kim and Ben but he was just trying to save up food for himself by trying to act as if he owned it. He knew he would need it as he saw difficult times lie ahead of them.
Rhodes can also be seen as a sharp-minded and clever figure that had a hand at planning ambushes which is possible as he is bossy and authoritative by nature. However, he never appreciated Danny’s efforts of memorizing the map of Kershaw’s Farm when he was kidnapped. Without him, the success of the siege operation was impossible.
Despite being portrayed as a negative sided man we must agree to the fact that the play would not have been to grasping in his absence. He is portrayed as a theme of the play which Robert Swindells has emphasized on: one must fight evil to prevail well and evil is hidden almost everywhere.  

Shadow Man's Dialogues

 "Panging hunger and aching hearts measure these long and desolate hours.

A cold and desolate destination.

Unknown. Uncertain. This dry and hardened heart,

Starved of love, starved of hope.

In search of consolation. "

                      "Waking up to a happy ending, that was our dream.

The dream that brought us here,

Stripped of all hope and glory.

Here. A tainted world that should

Only exist in the realm of story"

These speeches made by the Shadow Man differ from all those made by him at other instances. While they talk about the conditions in which people lived after the nuclear attack, these monologues talk about their feelings. Any man could talk about what they saw around themselves but an emotionally disturbed person cannot talk about how he had been robbed of all hope for a better future. The people of Skipley were undergoing traumatic situations. They could not go on expressing how hopeless they feel. However, Swindells thought it mandatory to mention the low spirits of the people. For this reason, he makes the reader view the depressed souls through the dialogues of the Shadow Man.

Summary

I have written the summary of the the play script below. For those with exams approaching...hope it helps!!!

This play revolves around a theme: survival of the fittest. We see this through the life of a teenage boy Danny who is devastated as everyone around him is losing lives as he too  ds his family farewell. It all starts of with a nuclear attack on the town of Skipley. The citizens turn to the Civil Defence Team working at Kershaw's farm. The team becomes selfish in times of need and poisons all the ill people. They also announce that all fit men must work at Kershaw's farm to earn bread and water along with medication and other basic facilites. Disgusted by the treatment of the Civil Defence team, a few people get together to work for the welfare of the people through a force called the MASADA. THe play progresses as the characters grow, some independant, and some desperate. Evil unleashes itself before everyone without fear of accountablilty. MASADA successfully disarms the CDT and see the harsh treatment being given to the people there. Soon after, however, the Swiss army arrives to control the area. Danny along with his brother(the only family he has left) go in search of food along with their friend Kim, a member of MASADA. They find food and later come to know that a Rhodes, a traitor of the MASADA, owned it. While he threatened to kill Danny, Ben chivalrously took the bullet to save his brother. So as Danny lost his parents in the nuclear attack like many others, he lost his younger brother who sacrificed his life for him. He is later seen in the play as the teacher: the Shadow Man. He had seen history in its painful form and wanted the future generations to learn from the mistakes and sacrifices that people had to make. One example was Ben: his brother in the land

 

I have another mindmap for the character of Kim. Hope it helps!!!

Mind Maps

Now we'll be focusing on the various characters in the play, the lead role belonging to Danny. Below is a mind map of his character sketch. Read it and try to write your own character sketch. I'll be posting one soon enough!