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.