A Kestrel For A Knave

Mr. Sugden is a caricature of the correlation between toxic masculinity and sports in Billy’s world. He takes to the field wearing a brand new, official uniform of professional football club Manchester United. A grown man competing against children, he knowingly stacks the odds in his favor and refuses to let the game end on a draw, even if it means depriving his pupils of their lunch time. He is immediately hostile toward Billy due to the boy’s small size, disinterest in football, and lack of the appropriate gear. Out on the field, he criticizes boys for not knowing the names and colors of professional teams and implies that this knowledge is a mark of maturity or masculinity. In the repressive environment of Billy’s school, football is a metaphor for conformity. Sugden isn’t interested in teaching the boys under his care or instilling good sportsmanship in them—he wants to win for his own personal satisfaction. When Billy throws the game by allowing a goal in, Sugden flies into a rage. He strikes Billy and forces him into an ice-cold shower. This abuse illustrates The Dangers of Equating Vulnerability With Weakness, as Sugden’s fear of vulnerability is so great that he bullies children to prove his masculine dominance. 

When a dog invades the pitch, Billy demonstrates a form of courage that does not depend on force. Mr. Sugden is manifestly afraid of the large dog and instructs Billy to fetch some cricket bats, intending to have the boys beat the animal until it runs away. Billy instead pets the dog and gently coaxes it off the field. Billy’s method is direct, caring, and effective, requiring both courage and compassion. These are the same traits that underpin his relationship with Kes. When he returns home to fly Kes, Mr. Farthing turns up to watch him. Billy is able to perform incredible feats with Kes, showing an amazing mastery and bond with the kestrel—one built not on dominance but on mutual trust. Mr. Farthing is spellbound.

[Kes] came, head first, wings closed, swooping down, hurtling down towards Billy, who waited, then lured her—WOOSH—up, throwing up, ringing up, turning; and as she stooped again Billy twirled the lure and threw it high into her path. She caught it, and clutched it down to the ground. 

He allowed her to take the remaining beef scrap from the lure, then took her up and attached the swivel and leash. She looked up sharply at a series of claps. Mr. Farthing was applauding softly (124-25).

Later, when they discuss the beauty of kestrels, Billy is able to articulate and express himself in a way above and beyond what he is usually capable of—he is even more eloquent, knowledgeable, and insightful than many of the adult characters. This is the best version of Billy, and it is thanks to his close bond with Kes and Nature as an Escape from the stultifying reality of the mining town.

Reality, as always in this narrative, returns with a vengeance. After neglecting to place a bet for Jud, Billy is shocked and terrified to see his elder brother turn up at his school searching for him. This distresses him to the point that a teacher takes notice. Though Billy evades Jud for the moment, he is immediately reminded of The Difficulty of Escaping Class Oppression when he is sent to a career guidance meeting. The counselor seems to be bored, uninterested in coaxing information out of Billy as Mr. Farthing does. The pit as a source of employment hangs implicitly over the entire conversation, but when the counselor brings it up, Billy states twice that he refuses to go down there. Still, he can’t think of any alternative paths, nor does the counselor suggest any. This is not merely a failure of imagination, but evidence of a system designed to deprive working-class people of hope for a better life. When he is asked if he has any hobbies, Billy senses that the school—as represented by this counselor—is not interested in what matters to him, and he neglects to tell the counselor about Kes. The counselor, incurious, simply hands Billy a pamphlet and sends him away, but the pamphlet displays a middle-class boy, making clear it is not meant for someone like Billy.