A Kestrel For A Knave

Class oppression is a significant factor in A Kestrel for a Knave. Before the book opens, an epigraph from The Book of Saint Albans—a 15th-century manuscript, lists birds and the social classes that they correspond to, with the lowest being “a kestrel for a knave.” In the 15th century, when The Book of Saint Albans was written, a knave was a male servant or peasant. Later, the word came to refer to an untrustworthy or dishonest person, regardless of class. This shift in meaning hints at the class prejudices that hinder Billy’s prospects, as his working-class status leads others to view him as untrustworthy. Billy’s unnamed hometown exists for the sole purpose of supporting the mining operation. The young men are referred to as “pit fodder” and broadly expected to leave school at 15 to take up mining work. Billy is repeatedly told throughout the book that he will be heading down the mines in a few short weeks, a fate he rejects. However, when he is asked what else he would do, he can’t think of anything. Due to his class position, prospects beyond working in the pits aren’t available or even visible to him, and there are few people willing to show him new possibilities. In the novel’s early pages, Mr. Porter’s disparaging attitude toward Billy makes clear that stereotypes of untrustworthiness make it difficult for boys from Billy’s class to find employment, leaving the mine as the only option available to many of them.

Every environment Billy enters reinforces the inevitability of this fate, including his education. The school is shown to be an oppressive and miserable place overseen by disinterested teachers who actively resent their students. Principal Gryce rants at Billy and several other boys when he brings them to his office, where he explicitly tells them that they have no prospects or future, framing them as useless: “They took it then, but not now, not in this day of the common man, when every boy quotes his rights, and shoots off home for his father as soon as I look at him…No backbone…you’ve nothing to commend you whatsoever. You’re just fodder for the mass media!” (61). Principal Gryce’s attitude reflects that of nearly every adult in Billy’s life: He has no interest in the boys’ needs or individuality and cares only that they obey and do what is expected of them without complaint. This widespread class prejudice restricts the children’s opportunities and prevents them from realizing their innate potential. Mr. Farthing, the English teacher, is an exception. He tries to nurture Billy’s potential and shows a unique care for the students, but he’s presented as a broadly ineffectual force against an overwhelming tide of factors otherwise restricting the children.

The class oppression that begins with oppressive institutions is felt at home, where family members are often similarly disillusioned, overwhelmed, and—unlike the children—old enough to be set in their ways. Jud, Billy’s older brother, is a snapshot of Billy’s potential future. He works in the mines, rising early every day to work. He is an aggressive, brutish, and emotionally stunted person frustrated with his life. The only solace he can find is in drinking himself to the point of blackout every Saturday night. He is a habitual gambler, with the potential for quick money being one of the only sources hope in his life. When Billy fails to place a bet for Jud on horses that later win, Jud flies into a rage, seeking Billy out at school for retribution before later killing Kes.

After losing the only escape from his grim reality, Billy flees the house. He briefly imagines a heroic version of himself with Kes on his arm in front of a cheering crowd, but when this dream passes, he returns home to his restrictive life and buries his bird, implicitly alongside his hopes. He gets back into the same bed he began the novel in, thus turning the narrative into an allegory for the inescapable nature of poverty and working-class life. Billy begins and ends the book in the same bed as Jud, symbolizing they inevitable fate he shares with his older brother.