Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)

Texts: “Juno and the Paycock” “I’m Not Scared” (INS)

(JP) by Sean O’Casey by Gabriele Salvatores

Paragraph Comparisons and Contrasts

Introductions

Par. 1: Background  JP depicts human  INS also depicts human

and setting suffering as a result of suffering as a result of
violence. It explores violence.
The theme of
the ways in which .
violence and its
individuals and groups .
destructive influence
can use violence as a .
on societies and
means to an end. .
individuals is
dramatically
presented in both
 JP is set against a  INS is not set against a
texts. Violence can
backdrop of violence backdrop of war but
often be linked to a
and war. there is violence.
society’s political or
social background
and both texts occur
during times of  Ireland was in a period  There was also serious

unrest. JP takes of serious unrest with internal political and

place against the the War of social unrest in Italy in

background of war Independence and the the 1970’s, similar to

and violence. While Civil War. Ireland

INS is different in
that there is no
ongoing war, there is  Unrest came from the
a similarity in that it
was a time of social
unrest for Italy.
Both Johnny in JP
and Pino in INS turn
to violence to
achieve their
different goals.
 Unrest came from the
fact that old comrades fact that criminals from
who were once united in southern Italy terrorised
fighting against the some of the wealthier
British, had turned on families of the North by
each other and engaged kidnapping adults and
in acts of treachery and children and demanding
violence. huge ransoms.

 Johnny Boyle is  Pino Amitrano is

 Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)

motivated by political motivated by providing

idealism. for his family and greed.

 Johnny turns to violence  Pino turns to violence to

in order to achieve his achieve his financial
political ideals. ideals.

 The violence in the play  The violence in the film

comes from military does not come from
action and war. military action or war.

 This violence is a result  The appalling violence

of deprivation, a perpetrated on the
dissatisfaction with the innocent victims, in this
conditions of their lives case Filippo, was often as
and a frustration with horrific as some of the
those running their atrocities of war and
country. included maiming and
. murder, even of young
. children.

 The play depicts the  The film also depicts a

degeneration of a society which is
society into chaos and degenerating into chaos
violence. and violence.

Par. 2: Poverty and  Poverty is a clear  Poverty is a clear feature

Violence feature of life for the of life for the Amitrano
Boyle family. family.
Poverty is a fact of
life for both the
 Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)
Boyle family and the  The family live in a tiny
Amitrano’s. In JP 2 bedroom flat within a
and INS their lack packed tenement
of wealth is initially building in Dublin.
evident through
their homes and
becomes more  The flat is described as
pronounced as both shabby and the
texts progress. The furniture is packed in to
poverty appears to the small space.
fuel the majority of . their poverty.
violence in both of
the texts. In both
JP and INS poverty  The Boyle’s are clearly
makes the struggling for money,
engagement with which Juno complains
violence worse. about early in the play
and there is little food
in the flat.
 Poverty seems to fuel
the engagement with
violence in the play.
However, violence does
not relieve the poverty,
it makes it worse.
 Johnny sees military
action as the only way
to combat poverty and
gain freedom.
 Johnny achieves no
freedom through his
 The family live in a tiny
remote village in southern
Italy where the buildings
are old and run-down.
 The house seems bare
and the basic furnishings
of their home and the
lack of toys highlight
 The Amitrano’s are also
struggling for money. Pino
works far from home to
earn a living and food
does not seem plentiful in
the house.
 Poverty also fuels the
engagement with violence
in INS. Again, the
violence makes the
poverty worse rather
than better.
 Pino sees kidnapping
Filippo as the only way
out of poverty.
.
 Pino achieves no freedom
through his involvement
 Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)

involvement with with violence and the

violence. Rather he ends kidnapping. Rather he
up with an injured hip, ends up accidentally
missing an arm and is shooting his son and being
ultimately executed. arrested.

 There is a belief that  There is also a belief

increased wealth will
bring happiness and
harmony to the family.
that wealth will bring
happiness and harmony.
The frustration of
poverty is a motivating
factor for violence in
both texts.

 Poverty and degradation  Poverty and degradation

fuels much of the fuels much of the
violence but makes it no violence but makes it no
better. better.

Par. 3: Violence and  The violence and  Violence and inhumanity

inhumanity of war is inhumanity of war is are also portrayed in
portrayed vividly portrayed from INS. However, there is a
the beginning of the difference because it is
Throughout JP the
play. not a result of war.
violence and
inhumanity of war is
clearly shown.
 The description of the  Graphic images of the
Johnny himself is a
death of Robbie physical violence inflicted
victim of the
Tancred is graphic in its on Filippo arouse the
violence of war and
horrific detail. (Give same sense of horror and
also inflicts violence
specifics) revulsion as that aroused
on others. There is a
. in JP. However, there is a
key difference
. difference in that the
between JP and INS
. violence is worse in INS
in this respect
. because it is directed
because there is no
. against a vulnerable,
ongoing war in INS.
 Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)

However, there are . innocent child.

many similarities
between the two
texts because  Johnny reacts violently
violence and
inhumanity are also a
key feature of the
world of INS. In
both texts there are
gory descriptions and
images of violence.
Both JP and INS
portray the cruelty
and violence humans
inflict on one  The cruel and vicious
another.
 This is similar to Pino and
to the details of the Anna who react by
death, however Mary’s threatening or slapping
comment that “he’s Michele when he talks
gettin’ very sensitive all about Filippo. Neither
of a sudden’ suggests Johnny, nor Pino and Anna
Johnny was once want to be reminded of
capable of such violence the violent crime they are
himself. involved in.
 The pathetic conditions in
nature of the violence which Filippo is kept
of war is exposed in Act represent extreme
III and we cannot help cruelty. We have a similar
but feel sorry for reaction of sympathy to
Johnny when he is his imprisonment, but
dragged away to his there is a difference in
execution. that Filippo, unlike
. Johnny, is wholly
. innocent.

 Johnny Boyle can be  This is unlike Filippo’s

seen as a misguided
young man caught up in
the violence of civil
unrest and war.
However, Johnny has
willingly placed himself
in an environment of
violence through his
involvement with the
war.
situation as he is simply a
small child who has no
comprehension of what is
happening to him or why.
He does not understand
why he is being kept in
the hole and comes to
accept that he and his
entire family must have
died.
 Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)

 Johnny’s executioners  This is in contrast to INS

may be cold and callous
when they come to take
him away but they at
least show some
element of humanity
when they let him take
his rosary beads to pray
before his death.
where Filippo’s agony is
made worse because his
keeper is the vicious,
sadistic Felice who has
absolutely no humanity
and shows no compassion
for the young boy.
.

 The gory descriptions  This is similar to a key

of Robbie Tancred and moment in INS when
Johnny Boyle’s deaths Michele is accidentally
highlight the vicious shot by his own father.
cruelty that exists in This moment blasts the
the world of the play. viewer with a blinding
. flash of light and a loud
. explosion. It shocks us as
. much, if not more, as
. Robbie and Johnny’s
. deaths.

 The play shows the  The film may not deal

realities of war and
graphically depicts the
physical violence which
humans inflict on
others.
with war, as in JP,
however,like O’Casey’s
play, it does show the
disturbing reality of the
violence humans to do to
each other.

Par. 4: Men resort  Captain Boyle resorts to  This is similar to INS

to violence to threats of violence to where violence is also
establish authority establish his authority seen as a means of
as the head of the asserting authority over
In both JP and INS
 Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)

men use violence as a household. others. Sergio, the

means of
establishing their
authority. We can
see this in INS when
the gang members
struggle for power  Boyle struggles to earn
which often explodes
into violence and Pino
teaches Michele that
being a man beings
being strong and
capable of violence.
However, the best
example of this in
INS is Sergio who
uses violence as a
way to gain control.  Boyle threatens both
This is comparable
to Boyle in JP,
though to a much
lesser extent, who
threatens his son
and daughter with
violence at the end
of the play.
. gangster from Milan, also
. holds a commanding
. position in the film.
 Likewise, Sergio does not
authority any other way appear to garner any
because he neither respect or admiration
provides for the family, from the men of the
nor seems to take any village who work for him.
interest in them. He has to exert his
. authority through
. threats of violence and
. using his gun.
 This is comparable,
his son and his daughter though to a much greater
in the final act of the extent, with Sergio
play. When he hears threatening to cut off
Mary is pregnant we see Filippo’s ears off and
the ugly side to his threatening to shoot
personality when he Felice if he doesn’t carry
explodes with rage, out his orders.
threatening his .
daughter with violence. .

 Although he has  Sergio is different from

provided much of the
comedy in the play up to
this point, Boyle’s true
nature his revealed in
this moment. He
abandons his humanity.
Boyle, in that he has
provided no comic relief
in the film. However, he
also exhibits an
arrogance in his own
power to administer the
punishment of death. He
has the power of life and
 Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)

death over Filippo.

 Likewise, Sergio has no

compassion and little
 Boyle seems incapable
regard for the morality
of showing any
of his actions. He will do
compassion,
anything for money and is
understanding or
an individual who has no
concern for others.
hesitation in resorting to
violence if he feels his
authority is being
challenged.

Par.5: Emotional  Emotional violence is  Emotional violence is also

violence evident in the play, a feature of INS and like
which is born of greed JP there are many
In both JP and INS
and selfishness. examples of emotional
it is not just physical
. cruelty and violence.
violence that has a
lasting and
permanent effect on
 A key moment which  Likewise, there is also a
the characters, it is
highlights the emotional key moment in INS which
also the emotional
violence evident in the highlights the
violence that can be
play is Bentham’s intimidating and violent
witnessed in both
desertion of Mary in behaviour in the film, at
texts. There is a key
her hour of need. the beginning, in Skull’s
similarity in that this
. treatment of his
emotional violence
. companions.
appears to be born
of selfishness and
cruelty in both JP
and INS. Although  Bentham abandoning  Barbara, a young, plump

the forms of Mary and his unborn girl, is ordered by the

emotional violence child may be predictable sadistic Skull to

they endure are very but it is still revolting. indecently expose

different, Juno and Mary has been smitten herself. When she

Mary in JP are with Bentham and she objects she is viciously

similar to Michele trusts him. Bentham’s slapped across the face

 Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)

and Filippo in INS in callousness contributes by Skull. Although the

that they are put
under a huge amount
of emotional
pressure and will
undoubtedly be left
with deep scars.
to Mary’s fate at the tormentor here is only a
end of the play. child, there is
. nevertheless a sense of
. cruelty and emotional
. exploitation.

 Though Bentham does  Skull, on the other hand,

not say anything is more vocal in his
particularly cruel to cruelty. He feels he must
Mary, like Jerry does, give orders and turns
his act of desertion nasty when challenged or
itself is a form of disobeyed. This
emotional cruelty that foreshadows the violence
will undoubtedly leave which will be later seen in
deep scars. the actions of the adults
. in Acqua Traverse.

 There are also other  There is a clear parallel

examples of emotional between this moment in
violence throughout the JP and the ridicule and
play. Joxer takes humiliation of Barbara in
sadistic pleasure in INS. Skull takes a savage
observing the pleasure in embarrassing
embarrassment and her and making her
degradation of his uncomfortable.
supposed friend Boyle. .
He relishes every .
moment of taunting .
Boyle about the will .
which he knows is worth .
nothing. .

 It is the women, Mary  In INS, on the other

and Juno, who are the hand, it is the boys,
 Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)
key victims of emotional
violence in JP. Mary’s
own brother calls for
her to be driven from
the house when he
discovers she is
pregnant and her
former lover Jerry, who
still claims to love her,
cruelly rejects her at
the end of the play.
Likewise, Juno is left
with the torment of a
murdered son and a
failed marriage.
 There is a sense in JP  In both JP and INS
that the inhumanity of
emotional violence can
leave scars as deep as
any inflicted by physical
violence.
Par. 6: The effects  The effects of violence  The power of violence to
of violence on on families and on
families and individuals are apparent
individuals in the play.
(Write your own  The guerrilla tactics of  In the same way as the
introduction to the the Civil War in
paragraph here) O’Casey’s play affects
several families living in
the tenement house.
The Tancreds, the
Mannings and the Boyles
Michele and Filippo who
suffer most emotional
violence. Pino puts huge
emotional pressure on
Michele by telling him
that Filippo will be
murdered if Michele
returns to the hole.
Filippo also has to deal
with a huge level of
emotional trauma which is
particularly evident when
he cries asking Michele
why his parents have not
come to rescue him yet.
emotional violence is
depicted, highlighting a
pettiness of character
which would be laughable
if it were not so
destructive and nasty.
destroy families and
individuals is also a
common theme in INS.
tenement families are
torn apart by the cruel
ambushes and executions,
so the families of Acqua
Traverse in INS are all
affected negatively by
Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)

each lose a son to the violence which they

violence. inflict and tolerate.

 The desperation of the  Likewise, by the end of

mothers left behind INS it is clear the
highlights the destructive role violence
destructive impact has played in the
violence has on families. Amitrano family’s lives.
They are left Their family, as well as
heartbroken, grieving others in the village, has
and like “paupers”. been ripped apart by
. their involvement with
. the kidnapping.

 In JP the family unit is  Unlike Boyle, Pino is a man

kept together through
Juno’s sheer will. Boyle
appears to have no
interest in either his
wife or his children. He
sees the money as a way
to improve his own
quality of life rather
than his family’s lives.
who does love and support
his family and wants to
improve their quality of
life. Unfortunately, he is
prepared to engage in a
horrific act of violence to
achieve this end.
.

 Although the father-son

 Johnny questions what relationship in INS seems
right Boyle has to make quite different from that
any decisions in the in JP, it becomes more
house when he provides strained as the film
nothing and is continues. Michele, like
completely apathetic to Johnny, is forced to
his family. question his father, the
. man he once looked up to,
. when he realises his part
.
Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)

. in Filippo’s kidnapping.

 Whatever respect may  The involvement in a

have existed between violent crime also
Johnny and his father destroys the father-son
at one point, it is clear relationship in INS. Pino’s
it no longer exists. It is threat that he will beat
possible this lack of a Michele “silly” if he
decent father figure is returns to the hole puts a
what motivated Johnny strain on his relationship
to become more with his son, who is
involved in violence. already questioning the
. true nature of the father
. he once loved and
. admired.

 Individual characters in  This is comparable to

the play are also INS where individuals are
profoundly affected by also affected by the
being involved directly violence going on around
in violence. them.

 Juno is a loving mother  Anna Amitrano, like Juno,

who, more than
anything, longs to see
her family stay
together and be happy.
However, the stress she
is under to provide for
her family means she is
rarely allowed the
luxury of relaxing or
enjoying herself.
. the face when he asks if
.
is a loving mother who is
so burdened with
stresses that she tends
to be snappy and
aggressive when problems
disrupt her family. She
becomes angry with the
children when they
wander far from home
and slaps Michele across
Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)

Filippo is dead.

 Johnny’s agitated
nature puts a strain on
 This is very similar to
the entire household
INS where the tension in
and builds tension
the household is obvious
amongst the Boyle
in many scenes and grows
family. (Examples?)
in intensity throughout
the film. (Examples?)

 The indifference to
suffering and violence in
 Likewise in INS, the gang
the play is shown clearly
members have lost sight
when Bentham remarks
of the fact that it is a
that “The only way to
small child they are
deal with a mad dog is
tormenting. They are
to destroy him”. Men
cruel and careless in
have become
their treatment of
desensitised by
Filippo.
violence.
.
.

 Mrs. Tancred and Mrs.

Boyle in JP are innocent
 This is a very similar
victims of violence. Both
situation to INS where
of their sons end up
Filippo’s family are also
murdered and they are
innocent victims of the
the ones left behind to
violence of others. The
pick up the pieces.
effects of the threat of
.
such violence on their
.
family will undoubtedly be
.
felt for the rest of their
lives.

 The individuals and

families in JP are
 As in JP, the families of
seriously affected by
the main characters in
violence.
Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)

INS are affected, if not

destroyed, by violence.
 Johnny is taken away by
cruel, callous men who
are indifferent to his
 Pino shoots Michele by
desperate cries for
accident and almost loses
mercy. Johnny is
the son he loves. In that
offered one cruel
moment he realises his
comfort when he is
family are more
allowed to bring his
important to him than the
rosary beads with him
wealth he foolishly tried
to his place of
to acquire. His
execution.
engagement in a violent
.
crime brings about the
destruction of the family
unit.
 However, despite this
moment of humanity,
the general message is
 This is similar to INS
that violence
where Michele’s family,
dehumanises those who
like all the other families
are in daily contact with
in Acqua Traverse who
it and who see it as a
were involved, are torn
means to a desired end.
apart.

 By the end of the play

Mary and Juno face a
future without any male  This deprivation of a
support. husband and a father is
mirrored in INS where
families will have to fend
for themselves without
husbands or fathers.

 The violence of war and

the violence of the
Comparative Studies – Theme (Violence)

criminal world leave

families fractured and
damaged in both of these
comparative texts.