12/21/21, 9:51 PM "The Brother in the Land" All Acts/Scenes Summary - NormalBeaconite - The student blog

like the nuclear bomb (if you read "What the Author Says" on Page 5 of the playscript, O-Level Geography Maps & Maj

you will get the same idea in detail).

Processes

 Sohaib Bazaz  Sept 28, 202

I spend hours and hours writing these summaries just for the help of students. If you would subscribe 4 Marks Questions Cheatsheet

to my channel and turn on notifications, that'd be great. Section 3 - History (O-Level

Pakistan Studies 2059)

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 Sohaib Bazaz  Sept 26, 202

ACT I:
Followers
Scene 1: 
The scene takes place in a shop belonging to the Lodge family in the town of
Skipley,
consisting of Danny Lodge, Ben (his little brother), Mary (his mother)
and Richard (his father).

 The shop is a general store

(selling normal household items) and at the time there is a threat by the
Russians that they will drop nuclear bombs on the area (there is only a threat;
the characters are not
expecting it at all). When the scene starts, Danny is
narrating his life story, and it is clear it is not a 403.
happy story (something
bad WILL happen). A friend of Mary, Mrs. Troy is with her son, Craig (same age
is Ben, 5 years old) and they are discussing the prices. This shows that the
prices are rising due to the
threat and that people are ready to stack up food
items for a long time, and the shop owners are
taking advantage. The Government
is also recommending stacking up food and Mrs. Troy asks for big
bottles of
water. But the shop is out of them and Mary reassures her that there will be no
bombing.
Then Danny
comes in with a broken Game Boy, and in this scene we know he dislikes his
brother and
considers him a nuisance, and right now he doesn’t appreciate
him.  Then the women talk about Old
Kershaw’s Farm, which shows that they
have already started suspicion of each other and the actions
of the Government,
and they are scared inside. When Mrs. Troy leaves, Mary and Richard talk. The
conversation shows that they are stashing the big bottles for themselves, and
have already started the
“survival of the fittest” in which the best supplied
man survives. Danny continues introducing
everyone. He shows his hatred for
Skipley and he doesn’t appreciate it at all.

 Scene 2:
The scene takes place in the school
where Mr. Rhodes (the PE teacher) is giving a
presentation on how to survive if
the bombing ACTUALLY happens and the seminar is called
"Protect and
Survive".

 Danny’s hatred for Rhodes is

already mentioned in the previous Scene. Rhodes tells the audience
about some
drills and how to survive (setting up camp, waiting for help, supplies,
shelters, radiation
sickness, etc). He emphasizes on the Warning Sirens. The
students are not taking the assembly serious
at all. They are laughing and
making cat-calls. This shows they do not believe the threat and try to
show it
makes no difference to them. But Rhodes puts them down by telling them the
deathly
consequences, and the audience calms down, but they are still unaware
the catastrophe and the
sadness of death and despair and are still not serious.

Scene 3:
The scene takes place in the school
break where the students are still making fun of the
assembly and normal life
is going on.

 The students are still making fun

of the assembly and don’t care about the bomb threat. Sophie (a
friend of Danny) invites Danny to a birthday party and
not Andrew. This shows that life for most of the
people is going as per usual routine
and they don’t worry about the future, they are only living in the
present. 

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Scene 4: Kershaw’s
Farm. The rumors of Mary and Mrs. Troy are true. A Civil Defense Team has
been
set up (“Civil Defense Team” protects civilians from natural and other
disasters).

 The setup of the CDS (Civil Defense Team) shows

that the bombs are a serious matter and the mass
(the people) is unaware of the
private matters. A serious lecture is taking place between the army
members on
how to survive radiation, how to get supplies, how to come outside, etc, by Renton (the
medical officer). Weirdly,
the CDS only keeps these demonstrations to themselves. If they had wanted
the
rest of the town to survive, wouldn’t they have told the people? This shows
they only want to
survive themselves and don’t care about the other people if
they survive or not. This conversation
goes on until suddenly the lights go out
and a siren (Warning Siren)
goes out and it is clear the bombs
are on their way. 

ACT II:

                      
 (Before the scene starts) Danny
had been staying in school that day in detention. He
had been the last to leave
school (as he had been delayed). On his way home, it starts raining
heavily so
he takes refuge (protection) in a small shelter (place where you can take
refuge during
the bomb attack) near Kershaw’s Farm. Then the nuclear bombs
fall. He is very scared and
sleeps (due to fatigue). When he wakes up he sees
the glow of the warning sirens and alarms on
the hill. He sleeps again and
after waking he suspects that he has radiation sickness.

 Scene
1: Danny is
up and makes his way home. All around him he sees destruction. In the book,
it
says that “he cleans his body with his sweatshirt” according to the speech of
Mr Rhodes in the
assembly. This means that during the assembly he was
non-serious, and now he has to face that
situation, and act accordingly.

Danny is walking on the street towards his home. The

bombs have destroyed everything. The people
who made it to the shelters have
survived. Danny sees Andrew’s father, Mr Bukowsky, who has gone
mad. Here the
definition of spacer
is implied (a
spacer is a person who has gone mad after the
bombs).

Scene
2: Danny has reached his home and tries to
find his parents and family. It turns out that
he feels they are the only
people he wants to see the most right now. He goes into the cellar and
sees Ben
sleeping. Then his father comes, and tries to kill him (he doesn’t know it is
Danny).

 His father finds out that it is Danny and

embraces (hugs) him. Then Danny tells him what happened
to him (already
explained). Danny finds
out that his mother has died and he first he ignores it as if he
didn’t care.
Then he goes into denial
(denying
something that has happened to you) because he
realizes he cannot survive
without her. Then he finally lets go and accepts the sorrow and lets it
overtake him.

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Scene 3:
The Civil Defense Team is still in the
bunker and is in shock and panic of the bomb.

Councillor
Walker (a woman) is
in denial of the bombs and is crying. Frank Finch (the Commissioner;
highest ranked amongst the CDT) tells her that the bombs have actually
happened. We find out that
even the CDT was completely unprepared and unaware
of the bombing. Various sergeants
(Lightfowler, Stroud and Laycock)
are talking to each other and it shows that they are planning
something
selfish.

Scene 4:
The survivors of Skipley have gathered
to get supplies from a camp set up by the
Civil Defense Team. Danny and Andrew
are waiting in a line at the community well for water.

Danny and
Andrew talk to each other about their fathers. Andrews’ father (Mr. Bukowsky)
has lost his
mind due to shock and has become a spacer. This may have
happened because he lost more than only
his wife unlike Danny’s father. Then a
new character, Kim, is introduced. In this scene, we find out
Kim's character traits:

·        
She
is fearless and brave.
·        
She
is cunning and clever.
·        
She
does anything to survive.
·        
She
is very serious.
·        
She
is not afraid to kill.
·        
She
is very strong and fast.

Kim has some

food in a sack and is running from two of her old schoolmates, Chris and
Tracey. There
is a fight where Kim wins and Danny takes her away, but Kim stops
and tries to kill Chris. Danny stops
her as he doesn’t want violence. This
shows that Danny still doesn’t know the realities of life, like the
plans of
Civil Defense Team, and that people have started killing each other for food,
etc. We see that
he is still innocent and immature when he reveals to Kim that
he has a shop and has stored food.

Scene 5:  The Civil Defense Team is holding their first public

official announcement in front of the residents of Skipley.

Sergeant Stroud is making the announcement. We find out that the CDT has made their headquarters
and civil hospital at Kershaw's Farm. He announces help for injured citizens and the people are really
happy.

Scene 6:  The scene starts at the hospital of Kershaw's Farm (it is called Medical
"Wing" because it is part of their headquarters now).

Renton is addressing a group of

survivors. Andrew approaches him and asks him for help for his father,
who is a
spacer.
Renton refers to Mr. Bukowsy's injury as serious and Andrews' as unserious.
Meanwhile Commissioner Finch and Councillor Walker had been talking in the
background. They
move into focus and we see what they say. When Finch refers to
"as strong as you or I" and the
following sentences suggest they both
have an evil plan in mind that is "rather drastic (very
unexpected/extreme)" which the
others don't know about. And furthermore, after the rest of the
sergeants
enter, Finch changes the subject as he doesn't want the rest of them to know.
The sergeants
bring forward news of MASADA (Movement
to Arm Skipley Against Dictatorial Authority) which is a
resistance (rebels). Renton reports about the number of sick and injured which is 35. Finch argues that
the limit had been set to 20. There are no medical supplies in the camp of the CDT and Renton argues
that he cannot heal the people without supplies. Then Finch says that "he will take care of the
situation..." If a doctor cannot heal people without supplies, what will a normal Commissioner do?
Then we find out that he takes two soldiers with him and kills the injured people. In the end of the

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scene, the medical sign turns red as a sign that instead of helping people, the CDT is killing them. From
here we know the evils plans of the CDT.

Scene 7:  The Civil Defense Team has set up food rations (supplies) for the citizens.
The characters are standing in a line for the able-bodied citizens; the rest of the
people (spacers, injured, sick) are in another line.

From the looks of it, Danny and the other boys think that the CDT is giving the good food to the injured people so
they can get better. This point is proved wrong when Ken goes to the other line, eats the food, and dies later on
(Danny explains this later in Act 2, Scene 9). Later, Charlie (friend of Danny) tells Danny that people have now started
"badger-hunting". This is actually a trick. We will soon find out that Charlie is calling normal people "badgers". This
shows that now people are treated like animals. The sense of humanity has finished, and Survival of the Fittest has
started. Danny is still innocent and he is easily tricked by Charlie.

Scene 8:  Danny and Charlie are on their way to hunt "badgers" (people). Danny is still dumb and
doesn't realize that they are going to hunt people. They reach the mansion of Sophie Cartwright
(Act I, Scene 3).

They reach Sophie's mansion. Danny still thinks they are hunting for badgers. Charlie urges Danny to insert a smoke
device into a shelter made by Sophie's family. He already has all the necessary equipment and tactics with him e.g
the club, smoke-device, which shows that he is experienced at this and has done this before. The smoke forces the
Mr. Cartwright (Sophie's father) out of their shelter. Suddenly, Danny hits Charlie and takes the gun. Now he is in
charge (Danny still hasn't recognized Sophie's father). He demands supplies, and the Cartwright family comes out.
Danny becomes hard-lined (very aggressive). Sophie comes forward and Danny is taken aback. She asks if this is the
way he was accepting "her invitation" (for her birthday party). Danny asks when her birthday was. This shows that
people have even forgotten the date and time during the "Survival of the Fittest." Also, when Sophie tell her father
about Danny, Danny replies, saying, "He can't help you Sophie..... not this time." Which shows that money is
unimportant now. Then Danny runs away. Charlie gets shot by Mr. Cartwright and Danny drops the bag and runs,
startled.

Scene 9: Danny is back in the shop with Ben and his mother's dead body. He is still in disbelief of the event that
happened with him.
Danny is angry at himself for falling for the dumb badger trick. He is explaining the event to Ben. After reading his
words, we learn the Danny has become more and more hard-lined and aggressive. Meanwhile, Ben talks to his dead
mother and "tells" her that soon the soldiers will arrive to "take her somewhere". Danny then goes on to explain how
the guards have left the people in delusion by:

1. Not arriving to even pick up the dead bodies.

2. Putting poison in the spacer's food line.
3. Sometimes switching the lines of the able-bodied and the spacer's (i.e. making random people
die) just for fun .

This shows how cruel and lazy the guards have become. When Danny replies "Badger bolognaise, mate" to Ben's
question about food, we learn that Danny has also become more sarcastic.
Suddenly, an armored car comes by outside. Richard (Danny's father) goes outside to check, thinking the soldiers had
come over to collect the dead bodies. He starts to speak loudly with the soldiers as a warning to Danny, so Danny
and Ben hide behind a wall. 

One can assume that Mr. Cartwright had told the soldiers about the shop after Danny's incident, however we are
not sure. But much to Richard, Danny and Ben's dismay, the soldiers are there to collect the food by force. This
shows how evil and corrupted the establishment had become. They abduct Richard in the armored vehicle. However,
as they are about to leave...

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 The armored car explodes! It was an attack by Rhodes (Danny's old teacher), Branwell (leader of MASADA),
Mike and Maureen. Danny and Ben are horrified at the death of their father who was in the vehicle.
Danny tries to resist but Rhodes puts a gun to his head. He later recognizes Danny, and Danny wishes
he was dead.  While the other characters salvage food and items from the destroyed vehicle, Branwell
has a discussion with Danny. He explains the Hebrew saying "He who places his brother in the
land is everywhere" which has multiple meanings, out of which one is that when you bury your
own brother in Earth, there is nothing worse that can happen hence you are ready for
anything. According to Branwell's words, however, we can infer that it means that once people bury
their loved ones in the ground, their blood (the relative) becomes part of the entire Earth hence THEY
are also part of the entire Earth now.

Branwell tries to coerce (lure) Danny into joining MASADA but is unsuccessful and soon leaves.

Scene 10:  We are introduced to the Shadow Man and the Shadow Chorus. A bit of
detail about them is given on Page 96 ("The Shadow Chorus") but in simple words;
the Shadow Chorus represents the hazy part of Danny's life events and provides
some extra support. The Shadow Man, however, narrates the events of Danny's life
in the form of poetry, as if he is the one telling the real story.
Panging hunger and aching hearts measure these long and lonely hours. A cold and desolate destination.
Unknown. Uncertain. This dry and hardened heart,
Starved of love, starved of hope
In search of consolation.
Which means that the people have become desperate and hopeless after the bombs, just like the
town itself. The poem relates to Danny's current and long-term situation.
Danny is very tired and sets Ben down.

The scene switches to Stroud's announcement. The last line of the announcement, "If you fail to
register, you will forfeit your rights as a British citizen." is completely against normal behavior of
an army of the British people. It shows that the CDT has become corrupt and is technically enslaving
the people just for its benefit.

Meanwhile, Danny and Ben are woken up by Kate and brought into the barn.

ACT III:
Scene 1:  Danny and Ben had been walking in search for help. Danny was in
disgust of the situation in the world and of Rhodes (because he had killed Danny's
father).

Branwell (who has already met Danny in the previous scene) welcomes them and tells him about
MASADA. Kim's sister, Kate, is introduced. Danny says that "there has been already too much
fighting", meaning that he is sick and tired of the deception and lies of the world and just wants
everything to stop. Then Danny sleeps and dreams. The Shadow Chorus comes in and plays a role.
They act like savages (which represents the evil in the world) while Danny fights them with flowers
(this is nothing to laugh about, he is doing it because it represents that he is trying to counter evil with
good). The flowers are then taken away from him. Then his mother and father enter (REMEMBER that
this is still a dream!), and he is welcomed warmly by them. This shows that he still remembers them
and needs them. He also wants peace to break out. Then when his parents leave and he wakes up,
the person he sees is Kim, which means that he needs Kim to survive. Kim invites him to the canteen
of the MASADA.

Scene 2: Councillor Walker is conducting a choir with soldiers singing in the choir. After
they finish, the crowd cheers.

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Finch cheers the choir and his own Councillor Walker. But While cheering them up, he also admits or
reminds them that the past few months were very harsh and they didnt get the time to celebrate for
even a single moment. But after saying this, he is thankful for most of the things that are at least
happening for their betterment. He says that they would be managing the farm so that they have
something to feed on ( REMEMBER that food was hard to get during the war ). Finch also announces
that he had found beverages in Old Man Kershaws cellar and also said that they would be opening
some for the appreciation of the hard ships the soldiers had done.

Scene 3: At MASADA. The People are singing "Silent Night". Danny Enters ( on the stage ) and
talks to the audience.
Danny says that they had been living with Branwell for ages. Danny is sure and says that the Skipley
survivors have grown food in the farm and have poisoned the well so that people work for them. Kim
enters. Danny fancies ( likes ) Kim, so he wants to asks her out ( But remember, he doesn't ask her out
YET ). The romance stays for a while and finishes when Kim says that she took part in the Ambush.
Danny reminds her that the ambush is deadly but the only reaction of kim was that " We Need More
Weapons" which means that they needed more people.
Scene 4: This takes place in the Ambush. Rhodes ( Leader ) is talking with his team about the
ambush plan. He had 4 grey,Plastic Bowls.
Rhodes had a plan of laying those plastic bowls on the road to trick the vehicles. Kim is surprised to
see Danny and Danny asks a question to Rhodes: "What if they drive around the vehicle". The answer
was simple: "Run". The Shadow chorus APC (appear on the screen) making an armoured vehicle
shape. The plan was working fine and the Ambush was able to kill 1 soldier. But the plan Backfired
and Danny and Kim were caught.
Scene 5: Kershaw's Farm. Danny is tied up and is beaten. Walker and Sergeant Griffiths
enter.
In this scene, Danny is only asked questions. Walker wants to know what he was doing with the
Ambush and hits Danny so he speaks up. Danny Simply said that he wanted to burn some biscuits as
Mice had ate it ( So was it a lie or not? I will leave it up to you ). Finch knew that Danny was of no use
and scolded Griffiths and Walker. Finch ordered Griffiths to release Danny.
Scene 6: Kershaw's Farm. The Compound. There is a wooden post and Griffiths Ties Danny to
it. An executioner enters. Griffiths was sure that Danny was telling the lie and assured Danny that he
could not fool me ( Griffiths ). Griffiths thumps ( A light punch ) Danny on the stomach and told Danny
that if he had told the truth, he would have lived. Griffiths Nods the executioner and tells him to kill
him. A slow drum beat starts when he picks up the gun. Suddenly a sound is heard " BOOM ". Danny
Slumps Down. ( A question, Does He Die Or No ? I will leave it up to you ).

ACT IV:
Scene 1: Maureen and Mike are sitting with Ben.
Maureen and Mike start a conversation about Kim having some kind of relationship with Danny. They
thought that Kim loved Danny but Mike said that it wasn't their age. Kim enters and says that Mike
also went out with Maureen. Muareen and Mike wanted to save Danny from Kershaws Farm for their
sister ( Kim ) but Kim refused. Suddenly Branwell enters and he brings Danny and Craig along as well
but they are severly injured. Kim feels very bad for Danny and is sure the soldiers did that to him. Mrs
Troy says that Danny saved their lives, when they went to see a Well ( a place where water is found ).
The well was surrounded by Goths. Danny then Introduces Branwell. He was the one who gave shelter
to Ben and Danny when the shop was being raided. He also introduced Rhodes and said he loved to
kill. Everyone leaves so that Kim and Danny could get some free space. Kim asks about the situation in
the farm and Danny told her how he was about to die and he was chill with that. Danny said that he
was happy he was going to die because he would see his parents again and would see Kim again. Kim
tries to ask Danny out but both of them cant and they get in a fight about being crabby. In the end
they start to blame each other.
Scene 2: Kershaws Farm. Ill people are working on the field, Sergeant Grifiths is looking after
them. A worker Mrs Norton collapses and her husband and 2 Children help her up.

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After Mrs Norton collapses, Mr Norton goes to Griffiths. But Griffith does not let him take her to a
Doctor and he has to wait till sun rise. Dumperton tells Griffith to let them go but he doesn't.
Dumperton was asked about his wife and he says that his girlfriend left him. Grifiths was also asked
about his marriage and he was about to tell him when Mrs Norton collapses and eventually dies. Mr
Norton wants them to take her to the doctor but their kids also gave up. Mr Norton blames the death
on Griffiths. (This scene is an indication that maybe the CDT really are Purples)
Scene 3: Kershaws Farm. Renton is talking to Maureen and Mike.
Mike and Maureen are asked where they had lived and they said they moved from places to places
but they also said that they were sick of it. Renton invites them to the farm, only on 1 condition, they
would have to work for their food ( which meant they had to work on the farm ). Renton warned them
that it usually gets cold at the farm. The thing Mike and Maureen are shocked about that they were
trying to grow crops. Renton tell them about Councillor Finch, who was the leader of the farm and he
was very healthy, and he tells them about Walker, who is the second in command. He tells them that
she loves to get rid of people.
Scene 4: The MASADA team is discussing Danny's capture. The try to make him recall the details of
the important spots in Kershaw's Farm. That will help them plan their next attack.
Rhodes is discussing an elaborate plan to infiltrate Kershaw's Farm. Until now, the team had only planned
the attack till outside of the gates. Now Danny proceeds to recall the internal mapping of the area from his
memory. Rhodes keeps interrupting him, trying to prove his "superiority" in combat knowledge, but Branwell
soon puts him down.

ACT V:
Scene 1: MASADA are singing. Mike and Naureen are putting this show as a
celebration. Kim gets angry on Danny and moves away from him. Danny goes to
Kim and tries to console her when suddenly they hear a helicopter fling that
says that it will come back tomorrow to rescue them. Upon seeing this, they

become very happy

Scene 2: The Helicopter comes back and the captain asks them how they ended
up here. They tell the captain about everything that happened. The Captain

(Thiery) starts questioning them. Captain Thiery further says that the location
they were in was under Captain Thiery's command and thus he Confiscates their

stuff and says that they must wait their turn as groups like theirs are all over

Europe.

ACT VI:

Scene 1: The image of a Cafe appears on the screen. It was a Shabby place and
thus Danny says that this cafe was up to no good (as in Profit) even before the
bombs. Ben says that his stomach hurts, therefore they enter the Cafe.

Scene 2: Inside the cafe, Kim is looking into the trap door while Ben is on the

other side of the cafe. Danny goes to the Trapdoor (which is locked) and tries to

kick it open. He manages to open the Trapdoor after several attempts and yells

out that there are a lot of resources in it. Suddenly Rhoades enters and grabs
Ben! Danny comes out of the Trapdoor and tries to get to Rhoades but he takes

out his gun and points it to Danny's head. Rhoades then throws Ben to the floor

and starts mocking Kim and Danny. Ben gets hold of a Tin and throws it towards

Rhoades. It hits Rhoades's head causing him to Stand unconscious for a few

seconds. While Rhoades is standing unconscious, he fires his gun which

unfortunately hits Ben and both of them die. While looking at Bens body, Danny

has flashbacks of him and Ben (His brother) having fun.

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