Judy Boone
Judy is Christopher's mother. At the start of the play, Christopher thinks that she died, two years ago after going to hospital. The audience finds out that this is not true when Christopher discovers a number of letters she has sent to him during his investigation of the killing of Wellington the dog.
Through these letters the audience discovers that Judy struggled to cope with Christopher and his unusual behaviours. Her relationship with Ed was under enormous strain and she felt that she wasn't as good at coping with Christopher as Ed was. She left the family home in Swindon and went to live in London with Roger Shears with whom she was having an affair. Judy is honest and open about her short comings to Christopher and she reveals that she has a fun loving and romantic outlook on life.
| How is Judy like this? | Evidence | Analysis | |
| Honest | Judy is honest in the letters she writes explaining her feelings and failures to Christopher. | "I'm not like your father. Your father is a much more patient person. He just gets on with things and if things upset him he doesn't let it show." | It must be hard for Judy to be this honest - she admits failure, in her lack of patience and openly explains to Christopher why she left. Ed avoids being this honest with Christopher until the end of the play. She clearly knows herself well too, like Christopher does |
| Romantic | Judy reveals that she has an active and romantic imagination -the audience discover this as she describes how her life could have been in a flashback sequence. | "If I hadn't married your father I think I'd be living in a little farm house in the South of France with someone called Jean. And he'd be, ooh, a local handyman." | Judy shows her romantic view of the life she could have had if she had not married Ed. This sadly shows that she was not satisfied with life as she knew it, she couldn鈥檛 just 'get on with things' like Ed could. |
| Struggles to cope with Christopher | In another reflection of her honesty Judy admits that she found it hard to cope with Christopher at times. She describes how she felt after an argument with Christopher resulted in her having broken toes. | "And I remember looking at the two of you and seeing you together and thinking how you were really different with him. Much calmer..... And it made me so sad because it was like you didn't need me at all." | Judy feels, rightly or wrongly, that Christopher is calmer around his father. This realisation comes after she lost her temper and Christopher threw a chopping board and it hit her foot, breaking her toes. She felt as if Ed and Christopher were better off without her. |
| Honest | |
|---|---|
| How is Judy like this? | Judy is honest in the letters she writes explaining her feelings and failures to Christopher. |
| Evidence | "I'm not like your father. Your father is a much more patient person. He just gets on with things and if things upset him he doesn't let it show." |
| Analysis | It must be hard for Judy to be this honest - she admits failure, in her lack of patience and openly explains to Christopher why she left. Ed avoids being this honest with Christopher until the end of the play. She clearly knows herself well too, like Christopher does |
| Romantic | |
|---|---|
| How is Judy like this? | Judy reveals that she has an active and romantic imagination -the audience discover this as she describes how her life could have been in a flashback sequence. |
| Evidence | "If I hadn't married your father I think I'd be living in a little farm house in the South of France with someone called Jean. And he'd be, ooh, a local handyman." |
| Analysis | Judy shows her romantic view of the life she could have had if she had not married Ed. This sadly shows that she was not satisfied with life as she knew it, she couldn鈥檛 just 'get on with things' like Ed could. |
| Struggles to cope with Christopher | |
|---|---|
| How is Judy like this? | In another reflection of her honesty Judy admits that she found it hard to cope with Christopher at times. She describes how she felt after an argument with Christopher resulted in her having broken toes. |
| Evidence | "And I remember looking at the two of you and seeing you together and thinking how you were really different with him. Much calmer..... And it made me so sad because it was like you didn't need me at all." |
| Analysis | Judy feels, rightly or wrongly, that Christopher is calmer around his father. This realisation comes after she lost her temper and Christopher threw a chopping board and it hit her foot, breaking her toes. She felt as if Ed and Christopher were better off without her. |
Social context
Judy is not like Ed. She struggles with Christopher's behaviour whilst he copes with it. She mentions the time they went to the department store and Christopher had an episode - she could not help him and found the whole incident very upsetting. She also hints that she would like an easier more 'normal' life, presumably without Christopher. This is very sad but Stephens does not make Judy the villain, the audience can sympathise with her as she still loves Christopher dearly.
Explore the different ways that Judy is presented in the play.
Analysing the evidence
Read this extract from the play then answer the question that follows.
JUDY:
I used to have dreams that everything would get better. Do you remember that you used to say that you wanted to be an astronaut? Well I used to have dreams that you were an astronaut and you were on television and I thought that鈥檚 my son. I wonder what it is you want to be now. Has it changed? Are you still doing maths? I hope you are.
Loads and loads of love, Mother.
Question
What does the extract reveal about Judy's personality?
How to analyse the quotation
- "I used to have dreams that everything would get better." - The use of the past tense shows that she now knows that things will not get better. She has given up hope.
- "I used to have dreams that you were an astronaut and you were on television and I thought that鈥檚 my son." - Again the past tense shows that she no longer has these dreams for her son, has she realised that Christopher will not achieve such things?
- "Are you still doing maths?" - This reveals that she no longer knows Christopher well, she doesn鈥檛 know what his day to day life is like.
How to use this in an essay
This extract reveals a tragic side to Judy. As she states, her hopes for a better future for herself and the family have gone, 'I used to have dreams that everything would get better.' The use of the past tense shows that she has lost her positive outlook. This is emphasised by, 'I used to have dreams that you were an astronaut and you were on television and I thought that's my son.' Again, the past tense shows that Judy no longer has these dreams but more upsettingly this refers to her hopes for Christopher. The audience can imply that she has given up on having high hopes for Christopher perhaps due to his behaviour - this is a very honest but sad thing for a mother to admit. Finally when Judy says 'Are you still doing maths?', she is revealing how little she knows about Christopher now that she has moved out of the family home, again this would make the audience see Judy as a tragic figure.