The novel looks at how life for one boy is dictated by where he lives and the
attitudes of those he lives with. All aspects of Billy Casper’s life (other than
with Kes) are sad and depressing. Others have a very low expectancy of what Billy
can achieve in his life.
Barry Hines uses humour to present aspects of life as a way of lightening the mood
and showing that all is not bleak, we can learn from this. The Kestrel (Kes) is Billy’s
only source of hope in the novel, an outlet from the rest of his life.
Most of the novel shows a day in Billy’s life in chronological order, but there are a
number of flashbacks to other scenes that have relevance to the story (such as
finding the kestrel’s nest with babies in it) and also show Billy’s active imagination.
The world of the novel is a cruel one and there is little sense of hope at the end of
the novel.
Key Characters
Kes




Kes symbolises Billy’s escape from the harsh realities of the life he is in.
It shows he has the ability to look after something (something his own
mother lacks) and when in the right circumstances he is caring, mature and
resourceful in a positive manner.
He talks to it gently which is the opposite to how most people talk to him.
Although Billy steals the library book (because he is abused by the adults
again) he is genuinely interested in kestrels and the book will tell him how to
look after one.
Billy Casper





Billy Casper is the central character of the novel.
His life is a dismal one and the novel follows a typical day in his life. He is one
of life’s losers: in the bottom stream at school and about to leave with no
qualifications.
He has problems with reading, writing and maths and few social skills.
He is not trusted by the shop keeper and this sets up the lack of faith anyone
has in Billy, which explains his behaviour (cheating on him and gaining
revenge) and the desire to escape the world he lives in.
He is regarded by some adults as a nuisance or a threat (Mr. Porter, Mrs.
Rose).















He spends a lot of time hating and being hated, swearing or making rude
gestures at people, arguing and avoiding punishment.
Billy is rude and unwilling to make an effort to meet teachers, family and
other adults half way. He is dishonest; he steals chocolate from Mr Porter,
eggs and orange juice from the milkman and a book from Priors bookshop.
He has been in trouble with the police for breaking and entering, and his
breaking into the Palace cinema shows how familiar this activity is. He is
deliberately destructive, he breaks the stolen eggs rather than eating them
for breakfast and trespasses on private land.
Billy has a vivid imagination and this comes out in many scenes, including his
reading of the Desperate Dan comic (where he can escape into another
world) and the assembly.
He is strong, resourceful and independent.
He is the ‘knave’ in the title.
Knaves were generally thieves, liars and cheeky, all characteristics Billy has
through necessity to survive.
Physically he is smaller and weaker than the other boys, but he has more
endurance as shown by the cold shower episode. Billy is a natural victim.
MacDowall and the other bullies at school pick on him, taunting him because
of his small size but also because he is less fortunate than they are.
Billy is often described as dirty and it seems he rarely washes, but this is due
to the bad example set for him at home.
At 15, Billy is about to leave school and is expected to work down the mine.
At school Billy gets most satisfaction from his English lessons where he is
allowed to use his vivid imagination.
He is intelligent and, when given the chance, very skilful (especially with
Kes)
He seems to be underfed and doesn’t get much love or kindness.
Billy is a victim at home as well. He is bullied by Jud both physically and
mentally.
Mrs Casper does not appear to love Billy and he misses his father but does
not seem to see anything of him.
Billy’s other side is not influenced by his home or school life but by the
natural world. This is where Billy feels at home. He is patient when he needs
to be, hardworking, athletic and physically competent, and in total sympathy
with the environment. He shows skill and expertise far beyond his years.


Billy is in tune with Kes because like himself, Kes is not tamed and does not
care about anyone or anything. Both have the will to destroy or to be
destroyed and tragically, at the end of the novel, both are destroyed.
Kes is the only ting in the world that Billy trusts and the ending of the novel
leaves us feeling that Billy will never trust anyone or anything again.
Jud













Jud is Billy’s half brother.
He is aggressive, violent both physically and verbally not only to Billy, but
his mother. He bullies Billy – beginning his day by thumping Billy, who is
smaller and younger than him, before pulling the blankets off him.
He uses bad language to Billy and calls him many unpleasant names,
threatening him with murder amongst other unpleasant things. “Hands off
cocks, on socks” are his opening words to Billy in the morning and “What’s
the matter wi’thee, shit th’bed?” when for once Billy is up early.
He is arrogant, thinking he is 'God’s gift to women'.
His natural response to most situations seems to be swearing or violence.
His murder of Kes at the end of the novel seems to destroy all hope.
When we first see Jud he is fighting and kicking Billy in their bedroom, which
shows their poor relationship.
He hates his job, down in the mine, but that is where most of the men are
expected to work.
Jud makes fun of Billy for getting a book from the library.
He treats Billy as his slave, expecting his underage brother to put bets on for
him, and only communicates with him by hitting and abusing him verbally.
He treats his mother almost as badly as he treats Billy. He makes
disrespectful remarks about her sex life, taunting her about her behaviour
when drunk, and refusing to do anything he is asked to around the house. He
appears to treat her like a slave too.
His attitude to women seems generally disrespectful. He anticipates his night
out as one where he will get drunk and see how far he can go sexually with
the nearest available woman.
The question can be asked: is Jud realistic? Or is he just a caricature, too
extreme to be convincing? Perhaps he feels as deprived as Billy does by his
mother’s attitude, and perhaps he, too, has always missed his own father
and that has helped to make him into the unsympathetic person he is.

He is understandably furious when Billy keeps the money and the bet wins.
What he says about having a week off work, had he been able to collect the
money, is the nearest we get to an insight into Jud’s mind: maybe he did not
want to be a miner any more than Billy does. However, the author does not
explore Jud’s character in enough detail for the reader to find out.
Mrs Casper







Mrs Casper (Billy’s mother) is presented as a pathetic figure.
She is not much of a mother as the description of the house at the start of
the novel proves; it is cold, unwelcoming and there is no food.
She is a coward and doesn’t stand up to her own son Jud.
She treats Billy badly, getting him to run errands for her.
She uses bad language around Billy and even asks Billy for a cigarette
showing the bad example she is.
She spends ages getting ready for the pub, showing her vain side.
She is more concerned about this than she is about Billy.
Mr Sugden (PE Teacher)




Mr Sugden - The PE teacher
A comic figure who is a bully and just a big kid.
He appears in the comic centrepiece of the novel, the games lesson.
He is unfit and a cheat, a figure of ridicule amongst the boys.
Mr Gryce (Headmaster)







Mr Gryce - The headmaster of the school
He is presented as a comic figure.
In the assembly his behaviour is vindictive and indiscriminate.
He is made to seem foolish with the description of the papers falling off his
lectern at the end of the assembly.
In his study he is boring and does not listen to the boys, including the one
who is just there to pass on a message, punishing them all indiscriminately.
He is totally disinterested in caring for the youth of his day.
His violence is shown fully with the caning of the boys in this scene and the
seeming pleasure he gets from it.
Mr Farthing (English Teacher)







Mr Farthing - Billy’s English teacher
He understands Billy the most and is interested in him. This is because he is
a more sympathetic person, with a more humane approach to others, than
any adult Billy encounters.
He has the respect of the class, unlike the other teachers we meet. From the
start of the lesson where he is described, Mr Farthing is shown as
empathising with the boys who have been caned, suggesting that he does
not really approve of physical punishment.
He can joke with the class, but has firm discipline when required. He uses
talk and the boys’ own experience as a way into the lessons, and when
Anderson is telling his story about the tadpoles he is listening for the
interesting content and responding to Anderson rather than looking for
errors in vocabulary.
Mr Farthing shows a genuine interest in Billy's kestrel and comes to see it at
lunchtime. He does become impatient with Billy when he is not listening, but
is willing to listen to Billy’s point of view after the fight at break when they
talk. Though Billy is amongst the least able academically, Mr Farthing learns
something from him when he talks about Kes.
He asks intelligent questions, allowing Billy to show his knowledge about
kestrels.
When he breaks the fight up in the yard he shows he is not to be taken
lightly. Mr Farthing is strict and will stand no nonsense: when he calls for
quiet and moves towards the boys they are silent. He can break up a fight in
a way which suggests that he can easily exert his authority over the toughest
of the boys. He is also fair. He will not tolerate MacDowall bullying Billy
because he is smaller and more vulnerable. He is forceful in making his point,
and showing MacDowall what it is like to be bullied by picking on him
physically.
QUESTIONS
Quick revise
An example of past paper questions that occur can be seen below
 How
does Barry Hines show Billy's strengths and weaknesses in the novel?
 Write about Billy's relationships with his family in A Kestrel for a Knave.
 Write
about the relationship between Billy and Kes.
 Write about some of the different ways adults treat Billy in A Kestrel for a
Knave.
 Do you feel sorry for Billy?
 How does Hines present Billy as a victim and as a fighter?
 Do you think A Kestrel for a Knave is a depressing novel, or does it offer any
hope?
The Natural World




The novel describes the natural world in detail.
There is the greyness of the area where Billy lives.
When we see birds and animals the language becomes more positive and
conveys a sense of optimism.
The scene where Billy find the birds in their nest shows the beauty and
wonder of nature and also of Billy’s careful and caring side.
Key Scenes
Quick revise
Opening of the Novel
 Both
inside and outside of Billy’s house is presented as dark, cold, grey and
miserable.
 The writer uses pathetic fallacy (where the weather reflects the mood of the
scene) to emphasise how miserable life is.
The Assembly
 The
whole scene is comic.
 Mr Gryce shouts at the boys and is presented comically as an angry
figure who loses his temper at the slightest thing.
 He is one of many adults in the novel who have no care for the young.
 No one is interested in the prayers or the hymn.
 Billy day dreams about looking after his kestrel, showing what is actually
relevant to him.
 Billy will be punished for daydreaming in assembly, showing the violence in
the school system at the time.
The Football Match / Games Lesson
 The
comic centre piece of the novel
 Mr Sugden is a comic character and can’t be taken too seriously.
 He uses big words but can’t explain them.
 He pretends the match is a game between Liverpool and Manchester United,
showing he is more immature than a lot of the boys.
 He bullies Casper and others into playing.
 He is a bad sport when they lose at the end, cheats by awarding his own
team a penalty, scoring it himself and blames anyone but himself for their
defeat.
 Many of the boys are narrated as stereotypes and not their real names to
show how discriminating games lessons could be e.g. ‘two fat boys’
 The boys see through him though, calling him names.
 His true vindictive nature comes when he makes Billy take a cold shower.
 The boys find it funny at first but soon lose interest and the scene ends
with Billy as a figure of pity and Sugden as an evil fool.
Flying Kes
 When
Billy flies Kes, he is totally happy.
 It shows his skills as he knows all the technical terminology.
 He speaks to Kes gently and is rewarded by a positive response from the bird.
The Death of Kes
 This
is a cruel twist to the novel and takes away all sense of hope.
 It is linked back to the disappearance of Billy’s father and his mother’s
affair with another man.
 It seems Billy will just be another victim of the cruel world he lives in.
 Billy retreats to the cinema which is boarded up and closed, showing
the decline of the society he lives in.
 It is a dark depressing ending, reflecting the life he leads.
 There is a feeling that he will wake up the next day and all we be the same
as before.
The Head's Office
 The scene
in the headmaster's office shows the head talking at the boys and
not to them.
 He rants about how no one cares anymore, but it is he who shows the
uncaring attitude as he is unwilling to listen to the boys and when the
inncoent boy comes in he doesn't give him the chance to explain why he is
there.
 The head teacher is not interested in the welfare of the children in his care.
Summary








- The world of the novel is a grim one.
- Billy’s life is miserable; he has nothing to look forward to.
- Kes gives him a purpose in life, it is a means of escape from the life he leads.
- The adult figures largely don’t care about the younger characters.
- The description of the scenes reflect the beauty of nature when Billy is with
Kes and the dark, depressing side of nature when Billy is at home.
- The comedy in the novel ridicules most of the adult figures, particularly
most of the teachers and Billy's family.
- Mr Farthing seems to be the only one genuinely interested in Billy’s talents.
- Life will carry on as it always has done after the novel ends.