The History Boys analysis (page 60- 63)

The History Boys analysis (page  60- 63)

Discuss how Irwin and Posner’s relationship is presented in this exchange.

 

 

In the extract of the History Boys there is a link between past and present relationships through the use of a flash forward in the middle of the play. In this part of the play the ‘man’ which we later find out is an older Posner is still asking questions about what happened between Dakin and Irwin, ‘All the effort went into getting there and then I had nothing left.’ This shows how Posner is still stuck in the past and feels like he has nothing now and shows how is unhappy with how his life has turned out and still has unanswered questions that is making him hold back. Posner says, ‘He liked you… didn’t he?’ the use of the ellipses shows how Posner is desperate to know the truth with what happened between Dakin and Irwin. Bennet does this to show how the events that happened in school have still affected Posner even now that he is older. Irwin uses Taboo language when talking to Posner ‘Fuck off’ this shows how Irwin feels betrayed by Posner for trying to sell a story about their lives to the public. Bennet includes interrogatives such as ‘why? Why?’ to show how Irwin is confused by Posner’s intentions and doesn’t understand why he is bringing the past back up after so long. This makes the audience more interested in the scene as they don’t understand why Irwin is so worried about Posner going to the newspapers.