Guns crop up over and over again over the course of the musical, foreshadowing the terrible violence that sits at the narrative’s end. They at first seem relatively innocent, as when the neighborhood children use pretend weapons to play war games, and when Mickey hides his brother Sammy’s air rifle. Quickly, however, they turn sinister, and eventually Sammy accidentally uses a gun in a robbery, an act that ends in a murder. Of course, the fearsome power of guns is finally demonstrated in full when Mickey confronts Edward with a gun at city hall. Although he does not intend to shoot his twin, he is so crazed and enraged that he does so accidentally, and is then shot by policemen. By the end of the play, Russell has demonstrated that guns cause violence and havoc in a variety of situations.
Guns Quotes in Blood Brothers
But you know that if you cross your fingers
And if you count from one to ten
You can get up off the ground again
It doesn’t matter
The whole thing’s just a game.
There’s a man gone mad in the town tonight,
He’s gonna shoot somebody down,
There’s a man gone mad, lost his mind tonight
…
There’s a mad man running round and round.
Now you know the devil’s got your number.
He’s runnin’ right beside you,
He’s screamin’ deep inside you,
And someone said he’s callin’ your number up today.
MRS. JOHNSTONE: Mickey. Don’t shoot Eddie. He’s your brother. You had a twin brother. I couldn’t afford to keep both of you. His mother couldn’t have kids. I agreed to give one of you away!
MICKEY: You. You! Why didn’t you give me away? I could have been…I could have been him!
Guns Symbol Timeline in Blood Brothers
