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Delaney explored the theme freedom vs responsibility through the characteristics of Helen. Helen often prioritizes her personal freedom over her responsibilities as a mother. Her frequent pursuit of romantic relationships with different males shows her desire to escape the responsibility of a mother.

HELEN: Have I ever laid claim to being a proper mother? If you’re too idle to cook your own meals you’ll just have to cut food out of your diet altogether. That should help you lose a bit of weight, if nothing else.

Helen's actions suggest that her selfishness and her desire for freedom can lead to emotional damage for those dependent on her. The play demonstrates the consequences of neglecting responsibility in pursuit of her personal freedom.

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Geoffrey, though not bound by blood, steps into a caretaker role, contrasting Helen’s neglect and subverting traditional family structures.

GEOF: Has anybody ever tried?

JO: What?

GEOF: Taking you in hand.

at this part when Jo asks Geof to hold her hand. Despite his initial halfhearted expression of regret about interrupting his cleaning, Geof does hold her hand. This simple gesture highlights the supportive and caring nature of their relationship, showing how they can provide comfort to each other amidst life's challenges.

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Delaney explores the complexity of love and happiness in Jo's life, illustrating her desire for connection

'I just know it. That's all. But I don't care. Stay with me now, it's enough, it's all I want, and if you do come back I'll still be here.'

This line shows that Jo understands that her relationship for the boy is only temporary and not permanent, but yet she chooses to savour the moment with him, showing her desire for a true love connection with someone. Furthermore, Jo's promise to the boy when he comes back highlights her resilience, but also her vulnerability.

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Delaney uses the turbulent mother-daughter relationship to highlight the unreliability of love as a source of happiness.

"Turn yourself into a bloody termite and crawl into the wall or something, but make yourself scarce."

"Helen: Can't bear to see me being affectionate with anybody. / Jo: You've certainly never been affectionate with me."

Helen treats Jo in a dismissive, uncaring manner, using ugly diction and speaks to her without the traditional maternal love. Helen's pursuit of love and happiness is self centered, neglecting her responsibility to provide care and love to Jo.

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Delaney explores the theme towards the first impression of Geof from Jo, presenting her message of the bias against the gay community.

JO: Look, I’ve got a nice comfortable couch, I’ve even got some sheets. You can stay here if you’ll tell me what you do. Go on, I’ve always wanted to know about people like you.

GEOF: Go to hell.

Her questions lack sensitivity or subtlety. Instead of treating Geof as a vulnerable individual like any other, she considers him representative of an abstract group. This mainly shows the unacceptance to the "gay" group at that time, and follow up with people's lack of knowledge and prejudice towards this group of people.

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HELEN: What an arty little freak! I wasn’t rude to him. I never said a word. I never opened my mouth.

This is exposing Helen’s bigotry. Her hostility mirrors 1950s societal homophobia, contrasting with Jo’s acceptance of Geoffrey. And the alliteration "arty little freak" makes her insult sound flippant, masking deeper prejudice. Helen also claims she "never said a word," but her silent judgment is just as cruel. This mirrors her parenting style, neglectful yet controlling. The repetition "never said a word... never opened my mouth" protests too much, revealing her guilt. She knows her disdain is out there.

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Delaney presents the mother and daughter relationship between Helen and Jo as dysfunctional by emphasizing the negative traits of Helen, making her unsuitable as a mother.

"Now it's poor little Josephine, the tragedy queen, hasn't life been hard on her". Well, you fell down, you get up... nobody else is going to carry you about."

Helen's dialogue when Jo is in a period of distraught and anxiety shows Helen's lack of emotional awareness and motherly care for her daughter. Despite the fact that she does not support Jo with her pregnancy and complex feelings, she shows her selfish tendencies by scolding Jo and assuming the worst out of the situation, acting as though Jo's feeling are invalidated. These actions from Helen undermine her failing her role of a traditional healthy parent, further breaking apart her already dysfunctional relationship with Jo.

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Delaney highlights the dysfunctional relationship between Helen and Jo throguh Helen's consistent failure to fulfill her responsibilities as a mother.

highlights the dysfunctional relationship between Helen and Jo through Helen’s consistent failure to fulfill her responsibilities as a mother.

"Why should I do anything for you? You never do anything for me."

This quote illustrates the long history of neglect that characterizes their relationship. Jo's word reveals a painful truth of Helen prioritizing her own desires and relationships with men, over those of her daughter, illustrating the lack of support for Jo. Furthermore, Delaney deliberately wrote the quotes in a blunt tone, which emphasizes the anger and bitterness in Jo's words, highlighting the emotional damage being left on Jo for years. Thus, creating pain and bitterness in her words. aiming to evoke a sense of empathy from the readers for her situation and frustration.

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Delaney presents that Jo realizes that this situation is one that she has experienced repeatedly throughout her life, as time and again her mother has left her for her boyfriends and then returned when those relationships have failed.

JO: So we’re back where we started. And all those months you stayed away from me because of him! Just like when I was small.

HELEN: I never thought about you! It’s a funny thing, I never have done when I’ve been happy. But these last few weeks I’ve known I should be with you.

JO: So you stayed away.

HELEN: Yes. I can’t stand trouble.

JO: Oh, there’s no trouble. I’ve been performing a perfectly normal, healthy function. We’re wonderful! Do you know, for the first time in my life I feel really important. I feel as though I could take care of the whole world. I even feel as though I could take care of you, too!

While this pattern threatens to become a vicious cycle, with Helen’s repeated abandonments leaving Jo isolated and vulnerable. This time, Jo has unexpected resilience from her bond with Geof. No longer reliant on her mother for emotional or material stability, Jo has discovered an inner strength that allows her not only to stand alone but to extend compassion to others. In a striking role reversal, she even begins to embody the nurturing figure Helen never was, reshaping their fractured dynamic through her own defiant generosity.

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Over the book, Delaney starts to show the adversity from Jo, highlighting her open minded thoughts and smartness comparing to her useless mother.

JO: "We’ll survive. Somehow."

In this line, Jo’s bleak optimism mirrors the working class struggle to endure amid systemic neglect. This also reflects Jo’s hardened pragmatism, forged through years of neglect and instability. Unlike Helen, who avoids responsibility, Jo confronts hardship head-on. The quote epitomizes Jo’s grit amid poverty and abandonment.