Patrick McCabe's The Butcher Boy

Anmol Gill
English 150
Wednesday 27 November 2013, 6 p.m. section

Selected Text

Oh no I can't do that I said, you have to pay to get past. She had all these broken nerve ends on her nose and her eyebrows went away up nearly meeting her hair what do you mean what on earth do you mean she said and I could see Philip frowning with his Mr Professor face wondering was it serious maybe, maybe something he could investigate or do a project on. Well he could if he wanted I didn't care as long as he paid. It was called the Pig Toll Tax. Yes, Mrs Nugent I said, the pig toll tax it is and every time you want to get past it costs a shilling. Her lips got so thin you really would think they were drawn with a pencil and the skin on her forehead was so tight I thought maybe the bones were going to burst out. But they didn't and I says to Philip I'll tell you what Philip you can have half. So what's that then one shilling for Mrs Nooge, I said and twopence halfpenny for Philip. (p. 12)

Questions

• What did the passage say about how Francie felt about the Nugents?
  • Word phrasing and detailed negative description of Mrs. Nugent
  • Shilling for Mrs. Nugent and twopence halfpenny
  • Mrs. Nooge; couple sentences after the passage we find out how much she hates being called that.
  • Yup, I said again, ya gotta pay the old tax Mrs Nooge, and I stood there with my thumbs hooked in my braces like a Western old timer. She got all heated up then oh yes hot and bothered.
• What does the passage tell us about how Francie likes to spend his free time?
  • Main reason he's outside if because his TV broke
  • Nothing better to do than to mess with people? But then again Mrs. Nugent was kind of asking for it, some could say.