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The Butcher Boy (1992) is a novel by Patrick McCabe and a (1997) film directed by Neil Jordan. The novel is considered by many to be the most remarkable by the author. It was shortlisted for the 1992 Booker Prize and won the 1992 Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for Fiction.
Plot summarySpoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The Butcher Boy is set in a small town in Ireland in the mid part of the twentieth century. It tells the story of Francis 'Francie' Brady, a schoolboy who lives with his mother and alcoholic father. In the early part of the book it becomes apparent that Franice's mother is abused both verbally and physically by her belligerent husband, on a frequent basis. Francie's father, Benny, was raised in a tough religious school in Belfast, and it is suggested that this experience left him mentally traumatised. This mental trauma has left Benny bitter and angry, and he takes this anger out on his wife, his fury fuelled by alcohol. Francie's mother considers suicide and is eventually committed to a mental health facility for a time. The Nugents
The enmity that Francie feels towards Phillip in part stems from his dislike of Phillip's sanctimonious mother, Mrs Nugent. Francie recalls vividly an episode that saw Mrs Nugent hurl a torrent of verbal abuse at Francie's mother, claiming that the Brady family were 'a bunch of pigs.' Francie takes this exclamation to heart, and begins to molest the Nugents when they are walking through the town, denying them access through a certain street until they pay the fictional 'Pig Toll'. So begins an unhealthy obsession that underpins the rest of the novel. AloWord comes that Francie's uncle Alo is coming to town. Alo Brady is something of a celebrity in the town - he left Ireland for London some years before, and the town celebrate his subsequent success with pride, claiming he has a team of ten men under him. A party is arranged and most of the town turns up. Alo arrives and sings with his guests late into the night, and Francie observes his uncle with admiration. Eventually the guests leave, and Benny Brady, drunk as usual, launches a verbal assault at his brother, claiming he is a fake and a liar, to the protestation and horror of Francie's mother. Alo is totally dejected and leaves. Francie is horrified at the treatment of Alo, and runs away from home. He spends some time thieving in Dublin, and when he returns he discovers his mother has committed suicide. His father blames him for this. Again Francie's mind turns to the Nugents. He attempts to harm Phillip after luring him to the chickenhouse, but is stopped by Joe. Eventually he breaks into the Nugent's house when they are out and, in a surreal and disturbing piece of narrative, pretends to be a pig, defecating on the floor of the Nugent's house while engaging in a bizarre hallucinogenic episode. The Nugents interrupt him and the police are contacted. Punishment
On release Francie heads back to town, fully expectant of a friendly welcome by Joe. However he finds it hard to get in touch with his mate, and when he does Joe seems different. When Francie is attacked by Mrs Nugent's brother, Buttsy, and his friend Devlin, Joe disowns him. Death of BennyFrancie gets a job in the local abattoir, impressing the owner with his ability to unflinchingly kill a piglet, and dedicates himself to this job, aiming to make his father proud. He has also begun drinking at weekends with the local drunk, and he goes to clubs with the specific aim of getting into fights. After some months the police enter his home to discover that his father has been dead for a long time, and Francie is committed to a mental hospital, possibly the same one his mother had visited some time before. After he is released, Francie discovers that Joe is attending boarding school in Bundoran in Donegal. He decides to go there, and en route he stops of at a boarding house where his father had said he and Francie's mother had spent their honeymoon in bliss. He interrogates the landlady, and she informs him that his father had treated his mother terribly for the duration of their honeymoon. Francie resumes his travels and comes upon Joe's school. He breaks in and, coming face to face with Joe, realises that this is not the same Joe he once knew. He also realises that Joe and Philip are now firm friends. MurderFrancie returns home. He resumes his job at the butchers and one day, while on his rounds, he calls at the Nugents' house. Mrs Nugent answers and Francie forces his way in. He attacks her and shoots her in the head with the butcher's bolt gun. He cuts her open and writes the word 'PIG' over the walls in an upstairs room with her blood. He puts her into the cart in which he transports the offal and meat-waste, covering her body with the detritus. He casually resumes his rounds and makes his way back to the abattoir, where he is apprehended by the police. He leads them on a wild goose chase for Mrs Nugent's body, and escapes from them for a time, but he is recaptured and eventually imprisoned after revealing where her dismembered corpse is. StyleThe novel is written in an unusual style. This style is a hybrid of first-person narrative and stream of consciousness, with little punctuation and no separation of dialogue and thought. McCabe is inventive in his use of language, and the narrative is at times hilarious. Film AdaptationThe book was turned into a film directed by Neil Jordan in 1997. It starred Stephen Rea and Fiona Shaw. The film is to be released on DVD on February 13, 2007. The film won Won the Silver Berlin Bear award for Best Director - Neil Jordan at the Berlin Film Festival in 1998 and a Special Mention for Eamonn Owens' "astonishing lead". It also won the European Film Award for Best Cinematographer for Adrian Biddle. This was one of the final films released by the partnership of Warner Bros and Geffen Pictures, Geffen Pictures would later be absorbed into Universal Studios years later.sv:The Butcher Boy
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