Examine the changing relationship between Marcus and

Will as the novel progresses.

(1) As the novel progresses, the two main characters, Marcus and Will,
change significantly, as does their relationship.

(2) At the start of the book, Marcus is very much the social misfit, the
outsider, someone who felt ‘uncomfortable’ simply ‘because he was
different’ and people thinking he ‘was being funny when he wasn’t.’…

Possible Quotations:

‘Something was going to have to give. He was having a shit time at school and
a shit time at home…’

‘People often thought Marcus was being funny when he wasn’t’

‘He’d still be who he was, and that,it seemed to him, was the basic problem.

‘Because he was different he felt uncomfortable’

‘Marcus knew he was weird, and Marcus knew that part of the reason he was
weird was because his mum was weird.’

(3) Whereas Marcus’ life was ‘shit’, Will Freeman’s life was ‘shallow’ and
directionless, something he was quite proud of. Nothing in his life was
meaningful in the normal sense of the word. He drifted aimlessly from
day to day …

Possible Quotations:

‘Being men’s magazine cool was as close as he had ever come to an

achievement.’

‘Doing nothing all day gave him endless opportunities to dream and scheme
and pretend to be something he wasn’t.’
‘His burning desire to seek a place for himself in the outside world somehow
got extinguished.’

‘He had a “history of pretending”.

‘Filling days had never been a problem for Will…He was proud of his ability to
stay afloat in the enormous ocean of time he had at his disposal…a less
resourceful man, he felt, might have gone under and drowned.’

‘Single mothers …were the best invention Will had ever heard of. His career as
a serial nice guy had begun’.

(4) As far as Marcus was concerned ‘two wasn’t enough’. He needed an

extended family, a network of support. Will seemed the solution…

Will, on the other hand, saw Marcus and Fiona as an opportunity.

Possible Quotations:

‘He didn’t care whether the family he wanted were all men or all women, or all
children. He simply wanted more people …two was a dangerous number.’

‘He still had this sense that Marcus and Fiona could replace soup kitchens …
forever …helping people … that was the way forward for him now’.

Now to continue the essay, you will need to select quotations which identify
how:

 Will begins to care but feels uncomfortable about the new

responsibilities and has to ‘grapple’ with his ‘conscience in order to
maintain his comfortable equilibrium;
 Marcus’ relationship with Ellie and how, under her influence, he begins
to rebel;
 How Rachel’s impact on Will’s life results in his becoming more ‘human’;
 How Marcus begins to see life more clearly, that Ellie is an ‘unguided’
rather than ‘guided missile’ and not suitable girlfriend material;
 And, ultimately, how Marcus, Fiona no longer having such a tight hold of
the apron strings, begins to be a more stereotypical teenager and Will
loses ‘his shell, … and his distance’.