In this play we can see that Posner is one of the main characters. He is the youngest of the boys, homosexual, intelligent and Jewish, ‘I’m a Jew, I’m Small, I’m homosexual and I live in Sheffield. I’m fucked’ this quote explains what Posner is all about. Posner is the one who doesn’t really fit in with the group. He is comfortable with his sexuality and is quite sure that he does love Dakin. He is also seen as the ‘lady’ of the group, an example of this is in the French scene when the boys are acting in class, Posner and Timms play the role of woman.
Posner is okay with this though as he would rather be laughed at than excluded from the rest of the boys. Posner is also intelligent and when ever he doesn’t understand a word he would look it up in the dictionary ‘Euphemism . . . substitution of mild or vague or roundabout expression for a harsh or direct one. ’ This shows that he is trying to impress the other boys but could also depict a sense of confusion.
From the start of the book we can see that he is the only one that comforts Hector, and towards the end of the book he is the first of the boys to comfort hector when he was upset ‘Posner is the one who comes and after some hesitation pats Hector rather awkwardly on the back’ this is showing that Posner is emotional and wants someone to care for him. He is also jealous that he never gets asked to join Hector on his motorbike; from this we might think that he has feelings towards Hector as well as Dakin. ‘I’d go. I’m never asked’.
Posner also realised that Hector never hits him in class, due to this he thinks that Hector might not like him. Posner however looks up to Hector and wishes he would like him. Even though Posner likes Hector, he relates to Irwin a lot throughout the play. Irwin has a big affect on the boys not just through his teaching styles but also on how the boys act. For example Dakin starts to write like Irwin therefore so does Posner Irwin however will not know about the affect he has on the boys. He also has feelings for Dakin but isn’t as open about it as Posner. Irwin does like him. He seldom looks at anyone else. ” Posner sees Irwin as a threat. The holocaust is a big topic for Posner during this play. As he is Jewish he has stronger views on it than everyone else does. It’s during this time that he gets his voice as he has to talk about his family and he is very family orientated. When they have the discussion on the holocaust Hector understands where Posner is coming from and Poser is using Hectors teaching techniques rather than Irwin’s. ‘It isn’t ‘good’. I mean it sir. ’ ‘The weight of this sad time we must obey.
Speak what we ought to feel, not what we ought to say. ‘ This quote is very important in the play, this is because throughout the play Irwin has always told them that to pass and achieve well in live they have to lie and put a spin on things, for example when they talk about the holocaust, Irwin says that Posner will get away with anything he says because he’s Jewish. Hector however tells them to always say it as it is. Another reason that this is important is because Posner eventually realises that Irwin was right and that you have to lie to get where you want, this upsets him. All my life I’ve been one of those squatting at the front, I don’t care about oxford or Cambridge. I’d just like to graduate to a chair. ’ This shows that he isn’t really bothered about going to university; he is only doing it to try and impress Dakin and the other boys. Mrs Lintott understand Posner and moves him to a chair, then when the head teacher comes in, he moves him back to the front, this could be seen as a sign showing that Posner isn’t going to get very far.
Posner has always hoped that by being open about his feeling for Dakin would make him someday feel the same however when the day finally came when Dakin hugged Posner he realised that this wasn’t going to happen ‘Is that it? The longed for moment? ’ Dakin felt awkward when hugging ‘why what was wrong with it? ’ Posner therefore accepted that the feelings between them would never be mutual and that it was time to move on. At the end of the play we see that Posner did use Irwin’s method of teaching to get in to University ‘there was a question on the Holocaust.
And I did play it down. They asked me about it at the interview, praised what they called my sense of detachment. ’ However, Posner knew that this wasn’t right and ended up dropping out of Cambridge. Posner was the only one who Hector had a massive affect on and took everything to heart that he was ever taught. To conclude, we can see that Posner is a major character in the play he just wants to be appreciated by everyone and have Dakin to love him back. Bennett represents him as an outsider within their friendship group and in the end, this is what he becomes.
