Brighton Rock - Sympathy

“Greene does not encourage us to find much sympathy for any of the character” At the beginning of the novel, from the reader’s perspective Spicer gives the impression of being a young boy, in particular with his refusal to eat after they have murdered Hale. “I’ll be sick...if I eat” The Boy then responds with “Spew then”, this suggests that Spicer has a weakness especially within the group. As well as this it implies that Spicer regrets or feels a large amount of emotion towards the act they have just committed unlike Pinkie who seems totally unfazed. However, as the book continues we learn that Spicer is an older man as we are told of his “spots” that appear as well as “upset...bowels”, his “carroty” hair and his “scarred” nose. The sympathy the reader felt before then changes to loathing, as these new descriptions create an unattractive image for the reader. As well as this his earlier weakness now comes across as spineless and almost pathetic. We also learn that Spicer used to be a Jew “but a hairdresser and surgeon had altered that”. This reiterates the point that Spicer is spineless as he can’t even stand by his religion unlike Pinkie who has very strong religious views. Green does not actively encourage us to find sympathy in Pinkie by referring to him as either Pinkie or The Boy neither are his real name which creates a barrier between him and the reader which means that the reader has a lesser connection with him from the beginning compared to characters like Ida. As well as this Pinkie comes across as emotionless and therefore inhuman, for example there is no indication that Pinkie feels any remorse for arranging Hale’s murder. In addition to this Pinkie’s eyes are described as “slatey” which gives the impression they are cold and emotionless, this makes the reader feel disconnected from Pinkie as he is so disconnected from human beings. Pinkie is also hard to understand as he does not behave as expected, for example he reacts negatively to