In this essay I will examine the treatment of Billy in A Kestrel for a Knave, the emotions surrounding them and compare and contrast the differences between how three characters treat Billy, these three characters are Billy's mother, Jud and Mr. Farthing. The novel, A Kestrel for a Knave, is about a young boy who doesn't fit in much, he doesn't have any extras and gets bullied at school, to top it off he has a terrible home life with his brother. Jud bullies him and his mother, who go out drinking every night. If you take all of this into consideration, these factors help to amplify the feeling we get when a character interacts with our outsider, Billy. The first character I'm going to look at is Billy's mother. Billy's mother is a little sleepy; this is implied because when we first meet her in the novel, she mistakes Billy entering the house for her current boyfriend Reg. During this scene it is also implied that she doesn't really care about Billy or is a little careless as she asks Billy for a cigarette even though he is only 15 and asks him essentially stealing cigarettes, eggs, butter. , and bread from the local store. We also see that she is careless because when she goes to the pub she leaves him money for "soft drinks and crisps" for dinner. She is not really a mother, as the description of the house at the beginning of the novel proves; it's cold, unwelcoming and there is no food, there are clothes scattered on the furniture, showing that she doesn't care too much about keeping things tidy, she is also a coward and doesn't stand up to his own son Jud. Personally, I consider Ms. Casper a pathetic role model; she doesn't care about Billy's health and treats him as his own character...... middle of paper ...... talked with Billy more than once, he also knows Billy's history with the police and how he was constantly getting into trouble, but instead of judging him on that, Mr. Farthing makes sure he doesn't get into trouble and offers alternatives to wandering the streets with the MacDowell gang, like youth clubs. Mr. Farthing is the only adult in the book who treats Billy right in my opinion, also because everyone bullies him, which makes Mr. Farthing seem even nicer. Overall, Billy is treated very poorly by his family and teachers, with the exception of Mr. Farthing who acts as a sort of father figure towards Billy, Mr. Farthing is also the only one who is interested in talents and to Billy's interests. As I said before, Billy is most definitely an underdog, but that just helps the reader feel for him even more, because you can empathize with Billy in some way..