Lastly, Maurices own marriage was on the brink due to his wifes inability to have children and she was driving him away because of it. One small turn of events could have forever veered this from the brink of tragedy right over the edge and this would have been yet another family lost to the unforgiving world in which they live.In his earlier project, High Hopes, Leigh took a slightly different approach to the world. Instead of having a growing tragedy taken from the brink and brought into the wonderful world of optimism, he instead continues the theme of the messed up family drama that we have all come to know and love and then adds the optimistic characters as small roles that merely pass on through the lives of the family briefly. In the film very few characters seemed to enjoy their lives or even thought that they had a future worth living for. The small but important character (in my opinion) of Wayne was a brief in his time on screen or within the lives of the main characters but while he was there his hopes brought a smile to the faces of Cyril and Shirley. One thing that I did notice was a kind of symbolism of Waynes shoes. Cyril comments on how bright they are. They didnt believe that he would find a job and Cyril is actually the one to shatter the hopes of Wayne and send him on his way back home. Yet another character that had a reason for living in the movie was that of Susie, the friend that shows up and stays for a night. Even though she may not have the best of lives she seeks hope in the future and in revolution. She believes that the people will grow tired of the hell that they are surrounded by and will rise to the occasion to make a difference in their lives. Yet again, Cyril shatters the hopes that are her reasons to live. Cyrils own wife, Shirley, is actually the only character that seems to have hope for the future and is the reason for living. She is the only good person that this family has going for them. She doe...
