The Cripple of Inishmaan written by Martin McDonagh is a dark comedy, which connects the actual story to the real life filming of the documentary Man of Aran. A Hollywood film crew arrives on Inishmore to make a documentary film about the life on the islands. It a story about “Cripple” Billy Claven, who is a teenage orphan. He lived with his aunts after his parent drowned themsleves trying to get away from their son.
Billy is also trying to escape the poverty, ignorance, sterotypes, cruelty, gossip, stultifying, eventless life and the boredoom of his insular world and of course from his elder guardians. At the same time, both of his aunts are being irritated because of his well-being. Aunt Kate even starts speaking with rocks, while Aunt Eileen still tries to run their little store, selling cans of peas to go about running their impoverished little country store, which sells mostly cans of peas. Billy is trying to escape from his vilage, where people like to point out, that his pretty unusual twisted form differs him from them, and where his name is pronounced with the epithet “Crippled” almost all the time.
But despite the cruelty of the villagers they still have some humor. That is what makes this story more of a comedy, then a tragedy. When Cripple Billy heard that some Americans were making a documentary movie about the islands and that they needed some extra actors he decided for himself to be involved in this event. So during the story we follow his funny and sometimes sad journey. I’ve noticed that there is some kind of emotianl poetry in his twisted and misshapen body.
Every time he takes a step, he struggles for it. He got used to live in a world where his fellow villagers keep inssting on his mysry and difference from th others. And to everyone surprise it was that “Cripple” Billy Claven who got a part in the movie and takes a trip to America. When he the boy is getting for the sail for the film and chasing his dreams, he accidentally finds answer to the questions. He could never find those answers back in Inishmaan, but those are the same answers which lead him home.
As we see McDonagh treats Billy more as a protagonist, then a conventional hero. I can say that McDnagh even begs the reader for sympathy and mercy towards his hero, by making him the object of discrimination. The author gives Billy strong will and strict determination, that are noticed more then his disabilities. The fact that Billy Claven succeded at changing the people’s attitudes towards him shows the great strength of his inner character. In this story writer succeeded at showing to the writer how people, who differ from other being isolated from a society only because they don’t look the same. As an example of “Cripple” Billie’s success Martin McDonagh shows us that even people, who are isolated and discriminized are able to find the inner strength, which probaly a normal person is not able to.