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Freedom of the City, Brian Friel:Skinner's last words in the play are, “So I died, as I lived, in defensive flippancy”. Compare his behaviour over the course of the play with that of the other three characters.

Skinners last words in the play are, “So I died, as I lived, in defensive flippancy”.
Compare his behaviour over the course of the play with that of the other three characters.

As people who are forced to suffer the conditions of life, power and injustice in Northern Ireland during the 1970’s, Michael, Lily, and Skinner are each embodied in the ‘culture of poverty’ of the Catholic poor in Londonderry. Michael’s unemployment, Skinner’s nomadic lifestyle, and Lily’s pitifully squalid living conditions unites the three in their oppressive, politically ruptured environment; and yet, each is one unto themselves, representing very different attitudes towards the struggle for change. Indeed, each has an unmistakably distinct character to display; but it is the enigmatic Skinner who possesses the political astuteness and perception that allows him to accurately discern that ‘a price would be exacted’ from their sacrilegious ‘occupation’ of the Guildhall.

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Posted by: Carmen hershman

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