Brat Farrar, a novel by Josephine Tey, starts by introducing the Ashby family, a household in England that had an estate in the country and a horse riding business near its stables. The Ashbys were mainly led by Aunt Bee, the sister to Bob Ashby and his wife, the previous owners of the estate before they died. The previous owners had left Aunt Bee with four children: Simon, a boy of twenty-one years; Eleanor, a girl of eighteen years; and twins of nine years. Shortly after their parents’ death, Patrick, Simon’s older twin brother, had gone missing and left a suicide note. Meanwhile, Brat Farrar, an orphan who came to London from America, meets Alec Loding, who convinces Brat to impersonate Patrick and claim the Ashby family inheritance. For a few weeks, Alec privately trains Brat to understand Patrick fully, so that he can completely impersonate him. Later, Brat Farrar arrives on the Ashbys’ estate, with the identity of ‘Patrick’, and soon convinces everyone except Simon, who completely denies the possibility of his coming back. Over the time spent with the Ashbys, Brat is suspicious of Simon, and believes that he already knows that he is an imposter, even though Brat had impersonated Patrick’s identity flawlessly. Soon, a series of investigations lead Brat Farrar to the conclusion that it was Simon who killed Patrick to gain the Ashby inheritance. His suspicions are confirmed after Simon attempts to murder Brat, as his existence threatens Simon’s opportunities. However, Brat survives, and in a fight, severely injures himself and Simon dies. After Simon gets exposed, it is also discovered that Brat is in reality the illegitimate son of Aunt Bee’s cousin Walter.
Throughout the course of the novel, Simon’s ever-growing suspicion of Brat Farrar is shown through their tense interactions and Simon’s repetitive way of asking Brat unimportant, little details of their old life. Simon is the only member in the Ashby family who completely denies the fact that his twin brother is back, and doesn’t seem proud of his arrival. “‘I don't believe for one moment that it is Patrick," Simon said, in a tight, careful voice that was worse than shouting.’” (Tey, 8). Simon’s determined tone that ‘Patrick’ was not in fact Brat Farrar, foreshadows that he might know something that leads him to these speculations.In Chapter 8, when Aunt Bee introduces “Patrick” to Simon, he rejects the idea that his twin brother is back and doesn’t seem even a little glad that the twins could reunite. After Simon leaves, Eleanor reflects on how impolite and ungrateful Simon is to Aunt Bee: ‘“I've never known Simon like that before,” Eleanor said, puzzled. “I should have broken it to him differently. I'm afraid it is my fault. I just—didn't want to make him different from anyone else.” “But he loved Patrick, didn't he? Why shouldn't he be glad about it? Even a little glad!”’ (Tey, 8). While it may seem like just a matter of impoliteness, unfamiliarity, or even hostility, the novel builds suspense that makes the reader hypothesize more about Simon and how he may be related to Partick’s supposed suicide. Moreover, throughout Brat’s new life living with Ashby, he realizes that Simon repeatedly attempts to test him about all sorts of things in Patrick’s previous life. For instance, while practicing horse riding near the Ashby stables, Simon suddenly asks Brat Farrar about Patrick’s old horse, as if trying to test him. Simon doesn’t completely accept the fact that Patrick is back and repeatedly asks Brat questions as if attempting to expose him as an impersonator.
Other than Simon, Brat Farrar is also shown to repeatedly become more suspicious of Simon and his relations to Patrick’s supposed suicide, especially because of his firm thought that Brat was indeed not his twin brother. Because of this, Brat Farrar has also had several internal conflicts, as he didn’t know whether to find out the truth and the cost of exposing his true identity and to keep it the same. For instance, throughout the novel, Simon’s determination on the fact that Patrick couldn’t be back says many things. For one, he most likely knew that Brat Farrar was an imposter from the very start, even though Brat Farrar learned everything about Patrick from his lessons with Alec. When he first meets ‘Patrick’ again, Simon very firmly rejects that he is in fact his real twin brother. “‘I don't believe for one moment that it is Patrick," Simon said, in a tight, careful voice that was worse than shouting.’” (Tey, 8). In addition, his firmness also says that he most likely knows a bit about the truth behind Patrick’s supposed suicide and death. After reflecting upon Simon’s peculiar reactions and interactions with him, Brat Farrar comes to the possible conclusion that Simon had murdered his own twin brother in order to gain the Ashby inheritance. Brat Farrar is conflicted internally, because of his understanding of the truth but also from his identity as an impersonator. He could possibly expose Simon with all the gathered clues and evidence, but this would take away a possible fortune and a comfortable home in a real family for once. For, as an orphan, it was one of the first times Brat Farrar actually felt like he belonged in a true family with welcoming arms. Brat Farrar has had multiple internal conflicts centering on moral virtues after he grows increasingly suspicious of Simon.
The interactions between Brat Farrar and Simon grow increasingly tense, especially after they each know the truth about each other, and both realize it silently. For instance, throughout the novel, Simon challenges and deliberately places Brat in tense situations that could possibly lead to his exposing of his true identity. Rather than accusing Brat Farrar directly in public, the two characters each communicate and show their own intentions silently with one another, without letting other people know, for they each have their own secrets. “So Simon had refused to believe that he was Patrick. "Not much point in saying you're not, I should think." That could only mean that Simon, in the face of all the evidence, refused to accept him.” (Tey, 12). Simon is unable to fully expose Brat Farrar because he also had to keep the truth behind Patrick’s death a secret. Brat, on the other hand, couldn’t tell everyone about Simon’s murder of his twin brother, for fear of exposing his own identity and losing the Ashby family’s heritage and welcome. Because it would be of no use to receive any conflicts with external forces, Brat Farrar and Simon only had one choice of dealing with the situation themselves. Throughout Brat’s new life living with the Ashbys, he realizes how Simon repeatedly attempts to test him about all sorts of things in Patrick’s previous life. For instance, while practicing horse riding near the Ashby stables, Simon suddenly asks Brat Farrar about Patrick’s old horse, as if trying to test him. Simon doesn’t completely accept the fact that Patrick is back and repeatedly asks Brat questions as if attempting to expose him as an impersonator. These tense interactions between the two suggest a possible fight to determine the victorious one of the two. In other words, it would be a fight to see who can last longer with their own secret without getting exposed themselves. There are rising tensions throughout the interactions between Simon and Brat Farrar, suggesting a climax in the upcoming events, most likely occurring because of their conflicts.
Brat Farrar narrates the story of how the main protagonist, Brat, impersonates a long-lost twin of the Ashby family in order to earn its heritage. However, his scheme is influenced by Simon, Patrick’s twin brother, who seems to identify Brat as an impersonator just from the very start. After finding out that Simon was the one who murdered Patrick in order to gain the Ashby family’s inheritance, Simon and Brat are both injured, with Simon dead, in a serious fight. After justice is served, a member of the Ashby family identifies Brat as the illegitimate son of Aunt Bee’s cousin. Throughout the course of the novel, Simon’s ever-growing suspicion of Brat Farrar is shown through their tense interactions and Simon’s repetitive way of asking Brat unimportant, little details of their old life. Other than Simon, Brat Farrar is also shown to repeatedly become more suspicious of Simon and his relations to Patrick’s supposed suicide, especially because of his firm thought that Brat was indeed not his twin brother. Brat Farrar has had multiple internal conflicts centering on moral virtues after he grows increasingly suspicious of Simon. The interactions between Brat Farrar and Simon grow increasingly tense, especially after they each know the truth about each other, and both realize it silently, as they are afraid of exposing their own secrets after revealing the others’.
Works Cited
Tey, Josephine. “Brat Farrar”, Project Gutenberg
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