The effects of Mickey and Edward’s different upbringings are a major plot point in Willy Russell’s play Blood Brothers. The play examines how class affects society and how the lives of the two main characters are shaped by their experiences.

Mickey was raised in a very different environment than Edward. He is raised in a working-class family in a run-down neighbourhood of Liverpool and is born into poverty. As a result of her financial difficulties, Mickey’s mother, Mrs. Johnstone, is compelled to give one of her twins, Edward, to Mrs. Lyons, a prosperous woman who is unable to bear children of her own. A fierce protector of his younger brother Sammy, Mickey was raised with a strong sense of loyalty to his family and friends.