Act 2

• "There's a big crack doon the middle. The two halfs don't sit right - aw squinty."

  The broken mirror symbolises Davie's unwillingness to fix anything in his life. The mirror frustrates Alec - another sign of his dad giving up.
• "You stick in son. Get yerself a good education. Get a decent job. Collar and tie. Never have to take your jacket off."

  Davie, who has lost hope, wants his son to escape a similar fate.
• "You'll get out using your brains”

  Davie recognises that, for Alec, education is his ticket to a better future.
• "Got it on tick. Pay it up. Nae bother."

  Davie is broke but buys a school blazer for Alec on credit. Risky, but a sacrifice he's willing to make to help his son achieve his potential.
• "This is a great chance yer getting son. Great opportunity. Get yerself a good education."

  Davie has no hope for himself, but dreams of a better future for Alec 
• "Had to sell them. Coupla quid for the lot."

  Davie is clearly very hard up. His record collection goes for next to nothing in his desperate effort to make ends meet.
• "Is it gonnae be long hair and ban the bomb noo?"

  Davie, wounded by Alec's criticism, attacks his son's changing fixations.
• "Electricity got cut off son. Couldnae pay the bill."

  Davie is really struggling.
• "Used to read a lot you know."

  Again, a flash of Davie's more intellectual side. This thirst for knowledge appears to have disappeared.
• "There was gonnae be nothing left after ah'd paid the light bill. Had tae take a

  chance."

  Davie, instead of paying the bill, has gambled the money. He is desperate for better things, and this fuels his reckless behaviour.
• "Think a came fae another planet."

  Davie articulates the distance he feels from his son. He feels his son's lack of respect for him, and knows that he is pushing away.
• "Ach aye, yirra good boy son. Wallop''

  Davie slaps his son and Alec is indignant. The tension between the pair has built to this emotionally charged climax.
• "Ah'll get some themorra, when the dole money comes."

  There's no coal and, like with other things, Davie promises that "soon" he'll sort it...
• "Ah'm better on the broo than daen that, any day."

  Davie feels hopeless. He remembers how unpleasant his job as a tick man was and would rather take benefits than endure it again.
• "Ah suppose it's the feelin you've at least got a chance."

  This is a fairly heartfelt admission - Davie feels so helpless that he clings to the illusion of hope
• "A worked on the Queen Mary ye know?

  Davie speaks with pride about the ships he worked on. is glory days, he thinks, are very much behind him.
• "Been goin downhill since then but."

  The collapse of the shipbuilding industry has seen Davie's profession erased. The los leaves him feeling helpless and without purpose.
• "Hardest wood in the world. Should bum nice an slow."

  Davie's fine tools, once the heart of his trade as a sailmaker, are burnt as fuel to heat the flat - worthless, just like Davie feels.
• "Seems a shame tae break it up."

  Furniture Davie got when he was married is added to the fire. The past is gone, and any remnants of a better time are destroyed.