The prosecution will show that Smith has no intentions of changing his attitude, or his actions toward society.

The defense will show that Smith may have committed some physical crimes, but it is at the fault of his upbringing, and the society around the misguided adolescent.

Smith wants to assert himself and not be led along like a racehorse, which is what the Governor treats him like. To do this he must take the one thing he does well, his running, and turn it into his advantage. Smith is cunning and appears to want to please the Governor. Smith says, “I admit there has been times I thought of telling the Governor, but I’ve changed my mind (Sillitoe, 18).” The Governor is also cunning, and tries to appear like he wants to help or reform Smith. The Governor says, “ We want hard honest work and good athletics, if you give us both these things you can be s

Before the race, Smith is valued by the in-laws for the prestige of his, expected victory. Expected, because they don’t think he has a mind or any will of his own. Smith points out, “the governor cannot make an X-ray of our guts to see what we are telling ourselves” (Sillitoe, 10), concluding the governor doesn’t catch on to what he is doing until it’s too late. But, Smith determines that “He can see further in the likes of the governor can see in him” (Sillitoe, 13), because he knows the governor doesn’t care one bit about the person running the race, but only about winning the race.

Smith was sentenced to eighteen months in Essex Borstal to be rehabilitated from his outlaw ways. Once there, the Governor recognized Smith had a talent for running, and offered him a chance to participate in the All-England long distance race. The Governor put his trusts in to Smith by letting him train for the race unsupervised. The Governor encouraged Smith to take care of himself, and offered to help him with his future training so Smith could have a productive life as a runner. That is if he won the race.

The question is who made Smith the way he is? Did Smith wake up one morning and say I’m an outlaw, and I hate the in-laws? Well of course not. Many outside influenced why Smith is who he is. The TV and movie advertisements, the lower class situation, his mother, and mostly his father’s death contributed to all of Smiths actions. The money received from his father’s death led to a new lifestyle and Smith did not want to return his old ways of working hard like his father did till he died. Smith’s upbringing is the one to blame not Smith who is just a misguided adolescent.

Smith thinks that his kind, the outlaws, are at war with the governors kind, the in-laws and he says, “ the in-laws and outlaws just don’t see eye to eye, that is how it stands and how it will always stand (Sillitoe, 8). “ The governor is training Smith to race for the Borstal Blue Ribbon Cup for Long Distance cross-country Running (All England); but Smith, even though he likes running he has no intention of trying to win the race or change his way of life. In fact he says, “I’ll tell you now, I haven’t finished making all my false moves yet, and I dare say I won’t until I’ve kicked the bucket” (Sillitoe, 10). Instead, Smith plans on throwing the race to teach the governor a lesson about honesty, and losing the race, that the governor wants so desperately for him to win, is the only way he has to do that.

Smith’s intentions behind losing the race were to teach the governor and his kind, the in-laws, a lesson about his brand of honesty. He thinks the governor treats him like a “prize race horse,” one example of this is displayed by the governor and his peers placing bets on him to win(Sillitoe, 41). Smith confirms that ”here was a dead cert going to die on the big name they had built for him…”(Sillitoe, 41).

The first time that Smith got his first taste of financial comfort was when his father died a painful death from cancer. The insurance money received from his father

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