Act 1 Scene 2: Jo and Her Boyfriend

I think the reason that Boy doesn't have a name is because he's not an improtant character in the play. He is also black, probably decided by Delany to add drama, as the attitudes to the black community in the time that this play was written (the 1950s) were very different to those of today. Boy being a sailor could also add drama to the play because this would mean that he is away alot (confirmed by the quotes 'We won't have much time together' and 'My next leave? It's a long time, 6 months') and  both Boy and Jo would have a better chance of adultery.

In this scene, Jo implies that she is fond of the dark when she agrees to stay outside longer with Boy followed by 'Doesn't it get dark early? I like winter.' Boy reacts by quickly replying with 'I like it too. When it gets dark early it gives me more time for- (He kisses her.)' Jo contradicts herself by saying this, as the previous scene told us that 'You know I am' in reply to Helen asking if she's afraid of the dark. I think she may be saying different things to these different characters because she wants to spend longer with Boy, and also to reassure him of her attraction towards the colour of his dark skin.

Jo's attitude toward kissing in public isn't surprising in my opinion, as she tells Boy 'Don't do that. You're always doing it' as he kisses her. To me, this implies that Jo doesn't want to publicly show affection so that she's as unlike her mother as she can be. However, it could surprise you because she has previously not seemed to care how others see her.

I don't think Boy's proposal is serious, as the way he phrases it is not what I would imagine from a boy wanting a serious relationship. He says 'I'm a man of few words. Will you marry me?' and this suggests that he isn't very bothered about the proposal, and, from this proposal and his other words/actions during this scene, I feel that Boy is more interested in having sex with Jo more than anything. In the previous scene, Peter proposes to Helen with quite a different approach. He uses more persuasive language, such as 'You won't find anything better'; 'I'm young, good-looking and well set up';  and 'I may never ask you again' implying that Helen is much more capable of standing her ground when it comes to men, as she is likely to have had numerous experiences of (drunk) proposals, which is why she accuses Peter of this. She says 'You're drunk'. 

Jo suggests that she has no reason to like Boy when she says 'I don't know why I love you but I do,' however I think she is fooling herself into thinking that she loves him, as she replies to his asking of her mother's thoughts on their marriage with 'She's not marrying you, I am' which implies to me that Jo agrees to marry this simple and seemingly likeable man as a way of defying Helen. When Boy tells Jo to 'Say that again,' asking her to repeat her reply stating that she doesn't care if people see the two of them together, this and the quote 'You're the first girl I've met who really didn't care' insinuate that Boy likes Jo because of her tolerance for his ethnicity that he may not have experienced fully before. 

During our first viewing of the character of Boy, he has a toy car in his pocket. talks of drinking with the lads and says that women seem to have been 'born three thousand years old.' I think Delaney is trying to symbolise stereotypical male attitudes in one character here, either using it to amplify her point or to contradict it, as the majority of men are expected to act like boy but not many do. 

At this stage in the play, I don't feel that Jo and Boy will get married, however I would probably like them to because they seem good for each other  and as if they naturally/easily get along.