History Literature / TheButcherBoy

* NeverMyFault: After his mother commits suicide by drowning, Francie refuses to accept that he somehow provoked it and puts the blame on the Nugents again.

* {{Yandere}}: Francie's obsession with Joe as he begins to pull away. The obsessive desire to get their friendship back to what it used to be brings him to violence repeatedly, eventually causing him to [[spoiler: break into the Nugent's house and smear their walls with feces, attempt to murder Phillip for stealing Joe away from him, and break into Joe's new school so he can "break him out", though Joe has no desire to leave and is afraid and disgusted of Francie himself]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The fact that Francie works as a [[TitleDrop butcher boy]] and cuts up pig carcasses foreshadows [[spoiler: the way he kills Mrs Nugent in the finale.]]

* LemonyNarrator: The film has a bizarre sarcastic narrator, snarking at Francie's misadventures and encouraging him to do bad things (like in the defecating scene). He also amuses himself by insulting the characters, especially the adult characters and Mrs Nugent. It's later revealed the narrator is [[spoiler: adult Francie]].

* {{Yandere}}: Francie's obsession with Joe as Joe begins to pull away. The obsessive desire to get their friendship back to what it used to be brings him to violence repeatedly, eventually causing him to [[spoiler: break into the Nugent's house and smear their walls with feces, attempt to murder Phillip for stealing Joe away from him, and break into Joe's new school so he can "break him out", though Joe has no desire to leave and is afraid and disgusted of Francie himself]].

A film adaptation was made in 1997, starring Eamonn Owens (as the title character), [[Film/TheCryingGame Stephen Rea]] and [[Film/HarryPotter Fiona Shaw]]. Sinéad O'Connor cameos as the Virgin Mary.

* LemonyNarrator: The film has a bizarre sarcastic narrator, snarking at Francie's misadventures and encouraging him to do bad things (like in the defecating scene). He also amuses himself by insulting the characters, especially the adult characters and Mrs Nugent. It's later revealed the narrator is actually adult Francie.

* NeverMyFault: After his mother commits suicide by drowning, Francie refuses to accept that he somehow provoked it and puts the blame on the Nugents, especially Mrs Nugent.

* [[spoiler: OffWithHisHead: Mrs Nugent.]]

* AlphaBitch: Mrs Nugent, who is a {{jerkass}} neighbor who thinks she is superior to the Bradys and thinks of them as pigs.

* CainAndAbel: Francie's father Benny and his brother Alo.

* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: Joe was this to Francie until he got fed with it.

* DrowningMySorrows: Francie's father is a bitter and abusive alcoholic. It results in his death in the end.

* AssholeVictim: Played with. Francie sees Phillip Nugent as one, but the reader never actually sees him acting like an asshole. Francie is something of an UnreliableNarrator, has an irrationa hatred towards the Nugents and tends to spin all of Phillip's friendliness as smarmy douchebaggery.

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: The Brady family, because they are dysfunctional.

* AssholeVictim: Played with. Francie sees Mrs Nugent as one for being snobby, judgemental and having insulted his family once, but other than that, she's corteous to everyone else. Also Francie is something of an UnreliableNarrator, and tends to have an irrational hatred towards her, seeing her few moments of courtesy and friendliness as smarmy douchebaggery.

* DrowningMySorrows: This is what kills Francie's father in the end. Francie is oblivious to this and the readers only find out when the police finds his rotten corpse.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Francie accuses Mrs Nugent on being this.
-->''"I was thinking how right ma was. Mrs Nugent all smiles when she met us and how are you getting on Mrs and young Francis are you both well?...what she was really saying was: Ah hello Mrs Pig how are you and look Philip do you see what's coming now...The Pig Family!"''

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Joe is this to Francie, especially in the film. When Joe get's fed up with Francie's increasing psychotic behavior and befriends Philip Nugent, he snaps.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Francie loses his remaining sanity after Joe distances from him. He brutally kills Mrs Nugent with a bolt gun, dismembering her corpse. He's captured and sent to a mental hospital where he writes memoirs about the murder and he attempts to forge a friendship with an inmate similar to the one he had with Joe.]]

* BittersweetEnding: In both the book and the film adaptation.
** [[spoiler:In the book, Francie, still delusional, is sent to a mental hospital where he writes memoirs about how he killed Mrs Nugent and he attempts to forge a friendship with an inmate similar to the one he had with Joe.]]
** [[spoiler:In the film, a much older Francie is released from the psychiatric hospital at the end to be brought to a halfway house, where he seems to have regained his sanity at last.]]

is horribly killed and butchered by Francie.]]

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Mrs Nugent, a snobby and judgemental woman, is horribly killed and butchered by Francie.]]

** [[spoiler:In the film, a much older Francie is released from the psychiatric hospital at the end to be brought to a halfway house, where he seems to have matured.]]

* GreenEyedMonster: Not that he ever accepts it, but Francie is jealous of the Nugents because they are a happy and stable family.

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Joe is this to Francie, especially in the film. When Joe matures and befriends Philip Nugent, cutting all ties with Francie, he snaps.

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior
* UnreliableNarrator: It's Francie after all ...

A film adaptation was made in 1997, starring Eamonn Owens (as the title character), [[Film/TheCryingGame Stephen Rea]] and [[Film/HarryPotter FionaShaw]]. Sinéad O'Connor cameos as the Virgin Mary.

A film adaptation was made in 1997, starring Eamonn Owens (as the title character), [[Film/TheCryingGame Stephen Rea]] and [[Main/HarryPotter Fiona Shaw]]. Sinéad O'Connor cameos as the Virgin Mary.

** CloudcuckoolandersMinder: Joe was this to Francie until he got fed with it.

''The Butcher Boy'' is a 1992 novel by Patrick McCabe. Set in a small town in Ireland in the early 1960s, it tells the story of Francie Brady, a delusional boy who retreats into a violent fantasy world as his troubled home life collapses.

The Butcher Boy is a 1992 novel by Patrick McCabe. Set in a small town in Ireland in the early 1960s, it tells the story of Francie Brady, a delusional boy who retreats into a violent fantasy world as his troubled home life collapses.