My Left Foot 4

8
M Y L E F T F O O T
Christy’s Relationships
Explorations for students
1 How is Eileen portrayed in her first
encounters with Christy?
2 Why do you think Christy first rejects
Eileen and then changes dramatically 
in his emotional response to her?
3 What change does Christy’s mother
notice in him and why does she not
respond to it in a positive way? 
4 What is the difference in response
shown by his father? Why? 
5 Eileen permits a closeness to develop
between herself and Christy without
defining the boundaries of their
relationship. How does she do this? Is
Christy ‘to blame’ for misinterpreting
their relationship? Is Eileen?
6 Christy obviously suffers pain and
humiliation when he discovers his love
for Eileen is misplaced. Has the
relationship served him any good?
Key Moment
Christy declares his love 
for Eileen
(Sequence 8)
Watch from the aerial shot of the art gallery to
the moment in the restaurant where Christy
holds the tablecloth in his mouth. 
Duration: 
6 mins. 10 secs.

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Explorations for students
1 How is Mary portrayed in her first
encounter with Christy?
2 What does Mary represent for Christy?
Why do you think he becomes attracted
to her?
3 Mary’s reading of Christy’s book is what
frames the film and gives us the story.
How important is this to our
understanding of the film?
4 At the end of the film, we are not
surprised by Mary and Christy’s