Response to Course Material (4/27)

We have been going full speed the past month and it still does not feel like we have enough time to get everything done.

Before we finished Ceremony, we all read different criticisms of the novel and discussed them. I thought this was interesting, especially because there are so many aspects to Ceremony. I think they did add to the understanding of the Pueblo culture more and helped with the understanding of the whole novel.

Coming up with a theme statement for Ceremony seemed to be the most uncomfortable experience in AP lit yet. Ceremony seems to be the type of book that you can read a thousand times and still find something new. I also feel cheated reading it because I think I would understand it more if I understood all the intricacies of the Laguna Pueblo culture.

I always find it interesting to read from a completely different culture. I have noticed that even if the culture follows a traditional Western plot, I find discrepancies with my own culture. Romeo and Juliet, for instance, was extremely hard for me to read seriously, and I to be honest, I still cannot get into the mindset of the culture it was written in. I can still understand the culture, but I am always a bit skeptical.

We also analysed several poems in one setting, which was interesting. I find it difficult to analyse poem because I just do not enjoy doing it. Most of the time, I end up resenting a poem I had originally liked. Sometimes there are poems that I feel do not have some profound meaning; sometimes a poem about sex just is a poem about sex in my mind. Still, analyzing poetry has given me insights into poems in the past, and I am aware that i will encounter poetry both on the AP test and in college.

For the first time, we had individual multiple choice practice. Personally, I am better at the essays than I am at the multiple choice. This was also true in AP World. I like having some wiggle room where am not forced to know one answer. The essay allow for more interpretation and persuasion as opposed to right and wrong.

The added practice in the last few weeks has been really helpful. We have been doing more timed essays and multiple choice practice which is great. My group did a lot better on the multiple choice practice. I am not sure if it was because the passage was easier to understand or because we are just better at taking the multiple choice (personally I think it is largely the first one, with some of the other mixed in). I think some passages are definitely going to be easier on the test. I have found that if I have some background with the author, the questions are much easier.

Before we started the Weebly assignment we discussed some Open Prompts. It is funny to see that there are prompts that are just flawed, and we have to figure out how to make it work in our time limit. For the open prompt, I am convinced that I will have to use a novel/play I have read in the last year. It is difficult for me to remember enough from past things I have read accurately enough to write an essay about it. Still, I think Hamlet and Death of a Salesman can really cover any prompt. If they do not, I have a few other options in my back pocket.

The Weebly project was fun. I liked getting a chance to work with someone from another class. When assigned the project, I was really worried I would not have enough time. Even though I could not work on it for the weekend, I still think Susheela and I worked on it a normal amount of time and were able to finish. I think it shows how far I have come in the past year. Normally that assignment would have scared me to death, but I was able to do the assignment with minimal stress while I had another project in another class due the same day and a million other things to do.

I think that most of the reason I was not stressed is because AP lit has helped with time management, especially because we know our assignments for the semester and have to manage when we are going to do them.

Open Prompt 2 (4/20)

2005. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899), protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess “That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions.” In a novel or play that you have studied, identify a character who outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Then write an essay in which you analyze how this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid mere plot summary.

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet juggles a personal need to leave the kingdom, honoring his own beliefs, or stay and exact revenge for his father. Through the ghost of his father and the pleas of his mother and uncle, Hamlet is constantly being urged to remain in the Elsinore. Still, his thoughts lie in abandoning his place as the prince and turning to his own beliefs on murder. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the decision to conform to his royal duties and filial piety leads Hamlet down a destruction path towards a lack of identity and immoral acts.

From the moment Hamlet is forced to stay in Elsinore, he wishes to be away from the poison of his family and royalty. His struggle furthers when his father’s ghost asks him to kill his uncle Claudius to avenge his father. Hamlet takes issue with killing anyone. Despite a cultural obligation to his father, Hamlet’s own religious belief is that killing anyone is wrong. From his perspective he should not kill Claudius. Still, by the end of the play, Hamlet manages to do just as his father asks, killing Claudius after Claudius plots to kill him. Hamlet’s even larger struggle is one he grapples with from his first scene. He contemplates suicide multiple times during the play, proposing the question, “To be or not to be” to himself. Hamlet believes that the only way out of his obligations as prince is through death. The only reason Hamlet does not end his life is because the prominent religious beliefs he has been taught promote suicide as a sin, and Hamlet cannot be sure that the afterlife will truly be better than the kingdom he calls a prison. Again, Hamlet conforms to the Catholic beliefs of his family, rather than the Protestant beliefs he developed at school in Wittenberg.

Hamlet’s inward struggle is similar to the other characters in Hamlet in that they are all putting on a performance. The public must see a tailored version of Claudius, one that is not the murderer of his own brother, but a loving king. The differences in the image presented and the truth allows for a lack of understanding in his own identity. No character can easily pin down his/her own true self, and therefore cannot make sound decisions. Both Claudius and Hamlet go down a path of destruction that ends in death. Before death, Claudius and Hamlet make the most immoral decision in killing each other and ruining the royal family. Hamlet’s conformity leads to everyone’s destruction because he fails to understand his own self. If Hamlet had understood and held his own opinions, he would not have gone down the same path, and would have been able to keep the royal family from falling apart. Because Hamlet ignores his true identity and beliefs, his decisions are made without grounds or reasoning, so they only manage to hurt those around him.

Ceremony Summary and Analysis

Author: Leslie Marmon Silko-- She is both Laguna Pueblo and white. She grew up and still lives on the Laguna Pueblo Reservation

Setting: Laguna Pueblo Reservation, areas around the Reservation

             immediately following WWII

Characters:

Tayo is half Mexican and half Pueblo Laguna. He grew up on the reservation with his uncle, aunt, cousin, and grandmother. Tayo is just getting back from fighting the Japanese in WWII alongside his cousin, whom he considers a brother. His cousin dies fighting in the war, and his uncle dies while he is away. Tayo is trying to complete the ceremony that will restore his community and fix the destruction caused by the witches like Emo. He is also the Sun spirit.

Betonie is the medicine man who tells Tayo about his role in the ceremony and puts Tayo on the path to understanding the evil in the world. He is trying to create a ceremony that will account for the changes in the world. He is not well loved by some of the natives because he wants to make changes to the ceremony, which they fear because they believe that the “whites” caused the destruction in the first place.

Emo is the one of the many natives that went to fight in WWII. He is shown as a truly evil character with the way he disregards human and animal life. Towards the end he tries to interfere with the ceremony and blind the Pueblo people into thinking that the white people are causing the destruction, proving he is a witch.

Auntie is Tayo’s aunt. She is the head of the family, but does not beliebe in Pueblo customs. She is instead a Christian. Her relationship with Tayo is strained, especially after Rocky, her son dies. She makes Tayo feel like he is not a part of the family or the Pueblo community.

Josiah is Tayo’s uncle. He buys hybrid cattle when the Night Swan tells him he should. He is accepting of change, but still believes in Pueblo customs. He is the father figure for Tayo throughout his childhood.

Ts’eh/The Woman is the incarnation of A’moo’ooh. She guides Tayo through the ceremony and has both a romantic and sexual relationship with him though she is technically married to the Hunter.

The Hunter helps Tayp find his way back to the cattle and is the incarnation of an animal spirit.

Grandma is Tayo’s grandmother. She strictly believes in the Pueblo customs which she displays when she tells Tayo to go to the medicine man when he is sick.  

Descheeny is Betonie's grandfather and a medicine man. He began the changes to the ceremony.

Rocky is Tayo’s cousin who does in war. He was resentful of the Pueblo culture and how it held him back.

Harley is Tayo’s childhood friend who also fought in the war. In the end, he sides with Emo against Tayo. But is killed by Emo when he decides to go against him.

Pinky is another friend of Tayo’s. He is also killed by Emo in the end.

Leroy is also a friend of Tayo’s that sides with Emo. He is constantly drinking.

Old Ku’oosh is another medicine man that sends Tayo to Betonie so he can get help and complete the ceremony.

Plot:

Tayo returns to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation after the war, feeling he does not belong and constantly getting sick. He is upset over the deaths of his Uncle Josiah and his cousin, Rocky. He also feels he is the cause of a drought plaguing the Laguna people. Many of his childhood friends seem to be facing the same issues, though Tayo is not able to feel a connection with them either. They all seem to want to escape the restraints caused by the Laguna culture and become white instead. He is bothered by Emo especially, whom he stabs in the stomach in anger and disgust.

Tayo is helped by the medicine man Betonie and the medicine man Ku’oosh to understand the destruction in the community and how Tayo can fix it. Tayo realizes that he needs to recover the hybrid cattle that Josiah bought. He bought the cattle because the Night Swan, with whom he had a romantic and sexual relationship, told him he should. The Night Swan also had a sexual experience with Tayo before telling him that he is meant for something.

Tayo searches for the hybrid cattle, which he eventually finds after having a sexual experience with the Woman, who is the incarnation of the spirit A’moo’ooh. Tayo is caught by some white men, but they let him go when they go searching for a mountain lion. The Hunter leads Tayo the hybrid cattle on his land. The Woman and Hunter keep the cattle until Tayp returns.

While staying with the Woman, Tayo learns from Robert that Emo is gathering people to come after Tayo, saying he is crazy. Tayo runs, and finds Leroy and Harley, but realizes that they are on Emo’s side. He hides again at the emergence point. There Emo kills Harley in front of Tayo, though Tayo must do nothing.

The ceremony is completed and Tayo returns to the Laguna people having stopped the destruction and ended the drought.

Theme: Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony warns that evil, as well as good, is present in all cultures, and ending evil is possible through balancing personal and foreign cultures.

Ceremony focuses largely on the destruction that is being caused on the Laguna Pueblo, but it also emphasizes that the same destruction (the atomic bomb for example) is being placed on others, like the Japanese. All the cultures have destruction present. The destruction is not caused by white people but witches. The changed ceremony finally ended the destruction.

The ceremony, Tayo, and the cattle are all hybrids. All the hybrids that combine cultures an ideas are able to flourish and even fix the destruction already caused by the witches. Tayo completes the ceremony that ends destruction and the hybrid cattle are a large aspect of the ceremony (clouds).

Motifs:

Hybridity

White/Yellow light

Yellow

Fertility

Direction

destruction...violence

5th world

animal spirits

nature

unnatural v. natural

belly/emotions

Balance

Tradition

Change

POV:

At times the point of view changes from third to first person. Tayo seems to be waking up from a dream or sickness at these times. Still, the third person focuses in Tayo’s actions, though sometimes past people or different characters will be focused on. There is also poems flowing throughout the piece, mirroring Tayo’s own journey.

Tone:

Silko’s tone is serious. She is trying to put the reader through the same ceremony that Tayo is completing. She wants the reader to consider how cultures interact and the destruction. the ceremony is for the Laguna people as well as the reader.

Imagery:

Ceremony has a large emphasis on natural imagery. The nature in the piece is so simportant because the Laguna Pueblo place such a large importance on animal spirits and nature. Much of the nature and light is described as yellow, the natural light from the sun. Any light that is white is artificial and blinding, like the atomic bomb. The yellow light is a guiding force and the white is destructive. At times, Silko uses specific and disturbing imagery to describe Emo and his actions, further showing he is truly evil.

Symbols:

The hybrid cattle represents the stars and sky that the Gambler took. Tayo must recover the cattle to complete the ceremony. Their hybridity also represent how blending cultures leads to less destruction.

The burrow represents animal spirits trying to guide Tayo and the Laguna people through the ceremony and away from destruction.

Quotes:

“From the jungles of his dreaming he recognized why the Japanese voices had merged with Laguna voices, with Josiah’s voice and Rocky’s voice; the lines of cultures and worlds were drawn in flat dark lines on fine light sand, converging in the middle of witchery's final ceremonial sand painting. From that time on, human beings were one clan again” (228)

This quote shows how Tayo sees the destruction caused by the witches is shared by everyone. He understands the destruction more than the other Laguna people like Leroy and Harley. Tayo sees that the world should focus more on the similarities between people. There needs to be a balance of cultures and a balance of new and traditional ideas in the culture.

“It seems like I already heard these stories before...only thing is, the names sound different” (242)

Grandma is recognizing that the story of the ceremony and destruction is being retold. Tayo’s story is the same as the poems told in Laguna culture that are such a large part of their beliefs. Old Grandma sees that the issues with the Laguna people wanting to be white, like Emo, has happened before. Destruction has always been part of the Laguna culture.

Response to Course Material (3/16)

One of the tasks we focused on was multiple choice practice for the AP test. Unfortunately, that was our last time working on the multiple choice in groups. I think there are both positive and negative effects to working with a group. On one hand, groups provide more minds that can add to understanding in any scenario. But, they also add doubt. At times, working with others can cause me to doubt a correct answer, and I think I caused doubt for my group members as well. Still, I will have to see how I manage the questions alone.

We also talked about Ros. and Guil. more. I particularly liked the discussion of this play, because I think it has so much to explore and there are so many contradictions. Just when someone thinks he/she has a grasp on it, someone else can go, “but what about…”. There are constant issues within the play. I have always thought that one piece of literature can have many different meanings, and Ros. and Guil. are Dead is a prime example of different interpretations.

Speaking of many interpretations of literature, we also looked at critical lenses. It seems like some of the lenses kind of sink into our discussions at times. We never looked at The American Dream in depth from the Feminism lense, but it was still part of our discussion. I am also guilty of looking at literature and media and wondering what the role of women is supposed to be in the work and how that comments on women in society. I do not necessarily only question that one aspect, but it is taken into consideration. Any of the critical lenses can be part of our discussion without us explicitly stating that we are looking at a work from that lense.

I think a whole new meaning can be found in things from a different perspective, which is a concept we touched on when we read an article written about a whole different culture analysing Hamlet differently than the traditional Western perspective.

We spent an entire class period talking about Northrop Frye and his own way to critically analyse works. Under his system, Death of a Salesman would be considered irony. Again, the concept of different perspective comes in. This seems like an interesting time to look at new perspectives. For the first time, we are exploring an unfamiliar culture in Ceremony. The American Dream and Death of a Salesman take place and were written in mid 20th century America. Hamlet takes place in Medieval times, but was written during the Renaissance. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is based off Hamlet and was written in the mid 20th century.

Ceremony is written in a whole new writing style that we are not used to. All the others, are written in traditional Western structure and are pieces that are more common. The idea that we get to explore a new culture and a new writing style is quite interesting. We also get to do so, with more critical lenses in our pocket to draw from.

We have looked at Ceremony some over the past few weeks. The entire idea of perspective and order is throwing me off some. I have read things with changing perspectives and things written out of order before, but it is much harder to get my bearings with the story told out of order. It is hard to get a typical exposition understanding before the plot starts when the exposition happens with plot.

Open Prompt 2 (3/9)

2008. In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of a minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character. Choose a novel or play in which a minor character serves as a foil for the main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the relation between the minor character and the major character illuminates the meaning of the work.

Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner works to force the bad attributes of Amir through his foil in the character Hassan. The relationship between the two boys is shown to be one-sided with Hassan acting as a friend to Amir, but Amir also forcing to act as a servant. The lack of definition of their relationship causes Amir to display that he cannot act as a true friend because he is jealous and afraid. Hassan, on the other hand, shows that he is truly a good friend and person by treating Amir as a friend even when he does not act like one. Through their relationship, Hosseini displays that redemption can only be found through actions.

Hassan’s admirable attributes only add to Amir’s lack of honorable actions throughout the first half of the book. Amir has more than Hassan in the form of material things, but he can never relate to his father, Baba, like Hassan can. Because of this, Amir channels his jealous into mean quips at Hassan. He tries to push Hassan, asking him if he would let him throw things at him at one point. In reply, Hassan says that Amir would never do that to him. This type of interaction is common as the boys develop their relationship. As time goes on, Amir proves to become more cruel. When Hassan is raped and assaulted trying to defend the kite he won for Amir, Amir runs away and pretends it did not happen. Even after the incident, Amir proves he is not the friend Hassan is, as he tries to push Hassan away. Eventually, he makes it look like Hassan stole his things to try to get him to leave. In his last actions of loyalty, Hassan admits he stole Amir’s things and leaves with his own father. This action shows that Hassan sees Amir as his true friend and Amir is further portrayed as a cowardly character. Though he feels the need to help Hassan, his actions always push Hassan away and make him feel like a servant rather than a friend.

Throughout the remainder of the book, Amir takes actions to make up for what he did to Hassan. At times, Amir conveys that he sees Amir as more than a servant, though he does not ever label him as a friend. Still, towards the end of the book, Amir learns that Hassan is his brother, changing his perspective. The new definition of their relationship makes Amir’s need to make up for his past actions stronger. Though Hassan is dead, he still acts as Amir’s moral compass, steering Amir towards redemption. Many times, Amir seems to show he is sorry for his actions against Hassan, but it is his actions in saving Hassan’s son that redeem Amir. The redefinition of the relationship between Amir and Hassan is the main reason Amir is able to overcome his cowardice and stand up for the relationship he never believed in as a child. Instead of treating Hassan as a servant, he treats him as a brother, and friend, showing that he is no longer a jealous coward, but instead more like the honorable friend Hassan is.

Amir’s growth throughout The Kite Runner is directly defined by the relationship he has with Hassan. At the beginning of the book, Hassan acts as his polar opposite, but by the end, he is the moral guide that Amir follows, leading him towards redemption. Though Amir may feel bad for what he does to Hassan, it is only through his actions that he is truly redeemed. Once he begins to act honorably as Hassan does, he is able to give back to Hassan and prove he is a good friend and brother.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Author: Tom Stoppard, a Czechoslovakian writer. He also wrote the screenplay and directed the movie form of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

Setting:  A stage which Ros. and Guil. are confined to

Characters:

Rosencrantz is a character derived from Hamlet. He is generally not very smart. He does not notice when unlikely things happen and he does not seem concerned with understanding life, like his counterpart is. He often wants to play games and usually believes he is supposed to be playing them even when he is not. Many times, his goal is to make Guildenstern happy. At times, he recognizes there is an audience.

Guildenstern is also a characters derived from Hamlet. He is very much concerned with understanding life and has enough knowledge to know that certain things that are happening (like the coin coming up heads over ninety times in a row) should not be happening. He is usually unhappy and sometimes seeks comfort through interaction with Rosencrantz. He seems to know he is in a play various times throughout the piece. Before his death, he shows that he knows the play will restart again.

The Player is a very minor character derived from Hamlet. He seems to be the most aware that they are in a production and are acting. At times he recognizes and refers to the audience. He is also the leader of the Tragedians, a group of actors. Throughout the play, he gives Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hints to their death and explains how all plays must end. He puts on a play (Hamlet) for the king, but it upsets him and he must leave. In the end, Guildenstern tries to kill him, but he just stands up again, displaying he is an actor.

Hamlet is derived from Hamlet. He seems aware that he is an actor and not actually Hamlet.

Also...King, Queen, Tragedians

Summary:

At the beginning, Ros. and Guil. are flipping coins, with the coin coming up heads every time. They realize they were awoken by a messenger to go to Denmark on the king’s orders. Both are still confused about what is happening, but Guil. continually tries to reason out what is happening to them.

Ros. and Guil. meet the Player and the Tragedians while on their journey to Elsinore. The Player offers the tragedians up for a performance (sexual) for money. Eventually Guil. recognizes what is happening and becomes curious, asking the Player questions. Guil makes several bets with the Player that the Player cannot win, and they end up flipping coins again, with the Player keeping his foot on the coin in the last round. The Tragedians leave with the Player and the coin is seen to be tails.

Ros. and Guil. find out that they are meant to figure out what is wrong with Hamlet. To pass time before seeing Hamlet, they play a few question games which Ros. wins most of. Finally they practice asking Hamlet questions, but Ros. just ends up confused and they never practice correctly.

They finally talk to Hamlet, but afterward Ros. claims that they got nothing out of him, claiming that he won the game of questions. Guil. claims they can say they made progress.

The Player and the Tragedians show up at Elsinore and are mad at Ros. and Guil. for leaving them in the woods where they were putting on a play for Ros. and Guil. The Player also drops hints of their fate and the fact that they will never understand life. The tragedians leave to prepare the play Hamlet has asked them to perform.

Ros. and Guil. witness a scene between Ophelia and Hamlet (not in play) before seeing the King and Queen again. They still are not able to understand why Hamlet is so upset.

The Tragedians put on a play (Hamlet) showing two actors dressed as Ros and Guil. dead. Neither Ros. and Guil. grasp that they will die soon too. Instead they are confused adn more conversations hold mixed up language.

Ros. and Guil. find out they must take Hamlet to England. They are unsure what will happen to them if they do take him and worry they will cease to exist/die.

Act 3 starts with Ros. and Guil. on a dark ship. They are unsure of where they are, but they figure out they are delivering a letter from the King and Hamlet to England. Their confusion continues, with the same conversations they have had a few times in the play.

While Ros. and Guil. are asleep, Hamlet switches the letters out. When Ros. and Guil. wake up, they realize that the Tragedians are also on the ship, and they all must hide when the pirates take the ship. Finally, Ros. and Guil. read the letter Hamlet put in the envelope and see they are going to die instead of Hamlet. Guil. is suddenly angry and more confused and tries to kill the Player, but he just pretends to die and then stand up again.

Ros. disappears, claiming he is relieved. Guil. says they will know better next time, displaying that he knows the play will just start over. The play ends with the last words from Hamlet.

Motifs:

death

control (free will/fate/providence)

existentialism

theatre of the absurd

language

art v. reality

games

memory

religion

fourth wall

duality (coin)

intertextuality

life as a stage

identity

homo eroticism

friendship

Theme Statement: Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead conveys that there are questions that not even writers have the answers to.

In the play, Stoppard presents many questions to the audience that he never answers, questions of free will and direction as well as life and death. Stoppard presents many options to these questions, though they all contradict each other.

On one hand:

Though Ros. and Guil. do not have any control over their own actions because they are written into existence, Stoppard emphasizes that art is not life. This distinction allows for the audience to see that in real life, people do have control. Even with control, death is the ultimate outcome that cannot be changed for all. This proposes another question of how much free will people have.

And on the other:

He is emphasizing the similarities in art and life through making the distinctions. If this is true, the people in the audience do not really have control over their actions but instead are just living a life of circumstance, where random things are happening. Then again, it could be that there is some force controlling life, as Stoppard is controlling Ros. and Guil.

Stoppard presents questions to the audience with several answers that cannot all be true, but are all possible conclusions. Still, he emphasizes that he does not have the answers and really no one does.

POV:

Many of the “characters” in the play, like the Player and Hamlet are aware they are in a play and know they are acting. Ros. and Guil. are also aware at times. They recognize the audience and see they are stuck in a script. The recognition of the audience makes parts more uncomfortable.

Tone:

Many parts of the play have a mocking tone, of the audience and Shakespeare/writers in general. Still, other parts focus on the comedy of the piece and are upbeat or are so uncomfortable they are funny. Other parts convey a more tragic tone, with Guil’s need to understand life and the lack of control Ros and Guil have.

Imagery:

Throughout the play, the main forms of imagery come in the mentions of death as well as the mentions of duality through coins. Many times, Ros. specifically postulates on death and what it will be like, once describing laying in a box (coffin) both dead and alive. But, in the end, their deaths are simple and they just disappear.

There are common mention of things (like the audience and performers) being two sides of the same coin. This imagery puts the idea that the audience and performers (Ros/Guil; Death/Life) are the same. The audience is forced to recognize their stake and involvement in selling and buying and see Ros and Guil as one being.

Language:

Both Ros. and Guil. experience a confusion of language where they are not able to articulate what they mean at a given time. They confuse themselves and what they are trying to say. This displays their need for each other as well as their inability to understand their situation entirely. It also displays a Theatre of the Absurd concept that language is an insufficient way to communicate, though it is all we have.

Symbolism:

Coin- displays duality (Ros/Guil; life/death; audience/performers); shows that they are not acting in the confines of the real world (heads so many times in a row)

Boat- representation of life; can we control the boat, move on it? (free will, how much?)

Letter- no control over over death...do not decide when or where or how

Boxes- representation of cultural and personal confines; representation of death with Ros discussion of coffins

Quotes:

“Well, we’ll know better next time” (126)

This is a quote from Guil that comes right before his death. It displays that he is aware he is in a play and knows that they will both come back even though they died. It also conveys a hope that he will understand more the next time, though the audience is aware the play will happen the same way and he will never fully understand, which is what makes the play tragic. Though Guil believes he understands what is happening at the end of the play, he could never fully understand and he will not get to keep that knowledge.

“We are entitled to some direction...I would have thought.” (20)

This is another of Guil’s quotes and comes at the very beginning of the play. The interesting thing is that Ros. and Guil. do have direction from the Player. He tries to explain to them that the play will end in their death no matter what, but they do not catch on. Again, this question is thrown back to the audience. Are we entitled to some direction? How much? What exactly is direction? All the questions are forced upon the audience and they mean different things for Ros. and Guil. At one point in the play, they are contemplating actual directions (NSEW) in a very comical way, showing that they do not even know what direction is for them.