Andres Mother by Terrence McNally - Literature review Example

Insert Coping with death: Andre’s Mother Terrence McNally’s play, “Andre’s Mother,” is a story about a group of individuals who share close social links. It chronicles their reaction to the demise of Andres, who was part of them prior to his death. At first, the characters are depicted as all standing in a crowd with a light-colored balloon connected to a rope. The readers eventually come to terms with the rich symbolism in the balloons representing Andre’s soul. Andre has passed on and by flying the inflatables in the sky, the characters are basically letting the soul of their deceased comrade to climb to Heaven. The protagonist, Cal, is facing substantial challenges in coming to terms with his departed love that he happened to be in a homosexual relationship with. This paper examines grieving the dead as evidenced in McNally’s play, Andre’s Mother. Coping with death  As Frontain (105) has said, throughout the play, the process of mourning the dead features prominently; the varying ways in which the people react to losses of life and freeing oneself from the grief, particularly forms the nexus between the storyline and other secondary themes. Every individual handles loss of life in their own distinct way normally based on the kind of the relationship he or she had with the deceased prior to their death. This concept is typified in McNally’s choice of characters (Healyfeb 1). Andres comrades, Penny and Arthur, appear to be less perturbed by the difficulty in the symbolic balloons ascending to heaven because their presence in the group has been essentially driven by the need to keep vigil as an expression of emotional support for the deceased’s mother and Cal, the protagonist who has lost an intimate partner. In contrast, the latter two characters are finding it difficult to let his soul depart. Cal, Andres partner, had an intimate, closely-knit relationship with the dead that he is determined to continue holding on to by finding it difficult to release the balloon (Healyfeb 1). To some extent, Cal sees it possible to release his balloon, in hopes that some of the grief he is struggling to eliminate will die away. After Cal lets his balloon off, the ensuing tension beckons Andres mother to follow suit in an environment that is filled with emotions and which the latter two actors are bearing the most brunt to believe. In her grieving, Andres mother is apparently not ready to part with the soul of her son, which symbolically serves as his presence in her life for the rest of her life. McNally depicts the mother as one character that is overwhelmed by fresh memories of her son’s role in her life, hence her dithering to let him go. She shows the close relationship she had with her son by kissing his symbolic soul before observing it slowly climb in the air up to the farthest that her sight can reach in the sky (Frontain 111). The long time it took the mother to let go her balloon through to the time she spent observing it disappearing indicates the true motherly mourning of a loved son. Andre’s reminiscence Apart from the richly explicit symbolism of the character’s soul which is due for heaven, the assembly of the characters and their conversation about Andre achievements is also another very important way of grieving in the society. The characters are depicted as very close to each other, judging by the conversation and words of encouragement that they direct to Cal and Andre’s mother, since they are the worst-hit by the misfortune. The characters reminisce about deceased’s life and important achievements in his life, which serve as motivation for the characters to take over from where he left, or at least appreciate his contribution during his lifetime, because this way they would let his soul to rest in peace. Healyfeb (1) notes that throughout the conversations, it is evident that despite the cold reception he received from members of his immediate community regarding his homosexual life, Andre was a favorite of his closest kin and friends. This implies that his life was more important than his perceived deviant sexual life. His mother’s show of her reservations against her son’s sexual orientation does not suffice when he passes on; Andre’s mother is awe-struck by his demise and is left with nothing for a word about her son’s loss. By choosing silence over Cal’s reminiscence of their life together, McNally presents the silent way through which individuals who are worst affected by the loss of their loved ones express their emotions of grief (Frontain 109). Healyfeb (1) says the mother is left there clutching her balloon, which from an outside look looks appealing and tangible, but inside it is as empty as the future of an individual’s life that is already lost. Andre’s mother is there wretched and attempts to hold on her strength, but in her private life, her strengths are slowly caving in. The character’s sense of shock and feelings of regret for not tolerating her son and failing to allow him time to explain his true identity are some of the typical questions coupling the life of the mother and the rest of the characters except Cal. Loneliness Loneliness is also part of grieving the loss of a loved one as evidenced in the play. The reaction of the deceased’s mother is one where her loneliness is tampered with confusion about how best she could treat her son who prior to his demise, was aloof from her mother with regard to his sexual orientation (Healyfeb 1). Her rare body language creates suspense and eventually the story’s climax. Her loneliness and quietness that follows creates a feeling of wanting to know more about her grieving and level of loneliness following the tragic event. Whereas some may anticipate her to explode in wailings, talks in tongues or just throw tantrums, others expect her to break the silence and loneliness by crying. But the character continues to be composed while the focus of the story shifts to Cal. Andre’s mother is the typical of a loving mother who, despite of the magnitude of loneliness, she has one consolation that her son had achieved whatever he could during his lifetime. With the symbolic balloons in her hand, Andre’s mother leads other characters in celebrating her son’s life, rather than engaging in continuous mourning, which would not help to restore her son’s life. Acceptance and celebration of life The light-colored balloons represent the characters’ acceptance to the deceased’s achievements and his brighter side, the achievements that he made during his life which must form part of the eulogy and mourning. The theme at the scene of launching the balloons is basically acceptance (Frontain 106). Each character freely acknowledged Andre for the individual he was irrespective of his bizarre sexual preference because he could not come back to life. Despite the fact that Andre’s mother feels alone in her son’s mourning, and perhaps hoping that if she could get a second chance to be together with her son, she could understand him more, it is too late for her. Cal scores highest in his reminiscence of how Andre was such a wonderful guy. This is especially true, considering that he is the only person in the play that truly accepted Andre, and saved him from rejection by his kin and the loneliness that followed it. Conclusion Generally, “Andre’s Mother” is about grieving the loss Andres. Mixed feelings of regret, loneliness, and the emotional pain of losing one person who was known to the four characters fill the air. Cal scores highest by taking the mourners through their good times together, chronicling how the deceased was a charming person but highly misunderstood by his closest kin and friends. These stories evoke feelings of regret from Andre’s mother who viewed his habit as weird. The release of the balloons represents a feeling of acceptance and celebration of life among the mourners. Works Cited Frontain, Raymond-Jean. “A Preliminary Calendar of the Works of Terrence McNally.” ANQ, 23.2 (2010): 105-123. Healyfeb, Patrick. “A Playwright’s Status Report: McNally’s ‘Mothers and Sons’ Gauges a Changed America.” The New York Times, Feb. 27 2014. Web. 14 May 2014. Read More