God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza - Essay Example

There are four protagonists in the play, which are the parents of the 11-year-old boys who had fought. Alain and Annette Reille are the parents of the boy named Ferdinand; Michel and Veronique Vallon are the parents of another boy named Bruno. They would have probably never met each other if not for their kids. The thing is on November 3 Ferdinand struck Bruno in the face and knocked out two of his teeth. This was the reason why the families of Vallons and Reilles met later that day at Vallon's place to settle the case in a civilized and diplomatic manner.

However, step by step the conversation between parents spun out of control and they started pointless arguments screaming and swearing at each other by the end of the night. Alain is a well-to-do lawyer and Annette is a housewife who is managing the wealth of their family, as she characterizes herself. Michel is a second-rate wholesale dealer and his wife, Veronique is currently endeavoring to write a book about Darfur, a war-ridden Sudanese province, and works at a bookshop part-time. The way Michel describes his occupation makes one feel he is a loser, "it's never exactly been a bonanza" (Reza 9).

Alain anticipates such a characterization by asking Michel arrogantly and without scrupling on how successful he is, "Money in that, is there?" (Reza 9). Alain himself is a successful lawyer but, although he behaves quite arrogantly, he is tight-lipped and modest when being asked about his profession. As to his occupation, Alain's reply is confined to a couple of words, "A lawyer", which only underlines his awareness of being a well-to-do and respected man (Reza 6). However, the only thing Alain seems to care about is his job. Even Michel's wife can't help telling him, "I don't understand why you don't seem to care about this" when he doesn't take an active part in bickering about his son with her (Reza 20).

Alain's wife, Annette, is a woman who easily loses her temper and the little things in life often make her depressed. When the conversation between the parents went out of control and they failed to find common ground Annette's husband said that he is not desperate about the situation at all and Annette confessed, "Well, I am", when Alain tried to calm her down and said with a bit of surprise, "There is nothing to be desperate about", she answered without hesitation, "Yes, there's is" (Reza 21).

Alain behaves quite arrogantly and interrupts the conversation now and then by answering the cell phone and talking business. He manages to establish antipathy with his counterpart, Michel, who becomes quite emotional as the tension grows. Read More