Discussing the Artistic Merits of the Joe Turners Come and Gone - Book Report/Review Example

 Joe Turner’s Come and Gone 1) Introduction: Identifying the Play and the Author The play, Joe Turner's Come and Gone is attributed to an American playwright, August Wilson (April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005). The astuteness of Wilson as a playwright is underscored by him having received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. Born Frederick August Kittel, Jr in Pennsylvania, Hill District, Wilson was the fourth born among six siblings. Wilson attended the Central Catholic High School in 1959. Wilson self-educated himself through the use of Carnegie Library of Pittsburg and is the only person to be awarded a degree by manner of distance learning (Harry, JR. 2007). The play is divided into two acts: acts one and two. The former is made of four scenes running from scene one to four. Act two on the other hand is made up of scenes one up to scene five. Joe Turner's Come and Gone is a tragedy wherein the plight of the African-American is portrayed in light of the social relations they have with one another and the white race. In the play, there is a clear depiction of private struggles, struggle with social injustice and a bothersome family situation. All these are made evident as characters interact with Seth Holly and Seth’s wife, Bertha, in their boardinghouse. 2) Describing the Play There are three themes that are revealed in the play. One of the most noticeable themes is that is revealed in the play is racism and racial discrimination. It is apparent that the characters involved such as Jeremy have run to the North, away from the slaveholding South. Although Jeremy Bynum Walker and the Hollys take the prospects of employment and freedom in the North, they find the North not so different from the slaveholding South. For instance, Jason is wrongfully arrested with trumped up charges of being drunk and disorderly (Wilson, 1984, Act I, Scene I). This form of discrimination mentioned above makes all the characters living in the boardinghouse and subjects them to numerous cases of exploitation. For instance, Jeremy becomes a victim of larceny as the very people who are supposed to accord him protection from unlawful harm, the police take his money. In a case that may be likened to bleeding a leech to fatten a heifer, the foreman also takes Jeremy’s money even though it is clear that he is wealthier than Jeremy (Wilson, 1984, Act I, Scene I). The aforementioned culture of exploitation is seen to negatively impact the characters in the play. Selig, a character who is paid to produce people he has relocated is trying to squeeze the largest sum of money possible from Seth. All these matters pave way for a more fragile and tense relationship among the inhabitants living in the boardinghouse. There is also the theme of personal identity. Without knowing all the characters in the play are looking for their individual identity. People such as Seth, Jeremy, Bynum, Herald Loomis and Molly Cunningham are interested in knowing their identity as African, American, a former slave, a free person, a businessperson, man or woman, or an artist. This quest is heavily coloured by circumstances, the history that had shaped their lives, economic class and limitations. At the moment, the Civil War had come to its conclusion and the slaves had been emancipated. However, even then, the civil rights of the former slaves were neither recognised nor guaranteed. It is for this reason that these former African-American slaves tried as much possible to maintain their identity as Africans after their emancipation. Just as Harry, JR. (2007) observes, part of the identity being sought after is financial in nature. Born in the North to African-American parents, Seth Holly has to embrace capitalist tendencies as a way of staying afloat, financially. This is despite the fact that most African-Americans had been victims of capitalist-driven use of slave labour, suffering at the hands of capitalist farm owners who wanted to make profit through slave labour. More often than not, Seth has to work even on nightshifts and to engage in odd jobs to make it financially. He obtains these odd jobs from Selig. The theme of migration also helps illustrate and exemplify the ravaging effects of the same on the characters involved. For instance, in seeming quest to know his identity, Loomis runs away from Martha and goes missing, leaving her alone in Act I, scene I. In Act II, scene V, Loomis returns, only to find Martha already bound to Zonia. In what appears to be an identity crisis aggravated, Loomis renounces his Christian faith and slashes his bosom with a knife before committing suicide. In this case, Loomis serves as the epitome of the extent to which identity crises beset or unsettled the lives of African-Americans at the time (Wilson, 1984, Act I, Scene I & Act II, scene V). Migration also becomes another theme in the play. It must be appreciated that the play and its plotline run against a backdrop of the emancipation of slaves in the North. Conversely, Southern states continued to use slave labour which was exerted through harsher approaches and more punitive means. This development triggered migration of slaves from southern to northern states. It is not that slaves ran to the North because it was more just and egalitarian. On the contrary, the North accorded the African-American freedom and in this light, sought refuge in states in the North that granted better prospects of employment and financial freedom or were more tolerable. 3) Discussing the Artistic Merits of the Play The play remains a credible and moving literary works because of the themes below. First, the themes that have been presented in the play are important historically and in the dynamics of national cohesion. Having appreciated how the use of slavery gradually subjected African-Americans to identity crises, racial discrimination and profiling and compelled migration, any critical thinker is compelled to reconsider the strength of the measures that have been put in place to ward of dangers of possible relapse (such as through constitutional means) and matters of eugenics such as the tenability of making reparation for African-Americans as a way of fostering national cohesion. The play also uses major symbols. Loomis’ enslavement symbolises the experience of the African-American as slaves. Just as Loomis is arbitrarily severed from his family, so were African-Americans separated from their autochthonous communities and forced into slavery. This way, many African-Americans were carried away as slaves and disruptively removed from their families. The writing/structure of the play follows a linear plot as everyday lives led by boardinghouse residents are depicted. The play also makes good use of characterisation. There are twelve main characters in the play, with every character having a distinct personality or trait which is important in the development of the plot, and communicating the themes relevant in the play. Martha Pentecost for instance flees racial persecution in the South, only to meet it head-on in the North. She finds solace in Christianity and illustrates identity crisis, cultural alienation and the desperate quest to survive on the side of the African-American (Wilson, 1984, Act II, scene V). 4) What the Play Does for Me (Personal Response) Personally, the play serves as a stark reminder to the socio-cultural and economic turmoil that African-Americans underwent before the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation. The crux of the matter herein is that in most cases, history classes concentrate on the ravages of slavery in the South while somewhat portraying the North as more tolerable to slaves. Through the play, I come to appreciate the vanity of physical freedom which is derelict of socio-cultural and economic emancipation. Even though the taskmaster’s whip and forced labour are absent, the suffering that African-Americans undergo is equally great, ranging from joblessness, poverty, racial profiling, exploitation, identity crises, family/marriage breakdowns and suicides. The play makes this lesson indelibly etched in my mind through its use of literary devices. 5) How the Work Is Representative of the Time/Place in Which It Was Completed The play aptly captures and represents the time and place wherein it was completed. The play captures half a century after slavery has been abandoned. Slavery is coming to an end but enslavement of the African-American is still a reality. The play captures this factor by exploring realities that characterise this point in history. It is for this reason that themes such as migration, racial discrimination, identity crises and cultural alienation are clearly depicted in the play. Jeremy encounters firsthand racial profiling (discrimination), Martha Pentecost forsakes her African-American culture for Christianity to blend in and make it while Loomis is physically migrated and separated from his family. All these developments were consistent with the aforementioned transitional period. References Harry J. E. JR. (2007). Teaching “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”. Modern Drama, 50 (4), 582 – 600 Wilson, A. (1984). Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Waterford: Eugene O’Neill Theatre Centre. Wilson, M. D. (2009). Joe Turner’s Come and Gone: An Experiment in “Race-Conscious” Casting. Theatre Topics, 19 (1), 39 - 49 Read More