David Lindsay-Abaire's Rabbit Hole - Essay Example

Even though Lindsay-Abaire foregrounds the intensity of Becca and Howie’s loss, he strongly puts forward the necessity to overcome their mourning in order to survive and appreciate life. Through the plot, the characterization, the setting and the theme, the audience perceives that Lindsay-Abaire encourages people not to let grief destroy their lives. The plot turns around the interaction between the main characters, but it especially points out the effects Danny’s tragic death has on his parents, Becca and Howie, and even on other members of the family.

Killed in a tragic accident, Danny’s death causes much grief to the family and has a negative effect on the relationship between the members, especially between Becca and Howie. Even though both parents deeply suffer from the loss, each of them has a different way to express his/ her bereavement. The following statement informs: “With sly judiciousness, Lindsay-Abaire layers fragments from each segment of their years together into the story, letting us learn by indirection about the accident, the family's life before it, the couple's shattered condition now” (Feingold).

In fact, it is through the characters’ interaction that the audience learns about the mourning and evaluates the impact the grief has on their everyday life. Becca is so involved with mourning the loss of her son that she cannot fully enjoy the fact that her sister Izzy is going to have a baby whereas she lost her child. Moreover, her relationship with her husband is even more estranged since they have stopped having sexual relations. Becca’s bereavement for her son does not even allow her to have sex because she will not let any moment of joy interfere with her grief.

She even fails to feel some empathy for her mother, Nat, who also lost a son. She feels her pain is unique and cannot be compared to any other loss. Even though Howie is also suffering, he handles his mourning more decently. Lindsay-Abaire chooses a very specific characterization which reveals the destruction that Becca and Howie’s grief causes to their relationship, and he advocates an imminent need for change. All the main characters in the play feel the impact of the mourning on themselves and on their relationships with the others.

Becca used to be a very strong professional woman and a mother until the fatal accident that took her son rendered her psychologically vulnerable. Commenting about her, this author states “Becca is an enlightened woman whose coping mechanisms clearly are being tested to their limits. We learn she was successful in her former job but that motherhood redefined her as a person, leaving her now feeling rootless, purposeless and empty” (Rooney). She feels a deep grief that impacts everything in her life, including her relationship with her husband who is very caring and tries to dissimilate his loss by watching Danny’s videos.

Despite his own bereavement, Howie finds the strength to console his wife and suggests a therapist to help her out. However, his sadness comes out during their arguments leading him to accuse Becca of attempting to erase any sign of Danny. Referring to the tension within the couple James MacKillop argues: