before we begin, just some general notes on the beginning of this incredible, tear-jerking play.
- The 'idyllic' suburban American neighbourhood presents the venue of an ordinary, normal, peaceful family life.
The back yard of the Keller home in the outskirts of an American town.
- Half-public, half-private environment which establishes the family unit as a microcosm of society.
At the right, beside the house, the entrance of the driveway can be seen, but the poplars cut off view of its continuation downstage.
Garden chairs and a table are scattered about.
On the rise: It is early Sunday morning.
A man among men.
August of our era.
- Referring to the crucial event (selling of cracked cylinder heads) that sparked the moral issue central to the unfolding drama.
The stage is hedged on right and left by tall, closely planted poplars which lend the yard a secluded atmosphere.
- Seems to suggest the anti-social act committed by Keller
The stage is hedged on right and left by tall, closely planted poplars which lend the yard a secluded atmosphere.
- Seems to suggest the anti-social act committed by Keller
- However, one cannot escape into the family from social consequences of one's actions.
Upstage is filled with the back of the house and its open, unroofed porch which extends into the yard some six feet. The house is two stories high and has seven rooms.
Upstage is filled with the back of the house and its open, unroofed porch which extends into the yard some six feet. The house is two stories high and has seven rooms.
- Relatively affluent middle-class family
It would have cost perhaps fifteen thousand in the early twenties when it was built.
- Importance of Money is foregrounded into the description of the Keller home.
It would have cost perhaps fifteen thousand in the early twenties when it was built.
- Importance of Money is foregrounded into the description of the Keller home.
- Makes reference to Keller's monetary gain in spite of the war; no illicit consequences of his actions.
Now it is nicely painted, looks tight and comfortable, and the yard is green with sod,
Now it is nicely painted, looks tight and comfortable, and the yard is green with sod,
- Speaks of a facade (you may consider who puts them up in the play)
- Superficial exterior of attractiveness
Here and there plants whose season is gone.
Here and there plants whose season is gone.
- Pass their prime --> Reference to the idea that Keller's glory days are long past him.
At the right, beside the house, the entrance of the driveway can be seen, but the poplars cut off view of its continuation downstage.
- Refers to Keller's myopia and dissociation from the rest of the society.
In the left corner, downstage, stands the four-foot high stump of a slender apple tree whose upper trunk and branches lie toppled beside it, fruit still clinging to it branches.
In the left corner, downstage, stands the four-foot high stump of a slender apple tree whose upper trunk and branches lie toppled beside it, fruit still clinging to it branches.
- Reflects a sense of dogged persistence in clinging on to the past.
- Slender: It's not an old tree. If Larry hadn't died, he would have married Ann and bore children. (consider: premature death)
- Stump: In memory of Larry; not allowed to be officially dead, in Mother's eyes.
- Fall of the tree is a result of a storm // The storm that rips apart the family when Keller's crimes and Larry's letter come to light. It is the winds of change with alter the fortunes of the Keller family; the wind that brings about revelations and downfalls.
Downstage right is a small, trellised arbor, shaped like a sea shell, with a decorative bulb hanging from its forward-curving roof.
Downstage right is a small, trellised arbor, shaped like a sea shell, with a decorative bulb hanging from its forward-curving roof.
- An enclosure/cocoon; speaks off a false sense of protection and shelter
Garden chairs and a table are scattered about.
- Messy (degree of disorder); foreshadows problems in the midst of seemingly neatness and protection.
A garbage pail on the ground next to the porch steps, a wire leaf burner near it.
A garbage pail on the ground next to the porch steps, a wire leaf burner near it.
- Joe's disposal of potatoes: His sense of order and tidiness is about to be disrupted and ruptured.
- Part of everyday domestic life
- Symbol of decay that is linked with consumerism/materialism
On the rise: It is early Sunday morning.
- Image of complete relaxation as Keller basks in the sun
Joe Keller is sitting in the sun reading the want ads of the Sunday paper, the other sections of which lie neatly on the ground beside him.
Joe Keller is sitting in the sun reading the want ads of the Sunday paper, the other sections of which lie neatly on the ground beside him.
- Keen to be updated on economic transactions/market front
- Keller does not seem to be lacking anything as he is fulfilling the American Dream (family & money)
Behind his back, inside the arbor, Doctor Jim Bayliss is reading part of the paper at the table.
Keller is nearing sixty.
A heavy man of stolid mind and build, a business man these many years but with the imprint of the machine-shop worker and boss still upon him.
When he reads, when he speaks, when he listens, it is with the terrible concentration of the uneducated man for whom there is still wonder in many commonly known things,
Behind his back, inside the arbor, Doctor Jim Bayliss is reading part of the paper at the table.
Keller is nearing sixty.
A heavy man of stolid mind and build, a business man these many years but with the imprint of the machine-shop worker and boss still upon him.
When he reads, when he speaks, when he listens, it is with the terrible concentration of the uneducated man for whom there is still wonder in many commonly known things,
A man whose judgments must be dredged out of experience and a peasant-like common-sense.
- Joe's knowledge of the world comes from experience of the things bout him (consider: is he beholden to society's expectations?)
- Joe's knowledge of the world comes from experience of the things bout him (consider: is he beholden to society's expectations?)
A man among men.
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