Here I am with a hot plate of long overdue post featuring scenes one and two of Oklahoma! er.. I mean Green Grow the Lilacs. These first two scenes practically tell you everything you need to know about the play in a nutshell. We are familiarized and presented with the play's setting, most of the characters are introduced, and the content of pretty much the rest of the play is either hinted at or set up. This is what we literary types like to call foreshadowing Ooooh!
As was mentioned in class and expertly described by Ms. Caison, this is just like a romantic comedy; within the first five minutes of the movie you know who is going to get together with whom, how it's going to happen, and that just before the end there will be a horrible revelation that will threaten to tear them apart but ultimately doesn't. In the case of GGTL, after just two scenes I already know that Curly and Laurey will get together, Jeeter is one creepy creepy lurky man who is Curly's less-than-worthy rival for Laurey's affections, there will be a scene set at a party in the very near future, and the climax will most likely involve some sort of violent act that Jeeter will very likely initiate and there is a good probability that it will involve fire.
Tune in next time to see if any of my predictions come true!
(Also look forward to an upcoming comment where I'll explain the origins of some of my incites, but for now I've got to get back to a paper!)
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Yeahs it is interesting how this story is like every other romantic comedy. My questions is why did the author make this story so typical and normal or even why did our professor choose it for this class.
ReplyDeleteJeeter is definitely creepy. My question is why is he portrayed as the bad guy. He also seems to be the only one that is "bullet colored skin" so what race do you think he is?
I'm excited, which is an adimitetdly dorky thing to say, to talk about the ending in class today. It isn't quite as cheery as the ending to Oklahoma!, but it is close. I always wonder if this is a happy ending or not. It seems like, unlike in the musical, something could still go wrong for Curley and Laurey in GGTL.
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty good list of foreshadowed events in the play. I think you have them all. You are completely right in the sense that you just know what's going to happen with Laurey and Curley, and that Jeeter is a straight up looney. I also think Jeeter is the antagonist and will be the one to attempt to destroy things between the two lovers.
ReplyDeleteNice job foreshadowing! Especially since all of your claims ended up being true. I also knew immediately that Laurey and Curly would be involved, but didn't realize how predictable the story would end up being. I'm interested to know whether you would argue that the ending is happy or sad, (like we talked about in class).
ReplyDeleteto Chinkdub- Perhaps our professor chose this "typical and normal" story for just that reason - it is typical and normal. We are being shown that a Native American writer doesn't have to write a play that has a typically Native American story line, filled with Native American Characters, and our preconceptions of what Native American symbolism is. As it was mentioned in class, it is way too much of a burden to represent and be accountable for an entire people each time you pen a story. Just as tv script writers can write about doctors, detectives, and all other walks of life so to can an atheist write about a christian and a Russian write about an Englishman.
ReplyDeleteto Blogger- First of all I must thank you for your complement and offer one of my own by conveying my appreciation for your delightfully anonymous pen name that is so similar to my own.
ReplyDeleteTo satisfy your curiosity I feel that the ending is a bitter sweet one. While we are left on a low note where the once boisterous characters are subdued and plagued by the unknown we also have Curly and Laurey together and hope riding on the horizon.