Aaron King
10/1/13
FYSH Wednesday:
Zabalbeascoa
God of Carnage: Response
Characters
in any work of literature, be it a play, book, movie, or other can have a
monumental impact in shaping that work’s outcome. Many plots are even driven by
the characters. In God of Carnage, as
we do not see the main plot, the characters we are introduced to are what shape
the play. The parents of two children, Benjamin and Henry, all convene to
discuss Benjamin’s injuring Henry on a playground with a stick. While the play
is rather simple narratively (the adults spend the night discussing what to
make of the situation), characteristically it is rich and this potency of
character development segues into the development of the plot (the deterioration
of the conversation into mayhem and irrationality). The characters in this play
are contemptible: Michael, Veronica, Alan, and Annette all have some quality to
them that one can’t help but despise. And yet, we grow to sympathize with them,
because despite these qualities they grow on us. In any work of literature it
does not matter whether a character is likable or not, so long as we sympathize
with his or her motivations. Two characters that demonstrate this are the men,
Alan and Michael.
Michael,
in the play, hosts the other parents Alan and Annette with his wife Veronica.
During the play, he attempts to be as welcoming as possible, offering his wife’s
cooking to his guests and generally trying to be amicable to them. However,
this endeavor soon becomes overbearing and we see him even defend the bully
that beat his son. Soon he even disagrees with his wife about disciplining
Benjamin and now they themselves are arguing rather than with the other couple.
Michael’s lack of a spine is what makes him detestable; he is quick to appease
anyone on any topic just so as to avoid conflict. Really the only time he takes
definitive action is when he learns his mother is taking a faulty drug and
tells her to stop, and this comes at a fast-paced part of the play when there
is little order to what is going. And yet, despite Michael’s faults in
character, we still sympathize with him, we still like him. He is just a simple
man with an “ordinary job” as he describes it, thrown into this chaotic
situation that he is surely not accustomed to. We are inclined to see his lack
of fortitude as amicability, as trying to ease things over. It shows how
likability of a character is irrelevant, so long as his or motivations are
just. This is true with an even more detestable character, Alan.
Alan
is husband to Annette and father of the aggressor in the play, Benjamin. Alan
spends a hefty majority of the play on his cell phone, trying to quell a
controversy over a drug that has serious side-effects. Alan is certainly
detestable: even from the beginning of the play (and during the entirety of it)
he defends his son’s hostile actions as normal, as routine; he even goes so far
as to compare them to those of children in Africa who are taught to kill at age
eight. This justification definitively adds to his despicability. In addition
his constant talking on his cell phone shows us his true character: a sleazy
lawyer who works to defend a drug that has very serious side-effects. However,
Alan’s faults also come with sympathy. In fact his moral ambiguity is one of
the funnier parts of the play, and many of the times he answers his cell phone
add comedy to the chaos that this play degenerates into. In this way we justify
his flawed character as a funny and consequently “good” aspect of the play.
The
characters in God of Carnage
illustrate that likability of a character is irrelevant; if there is something
to justify their despicability, be it humor or motivations, we look to those
rather than their flaws in character. Michael and Alan attest to this, as do
the other characters (read: Annette’s vomiting all over the room, Veronica’s
drunken antics). Despite all of the characters’ flaws and mistakes, discussing
a disagreement between children and becoming like children themselves, we still
sympathize with them. This is certainly true for other forms of media as well:
current shows such as Breaking Bad, Dexter, and Madmen celebrate this so-called “anti-hero,” and they all show how
much we relish in the bad character. God of Carnage simply adds to that list.
Aaron, great job with this. At first, I was hoping for more of your own thoughts on the characters, but you definitely delivered towards the end. 10/10
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