Text Analysis of Suzan-Lori Parks "Topdog/Underdog"


Term Paper, 2017

6 Pages, Grade: 2,0


Excerpt


1.) Text Analysis: Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog

Scene 1

In the first scene of the play Booth is seen performing the 3-card monte for an imagined audience, which he is expecting to observe him. After Lincoln enters the stage, the constellation seems to change into a setting usually met in reality, where a person usually is not expecting to be watched doing something. For the audience one performer is added on to the stage, while at the same time said person is observing the first actor performing. It seems to be for irony´s sake that Lincoln is dressed up in his very theatrical manner as Abraham Lincoln, while Booth is the one doing the performance. After Booths´s performance is stopped abruptly, Parks uses the literary device of foreshadowing for the first time, when she lets Booth turn around in surprise and point his gun at his brother Lincoln. After the first pages of the dialogue between the brothers it is established via letting Lincoln speak more eloquently and using fewer invectives that he is given the superior, topdog position in the play, event though he is standing at gun point (again irony). Another ironical device could be the fact that Lincoln is wearing whiteface and therefore mimicking a white man, who would have been in times of slavery clearly the master in this constellation. One can infer also that Booth, who does not want to be called that way, is unemployed in contrast to Lincoln who works at an arcade. Also it can be inferred by the following power struggle over whom is to take the food out that Lincoln is merely living at Booth´s. By violating the deal to bring out the food, when Lincoln is buying it, Booth is obviously trying to show off his assumed topdog position, which at least in the first stage of this fight over food he showcases. In the second part of the food fight the audience encounters Lincoln´s mastery in the idea of versatility. Although Booth is still not satisfied and wants to once more assume topdog position, Lincoln fends off the fight by just taking the meat dish, without arguing any further. Another try at establishing a new order is Booth´s remark that at least he has still got his money. Another part of the shadowing occurs with Lincoln´s message on the fortune cookie, which reads out that his luck will change. By using the phrasal verb “to clean up” in the literal sense, after Booth ask him to join him in 3-card monte, Lincoln washes off his hands of this matter.

By trying to paint out all the positive aspects of Lincoln´s joining him in his playing the cards, Booth reveals the constellation of him and Lincoln being brothers and him being the younger brother. Next, after something is revealed about the relationship to the parents, another foreshadowing occurs with Booth´s exclamation of: “YOU STANDING IN MY WAY, LINK!” and Lincoln´s job at the arcade is introduced. Lincoln claims that the people shooting at him “know the real deal.” “Real deal” seems to be used to refer to a situation, where the Lincoln actor is performing a performance as a performance on stage but dubbing this performance reality in the realm of the play. Before this scene ends, Lincoln reveals and therefore onomastically juxtaposes himself and his brother in light of honest Abe and his assassin Booth.

Scene 2

With his entrance word “Taaaaaadaaaaaa!” Lincoln marks the fact that he is commencing a theatrical performance. The process of handing over the money is accompanied with a lot of elaborate movements and seems scripted and routinized – Booths meticulous preparation including the beverages and their shared addressees as “Ma” and “Pa”.

Lincoln´s job is elaborated on even further and him claiming that he was Lincoln on his own before any of the putting on Abraham Lincoln costumes.

After the brothers have donned their new outfits Booth stole for them, Lincoln tricked Booth into switching his necktie with him. He suggest that Booth´s girlfriend Gracie would prefer bright colours over subdued one. That is was indeed a trick can be seen in the fact that he is supposedly even more happy about the change that Booth.

Besides the fact that Booth tries to end at the top of the game during their talk about the budget via giving himself more money and claiming it be for his woman, because he “gotta impress tonight”, more is said about the arcade work. As Booth asks him about his best customer and whether he shot him, Lincoln is fast to correct him in saying that it was Honest Abe, who was shot at – again distancing himself, his person from his namesake. With this repetitive move Parks might have tried to let her character show his endeavor to escape his destiny. The customers quite philosophical words about the show and whether it still goes on, when no-one is watching, are said, on the one hand, to remind the audience of the many different levels of performance in this play and, on the other hand, to question essentially the very fact that a performer always needs a spectator to work. This is followed by the even more intricate statement that one is just oneself, while alone. Transferring this to the real world, it can be used to describe all the different roles, social roles one plays depending on whatever context one is confronted with. This can be also noticed in the circumstance, when one is being observed or stared at and the natural movements or demeanor is being disturbed. As for the play the truth of this statement can be observed in the roles Lincoln is forced to assume, for his customers he is trying to be Honest Abe at the beginning and dead Abe at the end and for his brother he tries to mime the outward underdog while keeping his superiority hidden under the surface.

At the end of the second scene Lincoln is seen practicing his moves dying, performing.

Scene 3

Booth and Lincoln talk about Grace. When Lincoln comments on the Magnums being “for the larger man” he is using again a strategy to keep the peace with his brother. This changes, when Lincoln proposes to Booth to get in touch witch his old crew and work with them. It is a response to Booth´s refusal to help him practice and there is contrary to his namesake no honesty behind it. Lincoln knows of Booth dismal performance at 3-card monte, having observed him many times. With his comment that Lincoln would shoot nothing but blanks,Booths remark could also be interpreted (other than in a sexual context) that his brother is spouting lies.

Talking about his work at the arcade, Lincoln admits to his brother, though he is supposed to look straight ahead as Abe was during his watching a play, that he secretly sneaks a peek here and there at customers shooting him. This just not only breaches his work regulation but also the dramatic framework. During a performance, the performer is usually not observing his audience. This right lies solely with them. This is clearly a case of an unobserved observer, which leads to the question whether the people shooting at him could be called performer as well, since they are clearly participating in the performance as well while being watched.

Finally at the end of the scene, after confessing that he will probably get fired and exchanged for a dummy, Booth helps Lincoln boosting up his performance, though this could be seen as another reminder to what is probably to come in the end.

Scene 4

Lincoln starts complaining in a monologue to no-one in particular about his job at the arcade and ends up reminiscing about his old job as 3-card monte player on the street. Whereas Booth was bad at acting out the performance of dealing the cards out in front of an imagined crowd it obvious that Lincoln is a natural. Same as Lincoln has down before, Booth is observing his brother, while he himself stays undetected (throughout the whole scene).

In the end Lincoln stops himself from playing the game, muttering the words: “God help me” showing again that this play beautifully moves towards a fixed finale, culminating in a climax.

Scene 5

In this scene while Booth is preparing a romantic dinner for himself and Grace and trying to keep out his brother from the flat, the audience gets more information concerning the former family life of the two brothers and finds out that Lincoln lost his job. This time Lincoln even outright defies his brother by now leaving the apartment as asked. In between the waiting for the girlfriend the playwright lets the brothers reveal even more about their past and it can be inferred that Lincoln was taking care of Booth, as to name one aspect that is linking the brothers together: caring and being taken care of. So naturally it seems that after Lincoln stopped hustling the cards, because of the death of one of his friend, Booth started this game where he tries to be the topdog position in order to order his brother around and maybe be able to force him into playing again, resuming his old safe haven and the old times.

In this scene Booth´s wish is granted and Lincoln finally teaches him the 3-card monte game in earnest. This time both brothers perform the 3-card monte hoax, in which Lincoln plays the dealer and Booth the side. Both are addressing the same imagined audience. After Booth picked right twice Lincoln appears to be crestfallen, which could either mean that he really lost to his brother, or that he did not really put his heart into it, as there was no money involved. Booths try to get a rise out of his brother works well, because Lincoln makes fun of his brother poor play, a reaction which was unimaginable previously. What changed is that this time as the teacher, Lincoln took hold of the outward topdog position.

Scene 6

The last scene starts with Lincoln bursting into the room shouting “taaaadaaaa”, introducing his new persona (or old really, considering it is Lincoln the 3-card monte professional). With a self-assured attitude he holds a monologue, which is observed and listened to by his brother. Closing the door Booths makes himself known and shares some fake news (making himself superior) with Lincoln about his alleged outing with Grace. In the beginning Lincoln hides his own news and does not protest about being thrown out of the flat but later admits to having found a job, though tells it is as a security guard. After discussing again the leafing of their parents, Lincoln dresses himself up once more as Abraham Lincoln, after Booth told him that he would miss him and that there are no photos of him in that get up. The last warning the audience get from Booth with regards to the end is Booth´s claim that he cannot change who he is (“I aint into pretending I´m someone else all day”) Then, Booth confides that he has slept with Lincolns wife to get a rise out of him. The character Booth is slowly losing all his ground, because he cannot define himself without Lincoln. Because of Lincoln, who was born before him, because of their names their destiny was already written out. Lincoln himself was free until Booth was born.

Lincoln wants to leave the inevitable situation, but because of there connection cannot leave his brother and plays with him once more. Booth again picked right two times, but because he was spying on his brother, he did not let himself be fooled another time. That is the first time that the two brothers stopped pretending to believe the lies the other was telling. After talking in earnest and betting on Booth´s inheritance money and Lincoln´s “paycheck”, the situation suddenly became very “real”. One can say that the dilemma for Lincoln is as follows:

if he performs poorly he loses the money, if he performs well he loses his life, because deep down he knows of the danger coming from his brother (as was tangible during the whole play). The last scene is concluded by Booth not being able to face the truth, whether his mother loved him and really left the money in the stocking or not, shooting his brother Lincoln.

Sources:

- Parks, Suzan-Lori. Topdog/Underdog. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2002. Print.

Excerpt out of 6 pages

Details

Title
Text Analysis of Suzan-Lori Parks "Topdog/Underdog"
College
Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel
Grade
2,0
Author
Year
2017
Pages
6
Catalog Number
V387653
ISBN (eBook)
9783668651890
File size
413 KB
Language
English
Keywords
text, analysis, suzan-lori, parks, topdog/underdog
Quote paper
Sylwia Ekmann (Author), 2017, Text Analysis of Suzan-Lori Parks "Topdog/Underdog", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/387653

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