In his drama, Long Day’s Journey into Night, O’Neill masterfully represents numerous conflicts faced by humans both internally and externally. Throughout the drama O’Neill interlaces such conflict and demonstrates to his audience the interconnection one conflict has with another. Perhaps one of the most exemplary conflicts found in this work, person verses self, is manifested several times at varying degrees by O’Neill. All of the main characters in his work experience some sort of inner struggle whether it be the product of a physical emotional or social tribulation. Each of the examples in the drama is also highly relevant to conflicts many humans experience. O’Neill effectively conveys to his audience the detrimental consequence of human inhibition presented by conflict with oneself and also demonstrates how many of these conflicts, although very real, often begin as a small problem not deserving of much attention but through ones own excessive contemplation quickly escalate to a larger internal struggle. The author accomplishes this showing not only how one becomes empty internally but also how one suffers externally because he is forced to cope with his inner problems.
O’Neill manifests himself in two characters during the drama. Ironically each of these characters faces arguably the two worst inner struggles of the entire work. Of these characters, Eugene dies at a very young age due to illness and experiences no other conflict other then his illness and death itself. Edmund, the other character biographical of the author, experiences conflict within himself that renders him unable to be successful in life. Edmund experiences conscription which multiplies the effect of his inner struggle. Edmund struggles with himself because he feels he is not able to accomplish his potential in life. He, unhappy with his current position, feeling he is unable to do anything to advance himself or change his misfortune and feeling he is unwanted by his parents, wishes to become a seagull. O’Neill utilizes this image masterfully to symbolize Edmunds wish for solidarity and to escape all of his internal unhappiness and disappointment of himself.
Mary Tyrone experiences internal conflict brought about by her desire for the past. She is depressed by her current marriage situation and where life has taken her and is disappointed by her husband and her children. Her unhappiness is escalated by her addiction morphine. She uses the morphine to escape her inner self yet when she returns to reality she is depressed even more then before. She regrets the decisions of her past and wishes she had taken a different direction for her life. This conflict within herself inhibits her daily functionality and causes her virtually perpetual numbness with morphine. She plunges into a cycle of dependency and is unable to overcome her addiction because of the conflict within herself.
Many things inhibit humans from achieving their aspirations in their daily life. Conflict of any form is always a major detriment to accomplishment yet conflict within oneself is arguably the most difficult to recognize and rectify. O’Neill shows that internal conflicts are often difficult to rectify because they create a barrier which will not allow one do anything including rectify his or her problems. This barrier perpetuates and worsens ones conflict which leads to a cycle of virtual death that is very difficult to break such as experienced by O’Neill’s character, Edmund. This type of inhibition caused by an internal conflict is present in the bible. God asks Moses several times to deliver the Israelites from Egypt yet several times Moses refuses saying he had a speech impediment. This internal struggle of Moses prevents him from accomplishing what God wants him to do. Moses does not change his mind until the great external force of God removes him from his cycle of doubt and inhibition allowing him to continue to accomplish his aspirations. Unfortunately for many people though they are unable to encounter any comparable help as Moses encountered and theses people remain locked in the continuous cycle of inhibiting self conflict.
Works Cited:
Fleche, Anne. "Long Day's Journey into Night: The Seen and the Unseen." Mimetic
Disillusion: Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, and U.S. Dramatic Realism. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1997. 25-42. Rpt. in Drama Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 20. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 25-42. Literature Resource Center. Gale. LEE COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM. 21 Sept. 2008
1 comment:
This works, but you want to take it further, especially since you have the literary criticism to work with. Remember to give me evidence of what you are talking about. Use quotes when writing about literature so that you can show rather than tell. I'd also like you to delve into something we have not already covered in class, something that you found in the literary criticism that allowed you to better understand the piece in a new way would be interesting.
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