"TWO TRAINS RUNNING."   Term Paper ID:29816 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Discussion of August Wilson's play set in 1969.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Discussion of August Wilson's play set in 1969. Impact of urban renewal. Displacement of poor blacks and black neighborhoods by modernization. Focus on characters at Memphis' diner. Three main male characters. Wilson's concept of the American Dream. Limitations white society places on black men. Paper Introduction: TWO TRAINS RUNNING When there seems to be no hope, people turn to something that just might provide hope. With many blacks in the North that means “playing the numbers”. As Wolf, the neighborhood numbers runner explains it: It’s the same thing as putting money in the bank. This way you might taker out more than you put in…but Mellon ain’t gonna let you do that. The numbers give you an opportunity. If it wasn’t for the numbers all these niggers would be poor (Wilson, 1992, p. 3). The year is 1969, and the worst event that could happen to the characters at Memphis’ Diner is the fact that this old diner is going to have to have to come down, in order for big new sky Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. It has happened thousands of times. In "Two Trains Running" Wilson seems to be attempting to demonstratethe limitations placed on the black man by white society. Worked three hundred years for free" (p. Itis, more or less, Wilson's attempt to show the power of black masculinity.Through these characters he is attempting to portray some men who can "stepout of the shadows". Or,whether the other major protagonist, Hambone, does? Somehow, we are made to feel, throughdifficulties and even some bloodshed, there are men in our world whoseAmerican Dream deserves respect. get back in the shadows cause you never will seethe light" (p. . You gotta put your shoulder to freedom" (p. There are really three important characters, and black characteristics-- not merely a single protagonist. The year is 1969, and the worst event that could happen to thecharacters at Memphis' Diner is the fact that this old diner is going tohave to have to come down, in order for big new sky scrapers andmodernization of Pittsburgh can go into effect. 12). "The truth ain't nothing to be afraid of . . (1999). If nothing else, Memphis' experience shows the possibility ofblack men getting what they deserve if they challenge the white man'srules. For the naïve reader, a question might well be- well, why doesn'tSterling go and complain about "racial prejudice"? . 3). When onereads Wilson's plays and sees some of the male characters seeminglyfloundering, either in, or just out of jail, deserting women, or beingdeserted by them it is hard to comprehend Shannon's (1996) description ofWilson as perpetuating a way of life he feels provides healthy images for afloundering generation of Americans (Shannon, 1996, p. New York:NT^C/Contemporary Books. . At the same time, Wilson has Memphis provide astirring soliloquy: "These niggers talk about freedom, justice, andequality and don't know what it mean. . That ain't gonna help him . . They are talking about block-longqueues of people lining up to see the remains of the Prophet Samuel.Kennedy assassinated. This way you might taker out more than you put in...but Mellon ain't gonna let you do that. You born with dignity and everything else . In the diner, Memphis has obviously made something of his opportunity-buying the diner and now holding on for what he hopes is a good price.Wilson, in an essay, praises those black men who have "forged and honed newdisciplines and elevated their presence into an art . Being turned away from employment because ofrace is part of the black man's reality" (Anon, 2 1, p. 9). . The five and ten. Robert Kennedyassassinated. There must be somecomplex way in which Hambone represents a part of Wilson's concept of theAmerican Dream? Doctor done moved out. They, by sheerpower of their presence, enlarge the universe" (Belton, xii). He comesto the diner, bleeding, with a ham in his hands, and asks the undertaker,West, to bury it with Hambone. Wilson is, in effect, tellingus that black men must not become chained to a white system in which theynever receive what they deserve. What these characters don't realize is that 1969 is a momentous yearfor America- and the world. He tells thejudge that "I got a clause, too . . But, to get that, he (and anyman, black or white) needs a job. Then there is Memphis, who worked for what he has- and that is aboutto be torn down. 1969 was the yearof the Mets winning the world series- not Pittsburgh, and the Stonewallriots in New York's Greenwich Village, a battle about "gay rights". Yet, even when black men- like Sterling in this play-want to work, want to be straight" and earn a decent wage for an honestday's work, they are denied. And Nixon is the President, to whom black minorities don'tmatter, since they didn't vote for him the year before. "Who wanna haul bricks for a dollar and a quarteran hour? Inessence, Wilson is suggesting, and he is drawing it out in the Hambonecharacter, that blacks should separate themselves from white conceptionsand power, because they will never receive fair compensation for theirefforts. Ain't nothing gonna be left around here. Because chances are thelegislators and officials are just as prejudiced and would file and forgetthe complaint. 42). Of all the characters, Memphis is the strongest -- perhaps the mostappealing -- especially to black audiences. However, the fact remains that for many black men, the idea of a realAmerican Dream is nearly impossible to realize. What it meant wasthe displacement of poor blacks and black neighborhoods in order to buildhuge sky scrapers and modern apartment complexes that the old- timeresidents could not afford. In fact, inan interview (1993) with Richard Pettengill, he hypothesizes that if all ofblack people had remained in the South, they would have developed their ownversions of Saks Fifth Avenue, banks, baseball team, supermarkets. And he gets thirty-five thousand dollars forthe diner. Black Men and Masculinity and the AmericanDream . 7). Every morning still, Hambone goes by the butchershop demanding his ham. Sterling proves he is a decent man of sorts. New York: Beacon Press Pettengill, R. There is Sterling, the many just out ofprison, who wants to set his life straight and go to work, but, when heapplies at a steel mill, he is told he has to join the union, and when hegoes to join, he is told that he can't join the union until he is working.It seems Sterling, despite making an effort, is constantly turned away fromwork. TWO TRAINS RUNNING When there seems to be no hope, people turn to something that justmight provide hope. Playing the numbersmay be the only way out for some of them. The numbers give you an opportunity. if youafraid of the truth . If it wasn't for the numbers all these niggers would be poor (Wilson, 1992, p. Martin Luther King assassinated. 3 ) What Wilson seems to be trying to assert here isthat Hambone has become a victim of the white man's systematic denial ofappropriate compensation. This is no simple "Civil Rights" matter. You born free. Theatre: Art in America. . . Memphis' Diner is about to be one of thevictims of the "modernization" of the inner city in Pittsburgh. With many blacks in the North that means "playing thenumbers". if he get lucky" (p. Niggers is the most hard-working people in theworld. My clause say they got to giver mewhat I want for it" (p. Complaining, as Wilsonuses in the Hambone character, does no good. . In this play, Wilson again composes a cast of characters of black men(and one woman) who represent different sides of the same coin. What do these characters know about Woodstock? No author listed: "The Heart of August Wilson"www.columbia.edu/~mrg24/wilscontents.html [Available online, 2 1.] Ain't nothing gonna be left here but niggers killing one another (Wilson, 1992, p. Still, there are manycritics who claim that "Two Trains Running" is his most powerful play. There is, so itseems, no way for today's black men to escape the wounds of slaverygenerations earlier. "People killme about niggers is lazy. There is certainly a hint of a separatist movement here. Dentist done moved out. Freedom isheavy. He seems to have completely lost his senses, stillcomplaining about an event that happened ten years earlier, when Lutz, thebutcher who had promised him a ham for painting his fences, decided to givehim a chicken instead. Surely,Wilson would have his characters comment on the Civil Rights act of 1964,and Affirmative Action, by saying something appropriate like that it ismerely another "gift" of the white man, and that the black man should notbe given whatever white society feels like, but only that which he hasearned for himself. Shannon, Sandra G.: The Dramatic Vision of August Wilson (1996)Washington D.C.: Howard University Press Wilson, A. They've long disappeared, along with coal miners and rivertraffic. One needs to ask whether Sterling represents a "healthy" image? . That'snot of great importance in the diner. The blacks who came up from the South to work for the war effortback in the 194 's are struggling to survive somehow. At the end, when the rally downtown ended, and the first fires ofblack anger torched a drug store, when the men were talking about Hamboneand his funeral, and Lutz never giving him the ham, then Wilson creates apleasurable surprise. American astronauts land on the moon! Two Trains Running (1992) New York: The PlumePress. References Belton, D. And that means he is losing his opportunity of realizing his versionof The American Dream. He is at the forefront of thoseblack men who are going to stop thinking about slavery and degradation inthe past, and start to establish their own truth in America. This is no longer a city ofsteel mills. . 57). (1992). Supermarket's gone. Shoe store gone. 1). Two drugstores. 33). Holloway says: "That's why I saw he might have moresense than me and you. Wilson also tries to destroy the white man's stereotype. "Sterling embodies Wilson's idea of 'thetruth of American society'. None ofthese mattered to the people whose neighborhood was fast disappearing, andwhose lives seemed to have no future. On the otherhand, the black man knows that his chances of making something of himself,even in 1969, are slim. Even though there wereblack performers there, like Jimi Hendrix and Ritchie Havens, the 3 , young people who sat through rain were primarily white. To most men, this Dream is a good job, a nicefamily, a home to come back to every night, and money to pay the bills.Sterling sees it his own way: "that's all a man need is a pocketful ofmoney, a Cadillac and a good woman" (p. Wilsonhimself writes: "reduced to its most fundamental truth, black men are acommodity of flesh and muscle which has lost its value in the marketplace.We are left over from history" (Belton, 1997, xci). But not before he hopes to get his price. The oldneighborhood is going, going, gone. It's up to you tomaintain it. That, soWilson seems to feel, is the problem: black men waiting to get lucky,rather than go out and make their own luck. Cause he ain't willing to accept whatever the whiteman throw at him." (p. 34). As Wolf, the neighborhood numbers runner explains it: It's the same thing as putting money in the bank. 93). (ed.) (1997). I'm talking about he can make twoor three hundred dollars gambling . . But, Hambone is regarded as a sort of hero byothers in the diner. This was a time of what was called "urban renewal". If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.