Thursday, 27 December 2012

A Glance at the Prologue

Earth being Destroyed
The dialogue of the Shadow Man in the prologue is very significant throughout the play. He forms a classroom scene with the help of the Shadow Chorus and teaches them a very valuable lesson of life: one that great men have failed to understand. He says:

  "To own a piece of universe is to rule a slice of sky. A grain of sand at your command. Buy yourself a dream instead. Life is for living. Not for wishing for death."

This monologue is directed at those people who desire to destroy the world and become its prime leader. He is mocking them by saying that cutting up a slice of sky and appointing it to different people is impossible. Same is the case with this wild desire of man. One may be able to own land, but you can never own people's perspective about you. He is simply scornful about the way people waste their entire lives wishing for the destruction of others and is advising them to "live it a fantasy..." rather than trying to wish for the death of others. He seems to be a strong believer of the fact that people should live and let live. This dialogue is vaguely shown at many instances in the play while Swindells shows the condition of people at that time just due to one nuclear explosion.

Tuesday, 18 December 2012

In a Nutshell

Welcome Readers!

Brother in the land 

This blog, as the name suggests, is about the play "Brother in the Land" by Robert Swindells. I understand that rummaging through text books on the day before the exam can be tiresome. Well, this blog is a simple link to all the notes that you will ever need in a highly organized manner! Another advantage is that you can write comments adding your information too. If you want to ask anything regarding the play, I will be there to answer you! 

I am sure that all of you are aware of the grief felt by everyone after the loss of a loved one. This play relates to those emotions and trauma as a 15 year old boy, Danny, watches his entire family bid farewell to the world after a nuclear holocaust in this town. As the play proceeds, we see how people's attitudes change as they fight for survival in order to reach a future that offers no hope at all. The central character narrates in such a bleak and pessimistic style it has you gripped and really trying to empathize with his predicament. A real horror story in the truest sense of it being a possibility. Gruesome, bleak, well-written and terrifying.

I read this play script since it was part of my course this year and found it really grasping. I hope that you read it and freely take reference from this blog!


Note:This blog will be updated at least once a week so please keep in touch. Any comments, suggestions and even your own articles can be sent on the email alishakhuram99@gmail.com