Human Condition †Away by Michael Gow Essay

Literature can reflect the tender condition by presenting formulations of our being, including the wide-cut range of emotions, our mortality and the transformations which differentiate us as a species. Examples of texts which do so include the play away(predicate) by Michael Gow, the photo cleaning woman on Bondi by Marco Bok and the poem Ode To A Nightingale by washbasin Keats, which provide similar and contrasting views on these aspects of humanity.Away by Michael Gow, low gear published in 1986, is an Australian play set in the 1960s, chase the Vietnam War, which explores the mortality, loss, restoration and transformation experienced in our existence.Gow suggests that Tom is the catalyst with his characterisation of Puck in A Midsummer Nights Dream in the opening scene. He alludes to Toms habit as a healer, as it is by dint of his demolition that others are suitable to begin the process of restoration Give me your hands, if we be friends, and Robin shall touch ame nds, while adding elements of legerdemain through the play-within-a-play. Tom engineers the plays upheaval through the Puckish curse I hope you puzzle a rotten holiday and by conjuring up the impel further into the text, which causes both great conflict and the restoration of the characters.The mortality of our existence is also expressed through Tom. By reading the excerpt from force Lear in the final scene, Tom undergoes a cathartic transition, reflecting upon his foreshadowing death and finally accepting its inevitability while we unburdend weirdo towards death. Gows casting of Tom as Lear insinuates that he has accomplished his office staff as the healer and is ready to face his destiny. Despite the tragic overtones conveyed through these television channels, the concept of a new beginning is also implied through the stage directions and setting The light becomes bright, summery, morning and thus reflects the positive aspect of being able to accept our mortality.The c oncept of loss and restoration is pictured through Coral, whose process of healing is triggered by Toms manipulation in A Midsummer Nights Dream, with Gow employ a soliloquy following the performance allowing Coral to express her emotions and rival out to the audience What angel wakes me from myflowery bed? The repetition of this pull back throughout the dramatic monologue reinforces her awakening from depression and dysphoria, with the angel performing as a recurring motif for Toms role as the healer. The flowery bed can also be taken as Toms deathbed and thus, she unknowingly foreshadows his fate.Gow uses the play-within-a-play, The Stranger On The margin, to express Corals final acceptance and restoration. This play demonstrates love, yield and death, with Corals role allowing her to experience the greatest neuter. The repetition of the line Im walking emphasises this change and portrays her healing. Gow also uses the lighting of the bonfire as a symbol for the death of old beliefs and a indicate for new life, Theyve lit a bonfire on the beach. Look.Similarly, Gwen goes conquer the path of restoration, as she is initially encapsulated within a shell hypothesise from her materialistic mentality, Weve got a brand new caravan. Everything you could want. Her change in strength is triggered by the storm which Gow uses as symbol for cleansing, bringing in elements of magic The FAIRIES return and stage a spectacular storm. The emotional partitioning of Gwen as she receives news of Toms illness also expresses her change and she seeks forgiveness from Jim, You must hate me? Im sorry. The clichd expression Theres a terrible taste in my mouth as Gwen tries to take the Bex Powder also emphasises her transformation.Thus, Away echoes the human condition by expressing aspects of our existence which deal with our mortality and the transformations we may experience.BibliographyAway. Gow, Michael (1986)Michale Gows Away. Beckett, Wendy (Glebe Pascal Press, 1 993)