I think the first mirror is in the play because of
the real event of Lincoln being shot which is portrayed by Link’s job of
playing Lincoln’s assignation which is evident when Booth says to Link, “You
play Honest Abe.” In the end, Booth
shots him for real just like when people pretend to shoot Link. Not only do their names reflect the real
characters, but also their role that they play. This is the obvious mirror.
The other mirror is the con game. Link is trying to
be honest with an honest job, but in reality, he is really conning the public
with his “performance.”First of all, he has to put on “white face” to cover up
the fact he is black, again another form of deception. Booth says to him. “Dressing up like some
crackerass white man, some dead president and letting people shoot at you
sounds like a hustle to me.” Link tries to defend it saying that, “It’s honest
work.” The card game is the same in that
it is another kind of hustle. They are
both trying to get money out of people by tricking them. Link is tricking them
by being a black man playing a white president and Booth is trying to trick
people into picking the red card instead of the black one and betting all their
money. Booth is trying to learn how to
misdirect them so that they lose their focus on the cards, be captivated by the
talk and they will pick the wrong card. Link
teaches him saying, “A goodlooking walk and a dynamite talk captivates their
entire attention.” That is just another
way of deception. So, the con game and
Link’s job are both a type of deception, although, Link’s job is legal and
Booth’s card con game is not.
I thought what you wrote about Lincoln deceiving the public by working an "honest job" was really interesting. I really never thought about that when I read the play. I was focused more on Booth and Lincoln's relationship, and did not really pay attention to his interaction with the enviornment.
ReplyDeleteI never really thought about the characters on their own. Rather, I would talk about the relationship between Lincoln and Booth. I think it's interesting to see an idea about just one character and, in this case, it's Lincoln. I can see how Lincoln actually thinks he is doing "honest work" and how, in reality, he really isn't. I think Lincoln is more honest than Booth however as Booth is deceiving the players into thinking they can win, while Lincoln is kinda just deceiving them by the fact that he isn't white. His way with words and actions may kind of be an act of deception, but I see it as a way to entertain the players than to deceive them.
ReplyDeleteI agree I thought of the characters as a pair. Like one could not be without the other. It is strange that we see Lincoln as the good guy even though he is stealing from people just like Booth. The only real difference is that Lincoln thinks he isn't doing anything wrong and Booth knows what he is doing is wrong.
ReplyDeleteInteresting perspective of this play. I did not understand the play too much but your analysis of this play helped me to realize some things I may have missed. For example when you touched your point with how to be honest with an honest job.
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