Take Home Quiz: Twilight Zone, All in Its Monochrome Glory (Not To Mention The Color of The Characters Clothes

Carlo Vincent G. Balicas Ms.
Pegiña
Political Science 3-1 August 29, 2006
Take Home Quiz

1. to 20.)
Luigi Pirandello’s “Six Characters in Search of an Author” launches ones mind into the
realms of the absurd. If one is not ready to delve into the impossible, one is not ready to read this
confusing, yet rewarding, piece of literature.
Pirandello’s literary piece touches elbows with the idea of Martin Esslin’s “Theories of the
Theatre of the Absurd.” One of Esslin’s ideas of these “theories” is the negation of the story to
rationalism. In Pirandello’s drama, it does more than to negate rationalism; it even negates the
possible.
Let me give a concrete proof about this speculation by reiterating one of the situations in
Pirandello’s story. The story starts off with a theatre stage and actors, with the manager doing
their business to rehearse, as peculiar as it seems, one of the same author’s literary piece,
Pirandello’s “Mixing it Up”. After that, a group of people arrives out of nowhere (meaning
without any appointment whatsoever) and introduced themselves as “characters” in search of an
“author”. The manager, of course perplexed with such action, asks who are these people. The
group answers that they are “characters” for the “play” and were “born” for “drama”. Did you
get the idea? Neither do I. reading this part makes me feel like I’m watching an episode of the
Twilight Zone, all in its monochrome glory (not to mention the color of the characters clothes,
monochrome indeed). In the midst of reading this piece, you’ll ask yourself, “are these characters
real in the first place? Or are they from a different dimension or what not? The story just takes
out the rationalism of simpler things, which in this case, is to just rehearse a simple act in one of
Pirandello’s dramas.
Second, Pirandello’s drama has no fundamental structure of the conventional theatre. In the
story, all seems well with the introduction. But alas! Characters enter out of nowhere and start
the play then and there. A shallow reader might mistake this fact as just another occurrence of a
scene prior to the start of the drama itself. But, in reality, the drama is actually occurring –
without any prior notification to the reader. To a reader who is overly familiar with dramatic
devices will surely be lost in a labyrinth by just reading the first two parts of this literary piece.
And what’s more, the story doesn’t constrict itself to theatrical norms; the story starts with a
sense of an “act within an act”. So far, you will get the gist that the actors in this act are the
“actors” of the main story (which is, the “Six Characters in Search of an Author”). But behold!
The story then introduces you to another group of characters in the said story. The drama ended
up being an “act within an act, characters within characters”. Does this make sense at all? To a
mediocre reader, it may be another rubbish literature, but to an observant reader it may be a gem
between all the dramatic norms. Its absurdity sets it all from the rest - in an irate yet rewarding
way.
Another theory from Esslin that flashes the likeness to Pirandello’s piece is the reaction on
the unresolved issue on man’s existence. Reading this story really blurs the line between what is
true and what is reality. What is the difference between the truth and reality then? The truth is
something that is beyond reality, while reality is just something that can be touched, smelled, and
every description that a man’s five senses can sense - nothing beyond that. In Pirandello’s
selection, the characters are the embodiment of what a true person is, a person that is an actor of
his own drama, which is life itself; a person who sometimes acts actions that is normally not his,
but pursues to do it in order to satisfy the audience – the human society. Reading this piece is not
for the narrow-minded, indeed.

21. to 40.)
If I may be given a chance to make a remake of these two absurd yet fascinating pieces of
story, I would have given it the following titles:
“ UNTRUE-man Show” and “ SICK Characters in Search of a LIFE”. (Capitalization
intended).
But sarcasm aside, both literatures (if you’ll consider the movie, Truman Show” as a piece of
literature, that is) does strike several similarities, aside from its absurdity. .
At one instance, both literature questions the existence of what is true. In the movie, Truman
Show, Truman (the lead actor) is left to question not only his existence but to the existence of a
world outside his comfort zone (which is, the city he is living in). On the other hand, Pirandello’s
story exemplifies this same feat – the search of what “true human” is. In this story, the question
of the purpose and existence of man is exemplified in through the six characters of the story.
Let us compare both the stories now. In the Truman Show, Truman (the lead actor)
exemplifies man’s curiosity of his existence. The world he is living in is the reality, while the
land (or in this case, the far reach of the “moon dome”) beyond the city’s ocean is the truth.
Now, do you see it how it all stacks up? Exactly. Every “Truman” in us delves on the question of
our very own existence. To answer this hunger, we dive on our own reality, be it at work or at
school. But did we ever question why do we have to do such a thing? Well, Truman did.
Another concrete example: Before, Man’s idea of the world is that, the world is flat. That is
the reality then. But, due to man’s curiosity of this reality, man searched for proof. So off he
went and treached the uncharted waters, unmoved of the fact that he was warned that he would
fall off at the far end of the world. But that man proved them wrong. He discovered that the
world is round and not flat – that is the truth.

How about in “Six Characters in Search of an Author” then? The six characters in the story
depicts a “true man”, while the actors are those who are “untrue”. One important observation
would be when the actors started to imitate the characters on stage. The characters protested
that the actors acted lousy, fake and untrue in a sense. That occurrence exactly depicts what we,
human beings are. We are living in our own drama of life but we tend to act like actors in a
drama – lousy, fake and untrue. We are who we are, and thus should act like one. We must not
imitate others or act like the others to get “audience satisfaction”(which in reality, is the society).
Another fact is the question on what is true and the concealment of it. Let’s take for example
the situations that occurred in Pirandello’s story. At one instance, the “Step-Daughter” character
insisted to show her act between her and the “The Father” character. The act was not shown, as it
will give public disapproval. The “Step-Daughter” ‘s act is the truth, but the presumption of the
Manager is the reality. What is something true to you is sometimes inappropriate to reality – as it
will oppose human society. This realization truly gives the irony of it all – truth and reality
complements each other but at the same time contradicts each other.
“Are we capable enough to answer such questions?” That is the question. Truly, Man can
answer this fact through divine providence, but is there God in reality? Man didn’t know how to
cure the plague before, so he studied about it, Man wanted know if the earth was really flat, so he
made a voyage for it, Man wanted to fly like the birds do, so he invented a vehicle for it, Man
wanted to know what is beyond earth itself, so he studied, invented a vehicle, and made a voyage
for it. Did this act answered Man’s curiosity of reality? No. To quote Yuri Gagarin’s statement in
space:
“The Earth is blue, but there is no God”.
Indeed, some questions have answers beyond reality itself. And that is the truth.

Take Home Quiz: Twilight Zone, All in Its Monochrome Glory (Not To Mention The Color of The Characters Clothes

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Carlo Vincent G. Balicas Ms.

Take Home Quiz

confusing, yet rewarding, piece of literature.

without any appointment whatsoever) and introduced themselves as “characters” in search of an

for the narrow-minded, indeed.

story, I would have given it the following titles:

“ UNTRUE-man Show” and “ SICK Characters in Search of a LIFE”. (Capitalization

world is round and not flat – that is the truth.

“The Earth is blue, but there is no God”.

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