Essay on Long Day's Journey: A Family's Struggles & Resentments

Long Day's Journey into Night is one of the plays that were written by Eugen O' Neill, the play was acted in the summer at home Tyrone and of the major characters in the play. The play starts just in the morning after breakfast, Mary one of the characters in the play, returns home after receiving some treatment from morphine addiction and Tyrone and Jamie show some signs of tuberculosis (David, 106). The family engages in fights that eventually lead to the opening of the past events that bring about more debates on how Tyrone is responsible for Mary's addiction for failing to provide an appropriate doctor to attend to her.

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In his play Long Day's Journey into Night, Eugene has used more symbolism to convey his message; actually, the symbols used have brought out his message clear to the audience both reading the play and watching. Eugene uses fogs and foghorns to represent several different information such as blindness, focusing on one's self, and estrangement of some issues. The main aim of Eugene is to use fog to represent the dark side of issues, unstoppable and isolated, where both Mary and Edmund, on many occasions in the play tries to run away from reality instead of facing it and finding the best solutions (Maureen, 258). Mary uses morphine to do away with the reality of which later she is addicted while Edmund uses alcohol. James and Jamie see any light ahead, and they fell they are already ruined and rely on alcohol so that they cannot face the harsh reality that is waiting for them. Apart from using addiction and drugs to run from reality, each character from the play experiences some painful feelings from the past that hurt them most.

Eugene also uses the car, which from a look of things is intended to mean one thing but seems to have another meaning in the contest used. James only buys things to show Mary how much he loves her and to show the neighbors that even though he is frugal, he has good test and have some knowledge on how to spend. But later, it is known that James bought a second-hand car, and Mary views it as a thoughtless husband.

Morphine and Alcohol which are drugs symbolizes retreat, the family stranded and they have to where to go leaving them with only two option either to fight or flight. The character spends much of their time on drugs to run away from reality, making Mary dependent on morphine (Maureen, 258). James uses the most expensive alcohol, the bounded bourbon that is only used by the rich people, which also the social class because the poor cannot buy the alcohol James is drinking. It is the American alcohol whiskey made up of corn and named after Kentucky place where it was invented. James is for all Irish patriotism, but he does not use the Irish whiskey instead of drinks the American one maybe because of the price and its availability, but still, the American one is more expensive than the Irish type. It symbolizes how James is more assimilated into the American culture and ignore his Irish culture.

Day and night, the cycle of time as the events in the play takes place that symbolizes the Long Day's Journey (David, 106). The family of Mary is caught up in the various mess, they attach each other, abuse, regret, feel bad and apologize from each other, and the cycle continues.

The wedding dress and the booth praise, the family of Tyrone have some feelings that they are hiding that reminds them of what they have lost. The wedding dress brings back some happiness to Mary and his family and the youthful stages, James is keeping some piece of writing about Edwin Booth while he performs Othello. The piece of writing and the wedding dress represent the history that happens in the past.

Eugene has used symbolism successfully to bring out all the information he wanted to bring to the audience, including the wedding dress and piece of writing that represents history. The day and night bring out the cycle of events as they happen during the journey, the car representing how James do things to please other and the morphine and alcohol that the characters use to run away from the reality

Works cited

McDonnell, Maureen. "Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill." Theatre Journal 70.2 (2018): 258-259.

Palmer, David. "Long Day's Journey into Night dir. by Miles Potter." Eugene O'Neill Review 40.1 (2019): 103-106.