Reflection:
1.
The difference is that when you
are just reading you have to add your own imagination to the action because
even when the stage directions are there, you do not know exactly how an actor
might interpret that direction. Further, you will find that not hearing someone
recite the lines changes the way in which we think about the dialogue and how
the actors handle it.
2.
The characters we have the most exposure to
are the Kellers. Ann and her brother are minor characters so won't be
considered here. I find Kate to be the most interesting. I understand the
denial she experiences in accepting Larry's death, but I find it interesting
that one of the reasons she refuses to acknowledge he is anything but alive
stems from the fact that she doesn't want to place any kind of blame on her own
husband. To admit Larry is gone is to admit that her husband is a murderer. She'd
had to live with both of these very sad truths, but she doesn't want to. It
amazes me that she can do so.
3.
I think you always have to be prepared to
read between the lines, so to speak, in this play. Much of the character
development relies on the reader's skill interpreting emotions, gestures, and
motives of the characters. One example of this is when mother finally wants to
get rid of Larry's apple tree by saying there will be, “more light with that
thing gone “. She is finally accepting that Larry won't be coming home.
