Nature, Observation, and Contemplation Theme Analysis

While On the Face of It is primarily concerned with issues of human connection and alienation, it also touches on the value of simply sitting in nature, contemplating one’s experience, and observing the world and other people. Again, this is mostly presented through the character of Mr. Lamb, and also in the way that Derry is converted to Lamb’s contemplative worldview over the course of their conversation. In connection to its theme of remaining open to all kinds of experience, the play emphasizes the importance of appreciating nature and observing and learning from one’s surroundings.

Throughout his conversation with Derry, Mr. Lamb often returns to the subject of simply sitting, listening, and learning. He says “I sit here. I like sitting,” and “I’m interested in anybody. Anything. There’s nothing God made that doesn’t interest me.” He speaks of listening to his bees, saying, “When you listen to bees for a long while, they humm….and hum means ‘sing’. I hear them singing, my bees.” This also extends to Mr. Lamb’s openness towards other people, as he accepts all kinds of human interaction, either positive or negative, and tries to learn from it. In trying to convince Derry to return, Lamb discusses the boy’s vague longings in terms of contemplation, saying that Derry could learn what he wants by “Waiting. Watching. Listening. Sitting here or going there.” Mr. Lamb might be lonely for friends and family, but he also seems satisfied and at peace with his contemplative life, and finds company in his plants, bees, books, and the occasional visitor like Derry.

Though Derry is resistant to Mr. Lamb during their conversation, when the boy actually goes home to his mother, he summarizes Lamb’s ideas to her and seems to have been convinced of their validity. Derry tells his mother that what he really wants to do is go back to the old man’s garden and “be there, and sit and...listen to things. Listen and look.” He declares that what’s important is “what I think and feel and what I want to see and find out and hear.” Before Mr. Lamb, no one had spoken of things like this to Derry before, and the boy clearly has a contemplative nature and wants to learn more about himself and the world around him.

These ideas of observation and contemplation are also inextricably bound to nature, especially as they are first presented in the setting of Mr. Lamb’s garden. Derry enters the garden because he wanted to be in this beautiful place, and Mr. Lamb enjoys sitting in the garden. The initial meeting of the two characters is thus caused by their mutual desire to be outside and in nature. “A day like this,” Lamb says, soon after the two first encounter each other. “Beautiful day. Not a day to be indoors.” He also often turns to nature for comfort and peace, or to make a point to the defiant Derry. This is especially noticeable in Lamb’s discussion of the supposed “weeds” in his garden, which are only seen as weeds because of society’s perception of them, and in the fact that he bases their potential future relationship around Derry coming back to help him pick crab apples. When Derry complains about people always staring at his burned face, Lamb again diverts to nature, saying that “There’s plenty of other things to stare at. […] Like crab apples or the weeds or a spider climbing up a silken ladder, or my tall sun-flowers.” Instead of focusing inward on his own problems, Lamb prefers to look outward at the world, and he finds a sense of peace in contemplating nature rather than the negative aspects of humanity or his own disability.

Overall, Mr. Lamb’s character emphasizes the value of being present and observant, and Derry comes to appreciate these values through his conversation with the old man. In the end, Derry decides that he too wants to “[go] back there” to the garden, “to look at things and listen.” A large part of the play’s exploration of openness thus involves remaining aware of all kinds of experience: listening, looking, and appreciating nature.