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Episode II
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Philadelphia, Here I Come!, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Communication and Affection
New Beginnings and Emotional Escapism
Memory, Nostalgia, and The Past
Public Life, Private Life, and Identity
Summary
Analysis
Later that night, Public Gar, S.B., and Madge say the rosary before eating. As they do so, Private Gar talks about how Public Gar will soon be gone, once more fantasizing about what it will be like to live in Philadelphia. Eventually, he turns his attention to S.B., asking him if he ever thinks about the past or about Maire’s death. He even speculates that S.B. might experience emotion behind his unfeeling facial expressions. Wondering if he’s been wrong to assume that his father doesn’t think about the past, he himself remembers the last time he and S.B. connected. Gar was just a young boy, and the two of them were sitting in a rowboat and fishing. And though neither of them said anything, they both experienced a sense of great happiness. They didn’t need to talk to know that they were content, and S.B. even began to sing.
For the entirety of Philadelphia, Here I Come!, both Private Gar and Public Gar have fixated on the idea of having a genuine conversation with S.B. Now, though, it emerges that Public Gar was once able to connect with his father without speaking at all. The fact that S.B. and Gar shared a beautiful moment in silence suggests that language isn’t the only way that they might be able to show affection to one another. This, in turn, gives the audience hope that the two men might be able to relate to each other before Gar leaves for the United States.
Themes
After saying the rosary, S.B. and Public Gar sit down to dinner. As they make innocuous comments about the time and the weather, Private Gar urges Public Gar to ask him if he remembers the happy day they spent in the blue rowboat. Right when Public brings this up, though, Canon O’Byrne enters, arriving for his nightly chess match with S.B. This enrages Private Gar, who predicts everything Canon O’Byrne says as the two older men begin to play chess.
Unfortunately for Public Gar, the only way to rekindle the connection he had with his father in the rowboat is to talk to him about the memory. Because they are so out of the habit of speaking openly with each another, this is a difficult task, especially since the very environment in which they exist is ill-suited for conversation—as is evident when Canon O’Byrne arrives to play chess, a game largely played in silence.
Themes
Having lost the opportunity to speak openly with his father about the past, Public Gar resigns himself to watching S.B. and Canon O’Byrne play chess. He then tells Madge that he’ll clean up the dinner plates so she can go to her niece's house to see the new baby. After a brief exchange about the fact that Madge’s niece is going to name her new baby after her, Public Gar asks Madge why Maire married S.B. instead of Master Boyle, but she doesn’t give him a good answer, telling him to ask his father instead of her. With this, she sets off to visit her niece.
No matter what Gar does, he can’t seem to obtain the information about his mother that he so desperately craves. This is why the idea of moving in with Lizzy is so appealing, since she will be able to tell him anything he wants to know about Maire.
Themes
Public Gar retreats to his bedroom while Private Gar watches S.B. and Canon O’Byrne play chess. Addressing O’Byrne, he considers the fact that the Canon is capable of understanding the connection that he (Gar) and his father have, since O’Byrne can put their unexpressed emotions about one another into “Christian terms” that make such feelings easier to bear and understand. However, he also points out that Canon O’Byrne doesn’t actually do this, chastising him for failing to do his job, which he believes is to translate people’s feelings into a religious framework. Private Gar then starts talking about the memory of fishing with his father, saying that that day haunts him because he can’t determine whether or not it really happened, worrying that he fabricated the entire memory because he and S.B. are now incapable of connection. Exasperated, he says, “To hell with all strong silent men!”
Private Gar’s frustration with his father’s (and his own) inability to effectively communicate comes to the forefront of the play in this moment, as he criticizes Canon O’Byrne for failing to use a religious framework to help people like S.B. address emotions that will otherwise go unarticulated. This is an interesting idea, since it suggests that what Private Gar wants more than anything is a way to talk about his concerns without actually having to address his specific emotions. Because he can’t do this, though, he curses “strong silent men,” implying that the particular type of masculinity which he and his father embody makes it especially hard to speak openly, since people like S.B. associate being a “strong” man with a lack of emotion. Under this interpretation, then, Gar and S.B.’s relationship is doomed because their idea of masculinity precludes them from showing affection.
Themes
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