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Episode III, Part One
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
In the early hours of the next morning, S.B. finds himself unable to sleep. Making his way into the kitchen, he finds Gar’s suitcase, which he touches thoughtfully for a moment before sitting at the table. When he coughs, Public and Private Gar jump awake and emerge from the bedroom, surprised to find S.B. waiting there. The two men tell each other that they can’t sleep, and Public goes into the store for a moment to get some aspirin to nurse the slight hangover he has from drinking with the boys. While he does this, Private follows him and insists that this is his last opportunity to ask his father about the day in the rowboat. Putting this off, Public returns to the kitchen and reminds S.B. what he needs to do to keep the shop running.
Yet again, Public Gar finds himself unable to talk to his father about what he really feels. While Private Gar urges him to be forthcoming about his emotions, he simply talks about logistical matters with his father, thereby illustrating once more that a person’s external and internal personas are often at odds with one another, though nobody would know this from the outside.
Themes
Knowing that Public Gar is working up his courage to ask S.B. about the blue rowboat, Private Gar praises him for keeping up a steady stream of conversation, reminding him that silence is his enemy. Finally, Public asks S.B. if he remembers the rowboat, but S.B. has trouble recollecting it, saying that he recalls a brown rowboat but not a blue one. Public Gar then asks if he remembers fishing one day in May during light rain showers, when S.B. lent him his hat and started singing “All Round My Hat I’ll Wear a Green Coloured Ribbono.” This detail surprises S.B., who has trouble imagining himself singing that song. For this reason, he says he doesn’t remember the day, and Public Gar immediately tries to dismiss the matter.
It’s worth pointing out that just because S.B. doesn’t remember a specific day doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about Gar. Of course, S.B. remembers the fact that he and his son used to go fishing, but Gar is so fixated on this single moment that he sees it as a personal affront that this father doesn’t recall the day he sang a song in the blue rowboat. Unfortunately, Gar has put an inordinate amount of importance on this single memory, choosing to use it as a barometer of sorts to gauge whether or not his father cares about him.
Themes
As Public Gar attempts to move past the conversation about the rowboat, S.B. slowly begins to piece the day together. He says that he remembers a brown rowboat and suggests that he was probably singing “The Flower of Sweet Strabane,” not “All Round My Hat.” As he continues to think about it, though, he slowly recalls yet another boat that may actually have been blue. However, both Public Gar and Private Gar have set themselves to the task of putting this conversation behind them, so Public Gar runs out of the room without noticing that S.B. has started piecing together the memory.
Tragically, Gar—both internally and externally—is so unused to connecting with his father that he fails to recognize the fact that S.B. is opening up to him. When it seemed as if S.B. didn’t remember the memory of singing in the rowboat, Gar completely shut down, which caused him to overlook the fact that his father actually does remember that day. When he runs out of the room, Friel provides a perfect representation of Gar and S.B.’s fraught dynamic, highlighting the fact that these two men are incapable of relating to one another. This is largely because they have spent so many years never speaking openly with each other. So although it’s true that it’s possible for people to relate without using verbal communication, this moment illustrates why it’s so important to know how to use language to reach out to loved ones, since S.B. and Gar would perhaps know how to connect during this conversation if only they had more practice speaking openly to each other about their emotions.
Themes
When S.B. is alone in the kitchen, Madge returns from visiting her niece. Greeting him, she tells him that the new baby’s name is Brigid. Hardly paying attention, S.B. thinks aloud about how he’ll get by without Gar, clearly worrying about the prospect of managing the store on his own. He then speaks wistfully about what Gar was like as a child, remembering a sailor suit that Gar used to wear. Although Madge doesn’t remember this suit, S.B. can still vividly picture it, and he recalls how cute and loving Gar was. He also reflects upon the fact that Gar used to be extremely talkative, and then he wonders what happened to their relationship, worrying that their strained dynamic has to do with the fact that he was too old to have a son. Sad and nostalgic, S.B. leaves the kitchen while muttering to himself about Gar’s old sailor suit.
The fact that Madge’s niece didn’t end up naming her baby after Madge even though she promised to do so is a reminder that it’s impossible to control what other people do and, for that matter, what will happen in the future. This relates to Gar’s desire to leave home, since he not only hopes that doing so will help him begin a new life, but also that his departure will force people like his father to finally express their feelings for him. Ironically enough, this plan actually works, but Gar isn’t present to witness S.B.’s wistful monologue about his son. In this moment, the audience sees that S.B. truly does care about his son, but S.B. and Gar’s inability to speak openly with one another has driven Gar from the room, causing him to miss his only chance to connect with his father before he leaves.
Themes
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Looking at Gar’s suitcase, Madge thinks aloud about how heartbroken S.B. will be when Gar leaves. She wonders about the life he’ll lead in the United States and assures herself that Lizzy will take good care of him. She then remembers that S.B. was just like Gar when he was in his twenties—a peppy, boisterous young man who never stopped talking. Like his father, Madge predicts, Gar will also slip into silence as he grows older. She knows she won’t be around to witness this, but is sure that Gar will have learned nothing from his relationship with his father and will therefore be exactly like him.
Philadelphia, Here I Come! lacks a sense of real resolution. In this play, the characters don’t have any epiphanies or learn from their mistakes. Rather, Gar remains unable to show emotion while simultaneously judging his father for being the exact same way. Consequently, it becomes clear that he will lead the same cold, withdrawn life as S.B., rendering him miserable no matter where he goes.
Themes
Public Gar and Private Gar come back into the kitchen. Surprised to see Madge, Public Gar asks her about her new grandniece. “Madge Mulhern,” he says. “Are you proud?” Rather than telling him that the baby wasn’t named for her after all, Madge changes the subject by saying that she’s tired. Before she leaves to go to bed, Public Gar stops her and asks her to send word to him if S.B. falls ill while he’s gone. Agreeing to do this, she says goodnight and walks out of the kitchen. As she leaves, Private Gar tells Public Gar to watch her carefully because this image is going to stay with him forever, burned into his mind as the final moment of his last night at home. “God, Boy, why do you have to leave?” Private suddenly asks Public. “Why? Why?” In response, Public merely says, “I don’t know.”
Understanding that he will hold on to the memory of his last night in Ballybeg for the rest of his life, Private Gar wonders why Public Gar wants to leave. After all, he knows that moving won’t erase his emotional past, nor will it solve his problems. And yet, Public Gar appears determined to follow through with his plan, even if he doesn’t know why he’s so compelled to leave. Once again, then, Friel underscores the extent to which people can be at odds with themselves, acting against their best interests even when they know perfectly well that they’re making a mistake.
Themes
