READ STUDY GUIDE: Scene Six |
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Scene VI
| Night of the following day. A row of cells in the prison |
| on Blackwells Island. The cells extend back diagonally from right |
| front to left rear. They do not stop, but disappear in the dark |
| background as if they ran on, numberless, into infinity. One |
| electric bulb from the low ceiling of the narrow corridor sheds |
| its light through the heavy steel bars of the cell at the extreme |
| front and reveals part of the interior. YANK can be seen within, |
| crouched on the edge of his cot in the attitude of Rodin's "The |
| Thinker." His face is spotted with black and blue bruises. A |
| blood-stained bandage is wrapped around his head. |
| YANK: |
| —[Suddenly starting as if awakening from a dream, reaches outand shakes the bars—aloud to himself, wonderingly.]Steel. Dis is |
| de Zoo, huh?[A burst of hard, barking laughter comes from theunseen occupants of the cells, runs back down the tier, andabruptly ceases.] |
| VOICES: |
| —[Mockingly.]The Zoo? That's a new name for this coop—a |
| damn good name! Steel, eh? You said a mouthful. This is the old |
| iron house. Who is that boob talkin'? He's the bloke they brung in |
| out of his head. The bulls had beat him up fierce. |
| YANK: |
| —[Dully.]I musta been dreamin'. I tought I was in a cage at |
| de Zoo—but de apes don't talk, do dey? |
| VOICES: |
| —[With mocking laughter.]You're in a cage aw right. |
| A coop! |
| A pen! |
| A sty! |
| A kennel![Hard laughter—a pause.] |
| Say, guy! Who are you? No, never mind lying. What are you? |
| Yes, tell us your sad story. What's your game? |
| What did they jug yuh for? |
| YANK: |
| —[Dully.]I was a fireman—stokin' on de liners.[Then withsudden rage, rattling his cell bars.]I'm a hairy ape, get me? And |
| I'll bust youse all in de jaw if yuh don't lay off kiddin' me. |
| VOICES: |
| —Huh! You're a hard boiled duck ain't you! |
| When you spit, it bounces![Laughter.] |
| Aw, can it. He's a regular guy. Ain't you? |
| What did he say he was—a ape? |
| YANK: |
| —[Defiantly.]Sure ting! Ain't dat what youse all are—apes? |
| [A silence. Then a furious rattling of bars from down thecorridor.] |
| A VOICE: |
| —[Thick with rage.]I'll show yuh who's a ape, yuh bum! |
| VOICES: |
| —Ssshh! Nix! |
| Can de noise! |
| Piano! |
| You'll have the guard down on us! |
| YANK: |
| —[Scornfully.]De guard? Yuh mean de keeper, don't yuh? |
| [Angry exclamations from all the cells.] |
| VOICE: |
| —[Placatingly.]Aw, don't pay no attention to him. He's off |
| his nut from the beatin'-up he got. Say, you guy! We're waitin' to |
| hear what they landed you for—or ain't yuh tellin'? |
| YANK: |
| —Sure, I'll tell youse. Sure! Why de hell not? On'y—youse |
| won't get me. Nobody gets me but me, see? I started to tell de |
| Judge and all he says was: "Toity days to tink it over." Tink it |
| over! Christ, dat's all I been doin' for weeks![After a pause.]I |
| was tryin' to git even wit someone, see?—someone dat done me |
| doit. |
| VOICES: |
| —[Cynically.]De old stuff, I bet. Your goil, huh? |
| Give yuh the double-cross, huh? |
| That's them every time! |
| Did yuh beat up de odder guy? |
| YANK: |
| —[Disgustedly]Aw, yuh're all wrong! Sure dere was a skoit in |
| it—but not what youse mean, not dat old tripe. Dis was a new kind |
| of skoit. She was dolled up all in white—in de stokehole. I |
| tought she was a ghost. Sure.[A pause.] |
| VOICES: |
| —[Whispering.]Gee, he's still nutty. |
| Let him rave. It's fun listenin'. |
| YANK: |
| —[Unheeding—groping in his thoughts.]Her hands—dey was |
| skinny and white like dey wasn't real but painted on somep'n. Dere |
| was a million miles from me to her—twenty-five knots a hour. She |
| was like some dead ting de cat brung in. Sure, dat's what. She |
| didn't belong. She belonged in de window of a toy store, or on de |
| top of a garbage can, see! Sure![He breaks out angrily.]But |
| would yuh believe it, she had de noive to do me doit. She lamped |
| me like she was seein' somep'n broke loose from de menagerie. |
| Christ, yuh'd oughter seen her eyes![He rattles the bars of hiscell furiously.]But I'll get back at her yet, you watch! And if I |
| can't find her I'll take it out on de gang she runs wit. I'm wise |
| to where dey hangs out now. I'll show her who belongs! I'll show |
| her who's in de move and who ain't. You watch my smoke! |
| VOICES: |
| —[Serious and joking.]Dat's de talkin'! |
| Take her for all she's got! |
| What was this dame, anyway? Who was she, eh? |
| YANK: |
| —I dunno. First cabin stiff. Her old man's a millionaire, dey |
| says—name of Douglas. |
| VOICES: |
| —Douglas? That's the president of the Steel Trust, I bet. |
| Sure. I seen his mug in de papers. |
| He's filthy with dough. |
| VOICE: |
| —Hey, feller, take a tip from me. If you want to get back at |
| that dame, you better join the Wobblies. You'll get some action |
| then. |
| YANK: |
| —Wobblies? What de hell's dat? |
| VOICE: |
| —Ain't you ever heard of the I. W. W.? |
| YANK: |
| —Naw. What is it? |
| VOICE: |
| —A gang of blokes—a tough gang. I been readin' about 'em |
| to-day in the paper. The guard give me the Sunday Times. There's a |
| long spiel about 'em. It's from a speech made in the Senate by a |
| guy named Senator Queen.[He is in the cell next to YANK's. Thereis a rustling of paper.]Wait'll I see if I got light enough and |
| I'll read you. Listen.[He reads:]"There is a menace existing in |
| this country to-day which threatens the vitals of our fair |
| Republic—as foul a menace against the very life-blood of the |
| American Eagle as was the foul conspiracy of Cataline against the |
| eagles of ancient Rome!" |
| VOICE: |
| [Disgustedly.] Aw hell! Tell him to salt de tail of dat |
| eagle! |
| VOICE: |
| —[Reading:]"I refer to that devil's brew of rascals, |
| jailbirds, murderers and cutthroats who libel all honest working |
| men by calling themselves the Industrial Workers of the World; but |
| in the light of their nefarious plots, I call them the Industrious |
| WRECKERS of the World!" |
| YANK: |
| —[With vengeful satisfaction.]Wreckers, dat's de right dope! |
| Dat belongs! Me for dem! |
| VOICE: |
| —Ssshh![Reading.]"This fiendish organization is a foul |
| ulcer on the fair body of our Democracy—" |
| VOICE: |
| —Democracy, hell! Give him the boid, fellers—the |
| raspberry![They do.] |
| VOICE: |
| —Ssshh![Reading:]"Like Cato I say to this senate, the I. |
| W. W. must be destroyed! For they represent an ever-present dagger |
| pointed at the heart of the greatest nation the world has ever |
| known, where all men are born free and equal, with equal |
| opportunities to all, where the Founding Fathers have guaranteed |
| to each one happiness, where Truth, Honor, Liberty, Justice, and |
| the Brotherhood of Man are a religion absorbed with one's mother's |
| milk, taught at our father's knee, sealed, signed, and stamped |
| upon in the glorious Constitution of these United States!"[Aperfect storm of hisses, catcalls, boos, and hard laughter.] |
| VOICES: |
| —[Scornfully.]Hurrah for de Fort' of July! |
| Pass de hat! |
| Liberty! |
| Justice! |
| Honor! |
| Opportunity! |
| Brotherhood! |
| ALL: |
| —[With abysmal scorn.]Aw, hell! |
| VOICE: |
| —Give that Queen Senator guy the bark! All togedder now— |
| one—two—tree—[A terrific chorus of barking and yapping.] |
| GUARD: |
| —[From a distance.]Quiet there, youse—or I'll git the |
| hose.[The noise subsides.] |
| YANK: |
| —[With growling rage.]I'd like to catch dat senator guy |
| alone for a second. I'd loin him some trute! |
| VOICE: |
| —Ssshh! Here's where he gits down to cases on the Wobblies. |
| [Reads:] "They plot with fire in one hand and dynamite in the |
| other. They stop not before murder to gain their ends, nor at the |
| outraging of defenceless womanhood. They would tear down society, |
| put the lowest scum in the seats of the mighty, turn Almighty |
| God's revealed plan for the world topsy-turvy, and make of our |
| sweet and lovely civilization a shambles, a desolation where man, |
| God's masterpiece, would soon degenerate back to the ape!" |
| VOICE: |
| —[To YANK.]Hey, you guy. There's your ape stuff again. |
| YANK: |
| —[With a growl of fury.]I got him. So dey blow up tings, do |
| dey? Dey turn tings round, do dey? Hey, lend me dat paper, will |
| yuh? |
| VOICE: |
| —Sure. Give it to him. On'y keep it to yourself, see. We |
| don't wanter listen to no more of that slop. |
| VOICE: |
| —Here you are. Hide it under your mattress. |
| YANK: |
| —[Reaching out.]Tanks. I can't read much but I kin manage. |
| [He sits, the paper in the hand at his side, in the attitude ofRodin's "The Thinker." A pause. Several snores from down thecorridor. Suddenly YANK jumps to his feet with a furious groan asif some appalling thought had crashed on him—bewilderedly.] Sure— |
| her old man—president of de Steel Trust—makes half de steel in |
| de world—steel—where I tought I belonged—drivin' trou—movin'— |
| in dat—to make HER—and cage me in for her to spit on! Christ |
| [He shakes the bars of his cell door till the whole tier trembles.Irritated, protesting exclamations from those awakened or tryingto get to sleep.] He made dis—dis cage! Steel! IT don't belong, |
| dat's what! Cages, cells, locks, bolts, bars—dat's what it |
| means!—holdin' me down wit him at de top! But I'll drive trou! |
| Fire, dat melts it! I'll be fire—under de heap—fire dat never |
| goes out—hot as hell—breakin' out in de night—[While he hasbeen saying this last he has shaken his cell door to a clangingaccompaniment. As he comes to the "breakin' out" he seizes one barwith both hands and, putting his two feet up against the others sothat his position is parallel to the floor like a monkey's, hegives a great wrench backwards. The bar bends like a licoricestick under his tremendous strength. Just at this moment thePRISON GUARD rushes in, dragging a hose behind him.] |
| GUARD: |
| —[Angrily.]I'll loin youse bums to wake me up![Sees YANK.] |
| Hello, it's you, huh? Got the D.T.s, hey? Well, I'll cure 'em. |
| I'll drown your snakes for yuh![Noticing the bar.]Hell, look at |
| dat bar bended! On'y a bug is strong enough for dat! |
| YANK: |
| —[Glaring at him.]Or a hairy ape, yuh big yellow bum! Look |
| out! Here I come![He grabs another bar.] |
| GUARD: |
| —[Scared now—yelling off left.]Toin de hoose on, Ben!— |
| full pressure! And call de others—and a strait jacket![Thecurtain is falling. As it hides YANK from view, there is asplattering smash as the stream of water hits the steel of YANK'scell.] |
| [Curtain] |
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