Reviving Political History in Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog

Recycling Political History in Suzan-Lori Parks s Topdog/Underdog By Asst. Prof. Enas Jaafar Jawad

ABSTRACT Topdog /Underdog (published in 2001) is a play by Suzan-Lori Parks that discusses competition, reversals, and recalls indirectly a history that is scared by the murder of Abraham Lincoln, the eleventh president of the united states. In this play the history of American politics is recycled. The play revolves around the troubled life of two black brothers whose names, Lincoln and booth, follow the same names of the American president and his killer. The main theme in the play which reflects the title, is the arousing interest in the idea of who will have the upper hand, that is the topdog and how control is fulfilled.

The political history is revived within a personal layer of a black family who toil to achieve their American dream of equality and of carrying a decent life. The dream seems to be far-fetched and impossible to fulfill. At first glance, naming the family s sons behind the names of Lincon and Booth, though meant to be a joke by their drunk father, suggests the possibility of fulfillment, because in the play the characters carrying these names are brothers. The brothers try to support each other, fraternity, an aim for which the president originally lost his life. suggesting loving

Lincoln and Booth The two brothers, being abandoned first by their mother and later by the father, fund themselves leading a life based on cheating, robbery and deception. Lincoln used to work as a 3-card monte player a matter that makes him cheating on people . His brother earns his living by theft. The only choice Lincoln and booth find to earn their living proves to be by impersonating another identity for themselves. Lincoln, a more honest brother, used to work as a master of the con game three-card monte, has abandoned a life of crime for a more respectable job impersonating Abraham Lincoln at an arcade. Booth, on the other hand, prefers to be called the 3-Card, instead of being loomed by the historical scar of his name. He finds in the game a proper chance to feel success. This makes him insists that his brother teaches him the rules of the game, but his enthusiasm to have the upper hand over his brother drags him to kill his brother with cold blood. Thus he revives the history leagued to his name.

The Biblical Story of Abe and Cain The issue of having the upper hand is revived all over history. Parks alludes in her play to this biblical story by referring to Lincoln impersonated by Lincoln the character (Link) as Honest Abe. this reference recycles the political interest of control and domination. The feeling of jealousy and pride has been always the reason behind historical murders and disasters. The inheritance of hostile fraternity proved to be recurring and leading to fratricide. This inheritance is symbolized by the money inheritance left by the mother to Booth before abandoning her sons.

Conclusion Suzan-Lori Park brings in her play the extremes together on the stage in the same flat living as brothers to show the whole matter as a competitive game to show how the political history has been recycled announcing the failure of the American dream for the Afro-American people in abolishing inequality. Thirst for power and possessing the upper hand over others has crept into the brotherly relations. This turns into a sibling rivalry leading to fratricide. History has been a deceptive agent , like the 3-card monte, where there can exist no winner, where everybody is a loser.

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