Introduction
The play, which takes approximately ten minutes, was written by Caryl Churchill as a response to the tragic events that took place at Gaza in the recent past. The play, among other issues, shows the extent to which theater is capable of reacting to the global politics. The play depicts Israeli children as subject to torrent of conflicting information in relation to their past and present. The play is comprised of seven scenes and the scenes entail a heated debate among parents and close relatives on whether their children should be taught some things about the past and present. They debate on what the children are supposed to know and what they are not supposed know about their history. Thus, the play covers from the days of the Holocaust to the founding of the Israeli nation. The miscellaneous wars in the Middle East are also covered including the Gaza invasion. The play brings out a clear view of divided Israel and this can be attested from the advice given to the girl (Ravensbergen, 2010). One side tells her to tell them that they want to drive the Jews into sea while the other tells to tell them they don’t want drive the Jews into the sea while on both occasions, the speakers offering the pieces of advice are Jews. Nevertheless, this conflicting view results to a justification for the war and ruthless killing: “Tell her we won’t stop killing them until we’re safe”
Churchill’s play undeniably manages to capture the transition that Israel has seen and also brings out a notion of an existing opposition to the Gaza attack; both external and internal opposition. Compressed poetic form has been used effectively to show how the transition of Israel has consequently turned into indiscriminate slaughter on the pretext of security.
Mountain Language
The play was written by Harold Pinter and is set within the precincts of prison with four different scenes. The settings of the play are in prison and in front of the prison. There is also the visitors room and the entire play comprises of four acts which are however short. As the first act opens, a file of women has lined up to see their close relatives (mostly husbands) and is standing at the wall of the wall of the prison. Even though the women are ardently informed that their husbands are enemies of the country, there is one of them whose husband does not belong to the mountain who have been touted enemies of the state.
In the second act, which is set in the visitors’ room, the elderly comes to visit her relative and she is advised not to speak in her language and she is molested when she goes ahead to speak in her mountain language. In the third scene we see that the elderly woman was actually shown the wrong door thus she comes in through the wrong door. It is in act 4 that the elderly woman chooses to remain silent when she is allowed to communicate in her mountain language.
Similarities in style between the two plays
Both the plays have employed a political perspective in passing the information they intended. The play by Caryl Churchill depicts the political relationship tthat has existed among the Middle East countries especially Israel, Palestine and neighborhoods. This is evidenced by the historical transition of the play from the days of the Holocaust to the founding of the Israeli nation. The numerous wars in the Middle East are also covered including the Gaza invasion and this too works to substantiate the political aspect of the play. The play brings out another view of internal political diversity (which of course can also be viewed as political division) in Israel and this can be attested from the advice given to the girl. One voices advices the girl to say to them that they want to drive the Jews into sea while the other tells to tell them they don’t want drive the Jews into the sea while on both occasions, the speakers offering the pieces of advice are Jews. Nevertheless, this conflicting view results to a justification for the war and ruthless killing: “Tell her we won’t stop killing them until we’re safe.” The conflicting pieces of advice bring a state of psychological upheaval to the children. Psychological aspects have further been employed in the play where the audience is exposed to a confused generation wondering what is worth being taught to the children and what is not worth being taught to them.
Further, Churchill’s play manages to capture the political transition that Israel has seen and also brings out a notion of an existing opposition to the Gaza attack; there political opposition to the attack from both external and internal elements.
The play by Pinter also employs psychological aspect where we see a tortured elderly woman being told at first not to speak in her own language and because she fails to heed the admonition, she is jabbed by the guard. Later when the elderly woman is allowed to communicate using her language, she chooses to keep silent. The psychological aspect behind the act gives the audience suspense because the audience wonders what the elderly woman thinks. The audience looking at the play by Pinter sees the people being imprisoned for crimes that are not mentioned and the audience must also be wondering at the kind of political machination the political system has and how the society is consumed with totalitarian political ideology. The fact that the play is inspired by the oppression that Kurds were subjected to by the Turks and the fact that the play is centered in prison gives the audience a moment to connect political ideology with incarceration. This feature also backs up the fact that the play employs a political style to pass information to the audience. Both plays thus manage to use a political perspective to pass information to the audience and both plays allude to the Middle Eastern political ideologies that have either passed or are still witnessed.
Pinter crowns all the political subject matter and mediocrity with the theme of meaninglessness which is evidenced by the adroit structure of the play that brings out the mediocrity in the prison. One source of absurdity in the play is the source or cause of imprisonment. We find this in the first scene where two women are headed to the prison to visit one of their own who has been imprisoned for speaking a forbidden mountain language. Matters still get worse when the audience encounter an elderly woman who has been bitten by a dog belonging to the prisons and the prison official torture her and ask unsolicited questions. Psychological torture is further perpetrated by the fact that the prison officer harasses the young woman sexually through the questions he asks. The fact that the elderly woman only knows the mountain language and it is forbidden gives the audience enough impression of psychological torture and the officer strikes her with a stick for not shunning the mountain language. Lack of freedom of expression is sufficient evidence of psychological torture. Absurdity is further demonstrated by the fact that even though the elderly woman is subjected to punishment for speaking the mountain language, the rules that have been newly put in place give freedom for them to use the mountain language.
Differing Themes brought out in the Plays
On the other hand, there are various themes that give the plays a different perspective from each other. Pinter employs a technique of pause and silence to corroborate the theme of absurdity or meaninglessness. When the prison dog bites the elderly woman and the prison official asks her about the name of the dog, the audience is left to wonder who should know better and thus this question is better answered with silence given the prevailing hostility. At the second instance, the officer chooses to remain silent when the imprisoned young man explains that his mother (the elderly woman) can only speak the mountain language because she can’t speak the language desired by the ruling political system. This shows how the prison official refuses to understand and accept diversity but only sees the rules he has been given as absolute and universal. The reaction of the prisoner’s mother when he tells her that she is actually allowed to communicate in her mountain language gives the audience a sense of intense feeling and psychological agony. Yes, the elderly woman chooses not to speak and thus makes the audience to generate a feeling of sympathy and empathy and understand her reaction.
The ‘Seven Jewish Children’ builds a theme of moral conflict in a number of ways. First, the audience sees how tough it is to decide what is morally correct or incorrect to teach the children (Ravensbergen, 2010). As the play begins, the audience is subjected to the scenes of the holocaust days during the Nazi genocide period and it becomes clear that there is a moral conflict because parents are confused on what is right for their children to be taught. Despite the fact that genocide consumed their relatives, parents try to tell their daughters that world is full of love but not hatred. Now in the modern era, the parents are fearful of letting their children play with the Palestinian children and this makes parents to convince their children against what is prevailing that they won and are victorious in the land they presently are in.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the two plays have managed to use different styles in bringing up the political subject matter with a stress on the way the political system oppresses the people it should be defending. The play by Churchill, however, manages to highlight the moral confusion that arises due to the political digression of the political system from justice to genocide and ruthless killing.
Works Cited
Ravensbergen, Jan “Packed house for provocative play.” Seven Jewish Children; Work called anti-Semitic by some, ‘beautiful and elusive’ by others. 2009. Web.