Q. 1) Write a short note on
Grandma:
Grandma is the central character in
Edward Albee’s The Sandbox. She is an old woman. She is a lively, witty
character. Mommy is her daughter and Daddy is her son-in-law who bring Grandma
to the beach and place in a sandbox, waiting for her death.
Grandma speaks directly to the
audience. From her dialogues, a light is thrown on her past life. She had been
married to a farmer at the age of seventeen. The husband died at the age of
thirty. Then she brought up her daughter. Now Grandma is 86 years old and her
daughter is married. Her daughter and son-in-law have taken her land, and all
of them have shifted to another town. In this new place, Grandma is given a
separate place, one army blanket and one dish.
Family relations and the issue of
elderly people remain at the centre of the play. From the dialogues of Grandma,
it becomes clear that she had brought up her daughter single-handedly. So she
is a capable woman. But as she grows old, she becomes a burden to the family.
Her own daughter does not want to take her responsibility.
Grandma, though she is growing old,
she expects dignity from her family and society. However, her daughter and
son-in-law keep her in a sandbox on the seashore and wait for her death. The
whole episode is humiliating (अपमानास्पद)
for Grandma. In her past, she had been a fighting woman and had brought up her
daughter single-handedly. But she becomes helpless before the age.
Thus Grandma represents wisdom,
honesty, and human dignity. Through her sharp comments and jokes, she exposes
the shallowness and cruelty of modern family life. Grandma also symbolizes the
old values of love, warmth, and truth, which are being neglected in the modern
world. Her dignity in the face of death contrasts with the emptiness of the
Young Man (symbol of Death) and the insensitivity of Mommy and Daddy.
Thus, Grandma becomes the voice of
truth in the play, reminding the audience about respect for the elderly, the
reality of death, and the absurdity of modern family relationships.
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Q. 2) Write a short note on Mommy.
Mommy is one of the central
characters in Albee’s one-act play, ‘The Sandbox’. She is the daughter of
Grandma. She is 55 years old. Daddy is her husband.
Mommy is a practical and
insensitive kind of person. After her marriage, she grabs Grandma’s land, and
shifts her to a separate room. She offers Grandma a blanket and a separate
dish. Realising her mother is going to be a burden on her, she decides to leave
her on a seashore in the sandbox.
She is a dominating kind of person.
She does not take into consideration her husband’s opinion. So her husband
always would say, “ Whatever you say, Mommy.” Daddy remains passive and
obedient to her. She commands the musician too. She tells him when to play and
when to stop the music.
Mommy symbolizes the harsh,
practical side of modern middle-class society. She has no respect for the
elderly and shows no genuine emotions. Through Mommy, Albee criticizes the
cruelty and selfishness of modern family life, where appearances and control are
valued more than love and compassion.
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Q. 3) Write a short note on the
Young Man.
The Young Man is a symbolic
character in Albee’s one-act play ‘The Sandbox’. He is described as handsome,
well-built, and attractive. But he openly declares that he feels nothing
inside—no joy, no sorrow, no love.
The Young Man is seen throughout
the play. He is seen doing calisthenics. At first, he seems like an ordinary
character who is observing the act of Mommy and Daddy. Mommy and Daddy too
assume him just as an onlooker.
In the later part of the one-act
play, the Young Man comes into action. Grandma talks with him. It is only
towards the end of the play, the Young Man explains Grandma, “I am the Angel
of Death. I am come for you.” The Young Man kisses on the forehead of
Grandma, and she dies.
Thus the Young Man represents Death
in the play. When he appears near the sandbox, it is a sign that Grandma’s end
is near. His beauty but emptiness also make him a symbol of the American
Dream—charming on the outside, but hollow within.
Like Mommy, the Young Man does not
act cruelly. Rather, he performs his role quietly, showing death as
natural and inevitable. By presenting him as attractive but emotionless, Albee
highlights the emptiness of modern values and the certainty of mortality.
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