"How I Learned to Drive" Response

I found the play "How I Learned to Drive" to be an extremely difficult and disturbing play to read. Throughout the play, I felt constant sympathy for Li'l Bit as she was misunderstood by her family, not accepted at school, and repeatedly molested by her uncle. Although my thoughts of this character remained steady, I found myself reevaluating my thoughts of Uncle Peck at multiple points in the play. Since the play is not presented to the reader in a sequential way, I found myself both hating and understanding/sympathizing with Uncle Peck.

• At some points, I viewed Uncle Peck as a misunderstood and lonely character who could be sympathized with. Although these bits of dialogue do not cancel out his disgusting actions, they provide the reader with a bit of background that provides hints as to why Peck became the man he was. An example of such dialogue can be found on pg. 442 in a conversation between Peck and Li'l Bit: "I have a fire in my heart and sometimes drinking helps" - Peck.
• On the other hand, most of the play portrays Peck as a pathetic pedophile who obviously had some major issues. I literally had to stop reading the play at times as I was getting so internally angered and sickened by Peck's words and actions toward Li'l Bit. There was a very strong, yet subtle line in the play that disturbed me to a point that Uncle Peck became permanently classified as a nasty and pitiful man. This line can be found in the dialogue between Li'l Bit and Peck on pg. 436. Peck states, "Good question. It doesn't have to be a 'she' --but when you close your eyes and think of someone who responds to your touch--someone who performs just for you and gives you what you ask for--I guess I always see a 'she.'" Every time I read that quote it makes my stomach sink with disgust. I can honestly say I am glad he was dead by the end of the play. 

"Top Girls" Response

Right off the bat, I really enjoyed the realistic style of the play Top Girls. I felt like Churchill did a great job, especially throughout Act I, of structuring the dialogue in an extremely lifelike manner that was easy to relate to. His style allowed me to immediatley relate to the characters, as my girlfriends and myself often carry on conversations very similar to this one. I also thought that the marks in the text indicating areas of interruption by another character added a sense of originality as well as a bit of humor. For example, I particularly liked the dialogue between Isabella and Nijo (on page 353) where they are both not only continually interrupting each other, but also talking about completely different subjects; Isabella talking about her fondness of horses and Nijo speaking of her daughter. 

I also found it very interesting how the topics of conversation throughout the play frequently included male roles as well as fertility/pregnancy/children:

• Examples of fertility/children:
• Nijo: "I never saw my third child after he was born...Ariake died before he was born" (p.353)
• Joan: "Then something changed, my breath started to catch...and the baby just slid out onto the road" (p.352)
• Joyce: "I did get pregnant and I lost it because I was so tired looking after your baby" (p.375)
• Examples of male roles:
• Nijo: "It was always the men who used to get so drunk. I'd be one of the maidens, passing the sake" (p. 346)
• Joan: "I shouldn't have been a woman. Women, children, and lunatics can't be Pope." (p.352)
• Griselda: "But of course a wife must obey her husband" (p.354)
• Win: "There are also fields that are easier for a woman, there is a cosmetic company here where your experience may be relevant" (p.365)
• Mrs. Kidd: "What's it going to do to him working for a woman" (p.367)

I found it very powerful that Churchill included these topics to portray a sense of societal ideologies while centralizing the plot around strong and successful female characters.