Hornby Post on The Conduct of Life

One thing that seems to pop-up constantly in Fornes’s The Conduct of Life is the fear/change in Orlando’s recent behavior. Throughout the play, references are made towards Orlando’s actions, most of which are disapproving. For example, in Scene 6, Aljeo describes how the job has altered his mindset and he states that Orlando is vicious. Orlando claims that he did nothing out of the ordinary, but Aljeo disagrees and tells him that he was scared and hopeless after he saw Orlando torture Felo. Later on in Scene 16, Leticia speaks to Mona via telephone and she’s in a panic. She knows her husband is different and she’s scared; at the same time, she’s conflicted because she practically raised the man, so she feels obligated to stay and help. Both of these scenes foreshadow the final moments of the play, when Orlando is interrogating Leticia and attempts to rape her and…you know the rest. The previous scenes hints at the reader/viewer that eventually, Orlando is going to get carried away with his gestures and it may cost him or someone else (like it did Felo and Nena). I’ve been watching Hey Arnold lately and I’ve noticed that a lot of episodes that are based on Oskar Kokoshka use this technique. Oskar is an extremely lazy, self-centered man who mooches off of his wife for most of the series, but the cartoon as a whole always has an optimistic message with a positive outcome. For example, in “Oskar Gets a Job”, Arnold helps Oskar apply for jobs. Most of the employer’s laugh in his face because he’s a 38 year old man with an 8th grade education, but one guy gives him a shot at being a paper boy. Arnold wakes up at 6 a.m. to make sure Oskar delivers the papers, but he has an excuse on the first day, so Arnold does the route. Next morning, different excuse, same result; Arnold sees through Mr. Kokoshka’s lies and tells him he’s a loser and a cheat. The rest of the boarding house agrees, causing Oskar to prove them wrong and actually do the task the next morning. I know this isn’t the best example, but I feel like foreshadowing, reflecting and mirroring happens in everything all the time. I think motif in a script can be different from motif in a production, but that’s only due to how it’s interrupted; I feel like there’s substantial wiggle room in each.