Murder Analysis

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 10th grade December 2001

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Corrina Lewis 11/16/01 Explanations of and Analysis of MURDER Act I         In act one three soldiers stab an unarmed Arab boy to death on the streets during the times of war. The two of the three men enjoy themselves with the dead boy by jabbing his eye out, attempting to cut off his penis and putting it in his mouth, putting out their cigarettes on his skin and other various torturing acts. There's only one soldier who is affected by the killing. He can't believe what happened. The other two soldiers try to tell him that it was justified since its war, but the flushed soldier knows better. He is the only one with a conscience. While the soldiers are still playing with the body the Arab boy's father walks in. At first he can't see if his son is the one who is dead, but as he gets closer he realizes that it is his son who was stabbed to death.

The father asks the soldiers for an explanation of what happened and the three men try to explain that his son was a dangerous threat. The father investigates his son's body more and more and finds all the marks, cuts, and stabs. With each new finding his anger escalates. The soldiers can't take all the questions the father is asking and finally leave. The last soldier tries to leave, but the father stops him and asks once again what his boy's last words were. The soldier doesn't tell him and the father is left there to grieve.

        I was shocked most by how much fun the soldiers were having. The three men didn't kill the Arab boy to protect themselves. They used war as an excuse to torture and stab the Arab boy to death. It just amazes me how people can have such little respect for life. How could they want to kill for fun? How does someone learn to enjoy mutilating a body? The first scene showed me how sick people can use war to justify killing an unarmed boy.

        Act 2         The next scene has a couple who has just been married. They are happy, and still in ecstasy of each other. Only the groom happens to be the man who some odd years ago killed the Arab boy during the war. The groom has forgotten all about it and then the father of the dead boy comes and interrupts the love making couple with a revolver. The funny thing is the groom doesn't seem to remember who the man is. The groom tries to talk the father out of killing him by telling him he's got the wrong man. The father thinks maybe it has been a while and maybe his memory has gotten foggy. Then he quickly changes his mind and still wants to kill the groom.

        Although, through the scene the groom never gives off any impression that he did kill the boy, or that he even recognizes the father. It gave me the idea that maybe he didn't kill the boy and he was just someone who looked like the killer. The play could have been sending the message that people who are looking for revenge and someone to blame that they will pick some one nearest to their description of the enemy. I know it was the same actor that played in the two different scenes, but he played two entirely different people.

Act 3         In act three a regular Arab working man is masturbating while watching some nearby woman. Then a prostitute comes out of nowhere and offers him a deal. Suddenly there is yelling of a murderer about and the prostitute claims that the Arab working man is the killer to the passing my people. Then the small crowd of people gang up of the Arab man and eventually kill him. What's weird about this is this wasn't during a time of war or anything like that. The crowd of people wanted to do all the disgusting things that the men at war did to the Arab boy. One of the whores end up peeing on the dead Arab man's body, and finally when the body is left alone it is disposed of like garbage.

        The third act had the same effect on me as the first act. Both of the people that were killed were innocent Arabs. Both of them were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Neither of them did anything wrong yet they are victims of sick hate because they were expendable Arabs.