Characters

Question 1

What are Stan’s values and attitudes?

Answer 1

• Believes knowledge and wisdom are valuable
• Understands there’s nuance to most situations, and they’re ravely black and white, so he tries to empathise with everyone involved
• Remains impartial in most conflict between the th characters and mediates fights in the bar.

Question 2

What are Oscar’s values and attitudes?

Answer 2

• Believes in Luck. “Got a candle that I keep lit twenty-four seven. I keep asking for some good fortune.”
• Doesn’t agree with the American Dream. He openly makes fun of it when he talks about his dad to Stan because he knows it’s completely false.
• Is very firm on his respect of women… Kind of. He tells Tracey repeatedly that he doesn’t it women because he was “raised good”

Question 3

What is Stan’s idiolect/speech motifs?

Answer 3

He tends to echo the person he’s speaking to (“Yeah I hear you.”) and usually incredibly polite even when provoked

Question 4

What is Oscar’s idiolect/speech motifs?

Answer 4

Often pretty polite, even to people who are rude to him. Mentions his upbringing quite often: how he was “raised well” and a “Gentleman”. He’s often pretty sarcastic too.

Question 5

What is Stan’s role in the play?

Answer 5

He acts as a confidant for the rest of the characters and drives the plot by drawing out thir thoughts and feelings. His tragic fate at the end of the play is symbolic of how economic strife and racial animosity (the reasons the fight broke out in the first place) can radiate outward and affect innocent people.

Question 6

What is Oscars’s role in the play?

Answer 6

His main role in the play is to act as a symbol of hope for minorities who face difficulty in work and employment opportunities in predominantly white areas. He achieves upward mobility despite his social situation. He also helps to present the divides in the society (both class and racial) as he is usually only addressed by Stan.

Question 7

“They don’t understand that human decency is at the core of everything.”

Answer 7

• Stan
• Act One Scene Four
• Working-class Disillusionment
• Relates to his compassion for all the characters in the play and shows his experience in life.

Question 8

“But Oscar… He’s another story.”

Answer 8

• Stan
• Act Two Scene Six
• Relationships, Working-class Disillusionment
• Shows his relationship with Oscar. It also relates to his increased empathy for other characters. He values Oscar and doesn’t want to see him hurt over an opportunity for him.
• He admits that Oscar is not it one to blame for everything going on he’s just having to do what’s best for himself.

Question 9

“It ain’t his fault… Oscars not getting rich off your misery.”

Answer 9

• Stan
• Act Two Scene Six
• Working-class Disillusionment, Economic Strain and Race Relations
• Given that he remains impartial in most conflicts, it makes Stan’s defence of Oscar stand out, we already know that he deeply cares about Oscar and it gives more weight to his compassion in the situation. It also relates to his experience and empathy.

Question 10

“They find it offensive to be on the floor with their Wharton MBAs… their diplomas soiled with sweat.”

Answer 10

• Stan
• Act One Scene Two
• Education, Status, Economic Strain
• Stan values knowledge and experience but will acknowledge the credentialism among the higher educated. Because they have more qualifications they are worth more than someone who works on the floor of the steelworks.
• “Soiled with sweat.” - sibilance, mentions the title of the play - presents something sinister about the credentialism within the white and blue-collar workers.

Question 11

“Olstead’s grandson is the same brand of asshole as all of ‘em, stuffing his pockets.”

Answer 11

• Stan
• Act One Scene Two
• Resentment
• He doesn’t tend to speak poorly of anyone except Olstead because he is aware that the big corporations are at fault for the hardship everyone going through.

Question 12

“Bitch and moan, want something better. But then the minute someone does, well, forget it.”

Answer 12

• Stan
• Act One Scene Six
• Resentment, Working-class Disillusionment, Status
• Stan is continuously aware of human nature and how people tend to act without holding it against them.

Question 13

“Then imagine how they feel.”

Answer 13

• Stan
• Act Two Scene Three
• Working-class Disillusionment, Resentment, Relationships
• Shows his increased empathy and tries to guide Cynthia to understand why they are angry with her. He still sees the nuance here and doesn’t resent her for her decision
• He also displays his impartiality in the conflict between the rest of his friends to not lose anyone he cares about

Question 14

“I’ll keep out of it.”

Answer 14

• Stan
• Act Two Scene Three
• Relationships
• Displays his impartiality and value of empathy and nuance

Question 15

“No matter what lever I pull it will lead to disappointment.”

Answer 15

• Stan
• Act Two Scene Three
• Working-class Disillusionment
• He understands that his actions alone don’t have much of an impact and sometimes there is no right answer in a situation. Again displaying his wisdom and empathy.

Question 16

“Sometimes I think we forget that we’re supposed to pick up and go when the well runs dry. Our ancestors knew that.”

Answer 16

• Stan
• Act Two Scene Six
• Nostalgia, Economic Strain, Broken Lives, Working-class Disillusionment
• Advising the younger men, he acts as a guide and father figure for them as theirs are inadequate or dead
• Another reference to ancestry and heritage

Question 17

“Nostalgia’s a disease.”

Answer 17

• Stan
• Act Two Scene Six
• Nostalgia, Resentment, Shame, Regret and Forgiveness
• He talks about the danger of hanging onto old memories and feeling and valuing them more than new opportunities and warns the boys of how they can get stuck in Reading if they don’t actively look for new places of work or education to start a new more fulfilling life

Question 18

What does Stan’s place behind the bar represent?

Answer 18

• His place behind the bar is reminiscent of a judge stand, he tends to be the ‘overseer’ of events throughout and does his best to keep things peaceful without unfairly punishing anyone, when he “Slams bat onto the bar” it sounds like a judge’s gavel and works the same by silencing the conflict.
• The scene where this changes is the last scene where he gets seriously injured, showing it to be a place of safety too.

Question 19

“Thanks, Oscar.”

Answer 19

• Stan, usually
• Throughout the play
• Race Relations, Relationships
• Given that Stan is one of the only people to even acknowledge Oscar, it emphasises the disrespect he might receive from other characters and displays the familial relationship the two share

Question 20

“He goes about his business, rarely acknowledged by anyone except Stan.”

Answer 20

• Stage directions
• Act One Scene Two
• Race Relations, Relationships, Status
• Stan is the bridge between classes here as he is the only means of polite communication between Oscar and the patrons at the bar. Oscar does what he needs to do without interference as well

Question 21

“Well, I’m Colombian. And I don’t Know.”

Answer 21

• Oscar
• Act One Scene Two
• Race Relations
• This is in response to a racist comment made by Tracey and honestly, he is far more polite than I would have been. Heritage is also an incredibly important thing to a lot of the characters in the play

Question 22

“Oscar Cuts his eye at Tracey and walks back to the bar.”

Answer 22

• Stage directions
• Act One Scene Two
• Resentment, Race Relations
• Oscar does this quite often where his body language will say more than his words and by not saying anything to Tracey he is polite in the fact that he does not respond but still makes his viewpoint completely clear

Question 23

“Oscar is a quiet but visible presence throughout the scene,”

Answer 23

• Stage Directions
• Act One Scene Three
• Economic Strain, Status,
• Oscar being present but not included is reminiscent of his father’s treatment at the steelworks and represents the division within classes

Question 24

“Throughout the scene, Oscar scrapes gum from the bottom of the tables. It is an unpleasant task but Oscar is focused and determined.”

Answer 24

• Stage directions
• Act One Scene Three
• Economic Strain, Status
• The disgusting nature of the task Oscar carries out is reflective of the jobs that minorities sometimes have to take out of need because they have no other option. Like his father worked in the steel factory

Question 25

“Thank you for nothing.”

Answer 25

• Oscar
• Act One Scene Five
• Resentment, Racial Relations, and Economic Strain
• He is sarcastic towards Tracey when she is rude to him.

Question 26

“(under his breath) Bitch.”

Answer 26

• Oscar
• Act One Scene Five
• Not afraid to retaliate against people that hurt him or piss him off. Tracey provokes him in this situation and Oscar has the opportunity to say something this time.

Question 27

“Hey Oscar, do you wanna read this for Cynthia?”

Answer 27

• Tracey
• Act One Scene Six
• Racial Relations, Status, Working-class Disillusionment, Economic Strain
• The fact that no one in the bar except Oscar can read the advertisement adds to the distance between Olstead and the blue collar workers and adds another barrier of communication
• It also speak of the difference in classes, Oscar lives in a rough part of Reading and so the poster being up in his neighbourhood means that Olstead are likely taking advantage of desperate people who need better work

Question 28

“It ain’t my problem.”

Answer 28

• Oscar
• Act Two Scene Five
• Racial Relations and Economic Strain, Working-class Disillusionment
• Oscar doesn’t want to admit what he’s enabling Olstead to achieve because he needs the money, for whatever it is he wants to pay for. He is underpaid and finally has an opportunity and wants to take it.
• He also wants people to acknowledge that what he’s doing will not have an overall effect on the other characters because if he doesn’t fill that job someone else will get that paycheck instead

Question 29

“I’m just trying to get paid.”

Answer 29

• Oscar
• Act Two Scene Five
• Working-class Disillusionment, status
• He’s desperate, he gets paid far less where he’s working now and is willing to take the pay the others outright refused. He’s doing what’s best for him and doesn’t want people to take it personally

Question 30

“It was the American way.”

Answer 30

• Oscar
• Act Two Scene Five
• Working-class Disillusionment, Resentment
• He is openly mocking the American Dream and makes sure to explain how it is now outdated and often misconstrued
• He’s resentful of the system that discriminates against people like him and limits their chances

Question 31

“If they don’t see me then I don’t need to see them.”

Answer 31

• Oscar
• Act Two Scene Five
• Relationships, Resentment, Racial Relations and Economic Strain, Class
• being seen and acknowledged is important to Oscar and he wants to make it clear that he doesn’t feel any personal anger for the people that neglected and abused him in his place of work

Question 32

“Oscar makes a show of putting on his apron.”

Answer 32

• Oscar
• Act Two Scene Five
• Relationships
• He’s comfortable with Stan and so can act as sarcastic as he wants
• also relates to how most of his communication and characterisation comes from his movements and actions over his words

Question 33

How does Oscar’s silent presence affect his characterisation?

Answer 33

Oscar remains, for most of the play, in the background, “watching, listening and working.” He goes unseen and unheard by most of the characters except Stan unless he’s being assaulted by Tracey somehow. This isolation helps to contrast his position at the end of the play when he is more outspoken and becomes the bartender. He is the embodiment of ‘actions speak louder than words’ in the play and uses his physical actions to portray more of his feelings than almost any other character.

Question 34

“It ain’t his fault… Oscar’s not getting rich off your misery.”

Answer 34

• Stan
• Act Two Scene Six
• Working-class Disillusionment, Resentment, Racial Relations and Economic Strain
• Stan tries to emphasise that the real culprit is Olstead and that Oscar is only taking the pay that they refused. He tries to make Jason understand this and fails miserably as the workers are just looking for someone to blame for their situation