FREE ESSAY ON THE SAND BOX

THE SAND BOX

Canndice Green
English 102
November 29, 1999 
In reading Edward Albee's The Sandbox directly out of the text, it seemed to be a trite
and dull play. I was left with feeling after I read the play in the book, that if
anything this boring could get published so could I some time in the future. Yet, to see
it performed live by my fellow classmates, it revealed much of the dynamics of that
family. In being able to see it performed among my classmates; my actual opinion of the
play did modify. I was able to be more open and understanding to the message and the
actual motivation of the play. 
My original opinion of this play was that if was of a family that was too busy to care
about the needs of the elderly grandmother. It had managed to rap itself so tightly in
the daily bind not to care about any actual member of the family that could be sick or
aging. A family that had established itself to a point that having to contend with the
grandmother throws the entire situation off.
In seeing the play performed live I grew to understand that my original assumption was
precise yet, there was more going on than I read. It is a family that is dealing with
having to cope with an elderly parent. The roles of parenting have changed the child has
now become the parent. It about a family has to cope and re-adjust their lives to manage
the new person.
Also a problem with dealing with the elderly is dealing with the fact that they are
closer to death. The realities that the Mom would be losing her own mother soon, which
leaves some harsh feelings. Death is an actual theme that I could tell throughout the
play. The play confronts being alive and how to behave with the awareness of death. It
calls the reader and the people who will view the play live, not to live in fear of death
that it is such a natural next step of life. It is has some streaks of optimism, because
the play makes the assumption that it is possible to communicate with other people. That
in the end the natural element that makes life a workable situation is to be able to talk
to each other. 
The play is a good example of a family dealing with change and transition. It is a family
that is adjusting to the change of a loved one. The play allows the reader from dark
humored perspective understand the pain an anger of old aged. It would be the definition
of the song the Little of Lady from Pasadena how as we get older we do slow down but
grow. I found the play to be a good look at the current trends in society. That this
society has a problem with how to treat the elderly, how to respect the wealth of
knowledge that they have. This society has a function to serve the young and when the
elderly hit a certain point they have used the potential and a discarded. The play
reflects modern trends on the elderly and the perspective of how they are dealt with.