Reading Guide for Sticksand Bones
by David Rabe (1972)Characters
What does the fact thatthe central characters are named for the Nelson family on TV do to oursense of who they are? In what ways is each character an archetype (orstereotype) of a certain familial/ societal role?Pick one of the four centralfamily members and look through the play to establish what their personalhistory is. What were the crucial events of their past? How did these eventsshape them?What the function of FatherDonald in the play?What is the reality levelof Zung? Why is she introduced in the play? What function does she serve?
Plot- You can divide each ofthe two acts into scenes by the lighting cues in the stage directions;the lights go down and then up for each new scene. Make a Gliederungof each act, listing what happens in each scene.
- How are the two acts parallelto each other?
- Why begin with the slideshow?
- Where is the turn or reversalin this play; where is the recognition?
Themes- !War movies and popularculture images are important themes in SH5 andCuckoo=s Nest.In Virginia Woolf, George uses steroetypical science fiction imagesto describe the negative conformist future he imagines Nick represents.How are images of the media and popular culture used in this play?
- Sports become a majorconcern in this play. How does the attitude towards athletics compare andcontrast with the briefer allusions to sports in other works we have read?
- This is very much a playabout racism and the Other. What are some of the racial prejudices theNelson family has about Vietnamese people? To what degree are these prejudicesprojections of flaws in themselves that they cannot accept?