2020

ENG2602 ASSIGNMENT
02

UNIQUE NUMBER: 698255

STUDENT NUMBER: 64773663

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ESSAY page 2
BIBLIOGRAPHY page 4
PLAGIARISM DECLARATION page 5

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DRAMA ESSAY
This essay will critically analyze how the playwright creates an atmosphere of menace
in the play excerpt called Brothers in Blood (2012). This will be done by contrasting the
character’s voices in the play to get their different perspectives. Next, the focus will be
on the words used by these voices and how they contribute to the atmosphere of
menace against the protagonist. In addition, this essay will consider the information
given to the audience versus the information given through the dialogue of the
characters. Lastly, it will consider the rhetorical devices contained in the play and how
they contribute to the said atmosphere of menace.

In this play, the father of the protagonist, Abubaker Abrahams, her baby’s father, Fadiel
Suleiman, her employer, Rev. Lionel Fredericks had the same views about abortion. All
of them deeply abhorred it. The only person, however, who seemed to support the idea
was her doctor, Brian Cohen. Given his background as a Jew, that was strange but
perhaps he was an unorthodox Jew. Then there is the protagonist herself, Leila
Abrahams who had scruples about her decision to abort her baby – scruples which play
out in her nightmare.

Looking closely at these voices and examining the word usage, it is found that most of
the words used by the characters in the play greatly contribute to the atmosphere of
menace. That is, menace aimed at Leila Abrahams. The words “It’s murder!” spoken by
the father of Leila’s baby suggest that by going ahead with the abortion she will become
a murderer. Being viewed as a potential murderer is damaging and harmful to the
emotional wellbeing of any person. What is more damaging are the words coming from
her father which are, “I’m glad your mother’s not alive, to see this”. Disapproval from a
parent is very hard thing to take and can have long term harmful effects to the emotional
wellbeing and self-esteem of a child – no matter how old he or she is. Religion can
cause irreparable damage to a person’s life when it is used to condemn them. It can
lead to mental breakdown and symptoms like depression, debilitating anxiety, grief, and
anger according to a study by Dr. Marlene Winell (Winell, 2009). Fadiel used this type of
condemnation in his words, “It’s against the laws of Allah…!”

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Furthermore, her employer, Rev. Fredericks, also used the same line of condemnation
with the words “Your body is the temple of God.” Her father, again re-emphasized his
disapproval of her decision with a tone that reeks of disgust “My own daughter…will my
murder my grandchild.” Those words, coming from a parent, can have an effect of
burying a person alive and could imply disowning her as his child. To further exacerbate
her plight, Rev. Fredericks, brings the biological and moral implication of abortion by
saying, “It’s a real living creature, with a soul!” and finishes her off together with her
father and baby’s daddy in response to words “Leave me alone!” by saying “Imagine if
that was your child speaking…” By this he is talking about the baby in the womb saying,
“Leave me alone!”, “Don’t abort me!” Faidel adds “My child…” referring to the baby and
Abubaker adds, “My grandchild.”, also referring to the baby.

The words given to the audience have allowed them to vividly imagine someone having
a bad dream (nightmare), with the symbolism of doom and gloom suggested by the
words, “Dark mood lights.”, and the facial expressions of the characters which are
progressively or increasingly deformed to further suggest their malicious intents except
of course Dr. Brian Cohen, who appears with a normal face in the hints of the dialogue.
This seems to place him in a position of comforting and affirming Leila. Given the whole
dialogue, what was discussed by the playwright in the stage direction is exactly how the
dialogue turned out.

Looking at the usage of rhetorical devices, right from the stage direction, the playwright
used imagery and symbolism. The words, “Dark mood lights” is symbolism. The dark
mood lights represent the atmosphere of menace that is aimed at Leila by the other
characters except for Dr. Brian Cohen. The playwright used the object (lights) to mean
more than its literal meaning by adding “Dark mood” to it – a technique which is also
called personification because lights have no mood. The, “increasingly deformed” facial
expressions, as discussed earlier, are what is called imagery which the playwright used
to create a vivid image of malicious intent in the minds of the audience. He used the
same technique in describing Dr. Brian but painted him in a good light by using the
words “(the only normal face)”.

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Furthermore, the playwright made use of allusion, referring to the Bible in the words,
“Your body is the temple of God.” This was used to put great weight in the
condemnation of her decision. The repetitive usage of exclamation marks in the
playwright’s punctuation seem to suggest that these characters were angry, disgusted,
and really intended to cause harm through their words. They were literally shouting at
her.

I contend that the playwright’s view or agenda behind the play is to some extent correct
but, as a minister of the gospel myself, the issue of religious tolerance is something I
view from a different perspective from his. To illustrate my point, I will use an analogy. A
father took his son out hunting on a farmland and gave him a rifle to teach him to shoot.
His son saw a very big spider on a fence, and he aimed at it getting ready to shoot. But
his father took the rifle before he could shoot pointing to him that, with the spider, he
could have shot the cows that were beyond that fence. He was shortsighted. He only
saw the spider and not the cows beyond the fence. The Bible is like that rifle. Without
proper training from the Holy Spirit you could hurt people instead of helping them.

In conclusion, most characters certainly had strong opinions against the issue of
abortion except one. They certainly had malicious intents which were carried in their
words against the protagonist, something that proves that an atmosphere of menace
indeed was created. The stage directions complemented the dialogue indeed and the
rhetorical devices were utilized well to create a vivid imagination in the audience which
validates and proves that these characters had created an atmosphere of menace
against Leila.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Winell, M., 2009. Religious Trauma Syndrome: Trauma From Leaving Religion. [online]
Babcp.com. Available at: <https://www.babcp.com/review/RTS-Trauma-from-Leaving-
Religion.aspx> [Accessed 7 May 2020].

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PLAGIARISM DECLARATION

ASSIGNMENT NO. 02

NAME: ANDILE NDANDA

STUDENT NO.: 64773663

ASSIGNMENT TOPIC: ENG2602 DRAMA

I declare that this assignment is my own original work. Where secondary material has
been used (either from a printed source or from the internet), this has been carefully
acknowledged and referenced in accordance with departmental requirements. I have
not allowed anyone else to borrow or copy my work. I understand what plagiarism is
and have read the university’s policy in this regard, available at:

http://www.unisa.ac.za/static/corporate_web/Content/Apply%20for%20admission/Docu
ments/Policy_copyright_infringement_plagiarism_16November2005.pdf

Signature :

Date: May 7, 2020