preview

Lost in Yonkers Summary

Decent Essays
Open Document

Lost in Yonkers is set in 1942 Yonkers, New York, in the living room in Grandma Kurnitz 's upstairs apartment. Downstairs is Kurnitz 's Kandy Store, where Grandma and her daughter, Bella, work. As the scene opens, two boys, Arty and Jay, sit uncomfortably on the couch waiting for their Father, Eddie, to emerge from Grandma 's bedroom, where an important conversation is taking place. The boys are strangers to this place since Grandma Kurnitz never liked the boys ' mother, a feeling that was completely mutual. The boys ' discomfort escalates when their father tells them that they 'll be spending the next 10 months with their Grandmother. Eddie 's wife 's death from cancer has left the family deeply in debt, and Eddie has taken a job that …show more content…

Jay has taken a phone message from the mysterious men who are looking for Louie, which makes the boys ' fascination with Louie even more intriguing. Jay has not come down into the store to work, and Grandma Kurnitz has come upstairs to get him. Grandma also forces Arty to drink the horrible mustard soup by verbally battling with him. As soon as Grandma leaves the room, Louie enters, telling the boys that he doesn 't want any interaction with Grandma Kurnitz.

Another voice-over starts this scene with the letter from Eddie, which includes some money for food and medicine for the boys. The boys have settled into the household by this time and are clearing dinner dishes and setting up chairs for a family meeting. Louie is anxious to leave, but Bella is adamant that he stay to hear what she wants to say. Completely unsure of herself, Bella fumbles and Jay helps her convey to the others that she is going to marry Johnny. The family members don 't understand, and Louie loudly expresses his opinion about the man 's real intentions toward Bella. Bella is undeterred by their protests and insists that she wants to be a wife and mother and that her children will be happier than Bella and her siblings ever were. Gert, Bella 's sister, is mildly consoling, but Grandma Kurnitz cannot listen to any more of Bella 's foolishness.

This scene also begins with a voice-over, but this time it is Jay who is

Get Access