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Mary Tyrone's Actual Happy Ending

Decent Essays

“Grief does not change you. It reveals you" was said by the author, John Green who wrote The Fault in Our Stars. This quote, however, relates directly to Eugene O'Neill's play, Long Day’s Journey into Night. Grief from the past will not change an individual; however the event will mold the person's future. Eugene O'Neill's life helped to create the phenomenal writer he was because of his personal experiences. In Eugene O'Neill's play, Long Day's Journey into Night, the characterization of Mary Tyrone demonstrates a sense of loss through her loneliness, addiction and unconditional love for her family. The sense of loss in the Tyrone household is supported by the constant reminder of Mary’s loneliness and isolation. During her drug induced hallucinations, Mary returns to a life that she was happier in; when she was younger and only had one child, Jamie. She is completely isolated from her family and the rest of her community. Being a morphine addict, Mary skips many of the family meals complaining that she is not hungry. Skipping daily meals, which symbolize communion in a family, isolates her from the family. Mary moans about the past and her happy life by articulating how their summer house is not a real home because she is always lonely, “In a real home one is never lonely. You forget I know from experience what a home is like. I gave up one to marry you – my father's home” (74). What Mary considers to be her utopian lifestyle- a young bride and a promising marriage, has

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