caucasion chalk circle
Metaphor Analysis
The Chalk Circle The chalk circle is a symbol of truth. Within the circle, all will be revealed. In the play, Azdak cannot come to a rational decision on who should have the child. His methods of justice are not by the Book of Statutes he sits upon. By putting the women in a circle and observing them act towards the child, he can see which woman is best for it. The circle levels the playing ground, removing the advantage of money or rank or history. There are no distractions to the problem or its solution. Azdak lets justice reveal itself. Similarly, the play opens with another circle of justice, when the members of the two communes sit together to decide who should have the valley. The Expert from the Government Reconstruction Commission is like Azdak, who announces the outcome but does not push; he observes. Within this friendly circle where the communes have equal social status, they can impartially decide the best use of the valley, and it is peacefully and mutually decided for the fruit growers. This circle symbol is reinforced by the Wheel of Fortune brought up by the Singer in Scene 2. He sings about the downfall of the Governor, who was so secure in his power and assumed he would always have it. “But long is not forever./ Oh Wheel of Fortune! Hope of the people!” (p. 15). This wheel of change is always turning and fits the Marxist message of the play. The Wheel celebrates the historical dialectic where the center of power is always shifting from one group or class to another. It is the hope of the people because eventually, this turning circle of fortune produces justice, as we see in the first scene. The first scene depicts the same landscape where the medieval civil war had taken place that we observe through the rest of the play. In the present time in Scene One, however, there is a socialist society that strives for fairness to all. Looking back, the people perform their own history and see how the Wheel of Justice
The Chalk Circle The chalk circle is a symbol of truth. Within the circle, all will be revealed. In the play, Azdak cannot come to a rational decision on who should have the child. His methods of justice are not by the Book of Statutes he sits upon. By putting the women in a circle and observing them act towards the child, he can see which woman is best for it. The circle levels the playing ground, removing the advantage of money or rank or history. There are no distractions to the problem or its solution. Azdak lets justice reveal itself. Similarly, the play opens with another circle of justice, when the members of the two communes sit together to decide who should have the valley. The Expert from the Government Reconstruction Commission is like Azdak, who announces the outcome but does not push; he observes. Within this friendly circle where the communes have equal social status, they can impartially decide the best use of the valley, and it is peacefully and mutually decided for the fruit growers. This circle symbol is reinforced by the Wheel of Fortune brought up by the Singer in Scene 2. He sings about the downfall of the Governor, who was so secure in his power and assumed he would always have it. “But long is not forever./ Oh Wheel of Fortune! Hope of the people!” (p. 15). This wheel of change is always turning and fits the Marxist message of the play. The Wheel celebrates the historical dialectic where the center of power is always shifting from one group or class to another. It is the hope of the people because eventually, this turning circle of fortune produces justice, as we see in the first scene. The first scene depicts the same landscape where the medieval civil war had taken place that we observe through the rest of the play. In the present time in Scene One, however, there is a socialist society that strives for fairness to all. Looking back, the people perform their own history and see how the Wheel of Justice