In response to Act II of "The Boys Next Door"

The ending of “The Boys Next Door” was a little bit different than I predicted.  I predicted that Jack would be changed, and he was, but not quite in the way that I thought he would be.  He was changed in that he came to the conclusion that he needed to move on, to get another job.  I thought that he would in some way be changed internally in an obvious way, such as realizing a deeper passion for mentally handicapped people, specifically Arnold, Lucien, Barry, and Norman.  Saying this, however, I was surprisingly pleased with the ending.  I thought that Jack and Arnold at the train station exchanging good friendship was a good way to end it.  I felt throughout the story that Jack had a closer, more personal relationship with Arnold than with the other roommates.

I was surprised to see how Barry reacted to his father when he visited.  I felt when Barry was curled up on the couch in the fetal position after his dad had slapped him,  that childhood memories were taking place all over again—sore childhood memories.  I wasn’t pleased to see that the father-son relationship stayed the same after so many years.

Jack made a statement that I thought was very key to the story.  He said, “You see, the problem is that they never change.  I change, my life changes, my crises change.  But they stay the same.”  Poor Lucien doesn’t have much hope.  Will he change?  Can his mind grow?  Will he progressively learn to comprehend more complex thoughts and ideas as his life progresses?  He is 50 years old, yet still contains the mind of 3-year-old.  It doesn’t seem that he will change.

Norman contains the mind of a young child as well, but he has found love, so he thinks.  I think that it’s good that he is interested in Sheila.  It will help him learn things about life, such as relationships.  With a supervisor, his relationship with Sheila can help him grow as a person.

Arnold is very much stuck in his ways, but he does have hope.  I believe that everyone has hope, even Lucien.  Though it is a play, situations and people such as the ones in the play do exist and God is very much capable of transforming minds and producing unexpected miracles in difficult situations.