Act 1 of the play “The Boys Next Door,” by Tom Griffin, was interesting and very different to me. I have never read or seen a story with quite this situation. Basically, four mentally handicapped men are living together in an apartment and have a supervisor named Jack. The play offers a story for each main character, helping the reader understand better what is going on.
Arnold is one of the men living the apartment. He is marginal. The little things about people aggravate him and get to him. I believe that he, along with Barry, have less severe cases than Norman and Lucien, who are retarded. Arnold is easily persuaded (as indicated at the beginning of the story when he goes to the grocery store) and can also trick people quite easily.
Barry thinks he is a pro golfer. He is a grade A schizophrenic. His case seems mild though by the way he acts. I believe that there is promise for Barry and that he can one day lead a fairly normal life.
Norman is mentally retarded. He has a problem with eating too much doughnuts and loves his key chain. When things get out of order or when something makes him nervous, he panics frantically. He works at a doughnut shop, which will be good for him to live as normal of a life as possible, but I believe that Norman would need to be under supervision at all times.
Lucien is also mentally retarded. I believe he has the worst case of the four men. His speech is poor and he doesn’t think straight. He also gets easily distracted. I do not believe that Lucien will ever be capable of living on his own, unfortunately, but he does have a good heart.
To me, these four men living together under supervision is a good thing. It will help them grow and develop maturity. I believe that it will also help them cope with their mental diseases. I believe that in the second act (mainly at the end), that I will see that each of these four men have matured and have learned. I also believe that Jack will learn some lessons about life having supervised these four men.
Hey Ben, most of this post is just summary of the play, telling who the characters are. I wish that you would do more ambitious blogging, thinking more about the play and writing out your thoughts. Reread the section of my essay about this course on blogging to see the different ways I suggest that you blog.
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