Character of the Gentleman in Eugene O’ Neill’s play "Thirst"

At the beginning of Eugene O'Neill's play "Thirst," the Gentleman who was once a first-class passenger with gallant dress is now a mere caricature of his former self. His shirt is stained and rumpled, and his collar is a formless pulp about his neck, with a black, withered ribbon. His eyes have a vacant look, stretching to the furthest horizon at the sea. His hair is disheveled, revealing a bald spot burnt crimson by the sun. With swollen lips and a burnt face, he is a pitiful sight. In contrast to his earlier state, the Gentleman now seems to have joined the company of those who are destined for disaster and final overthrow.

The Gentleman, the Negro, and the Dancer are all waiting for death in the vast sea, where the hostile sun, sharks, and unquenchable thirst make life seem like an impossible dream. The theme of waiting and watching is evident in the characters' varied emotions, such as frustration, fear, anxiety, misunderstanding, insensitivity, love, and sympathy.  

Despite his own fears and thirst, the Gentleman remains polite to the Dancer and consoles her whenever she becomes afraid of the sharks or thirst. He even tells her a lie that sharks never eat people to ease her worries.

Eugene O'Neill

The Negro's monotonous song makes the Dancer afraid of him, but the Gentleman analyzes the situation and identifies the Negro as an unfortunate traveler who has experienced many calamities. He assures the Dancer that the sun's fierce heat is distorting their thoughts and making them fearful. He says: “That is foolish. It is the sun that beats down so fiercely which makes you have such thoughts. I, also, have been afraid of him at times, but I know now that I had been gazing at the sea too long and listening to the great silence. Such things distort your brain." Gentleman understands the importance of compassion in times of hardship.

The Gentleman is struggling with a range of emotions, including a sense of lifelessness and hopelessness, as he waits for death. He expresses his despair with a sob in his voice, reflecting on his years of hard labor and the futility of it all. "Oh God, God! After twenty years of constant toil, day after weary day, I was finally going on vacation, heading home. And yet, here I sit, slowly dying, utterly alone and abandoned. Is this the reward for all my years of labor?" Later, he reads the menu card and laughs bitterly at the irony of it all.

As the thirst becomes more severe, the Gentleman becomes desperate to quench it and even considers selling his soul. He and the others on the raft begin to mistrust the Negro sailor, assuming he must be hiding water somewhere since he still appears strong and fit. At one point, the frenzied Gentleman even contemplates killing the Negro, but he is too weak to follow through. Instead, he persuades the Dancer to give up her diamond necklace and use it to lure the Negro.

As the Dancer frenziedly dances, the Gentleman applauds and encourages her with shouts of "Dance! Dance, Salome!" However, she eventually collapses and dies from exhaustion and dehydration, bringing a sense of relief to the Gentleman: "Yes, she is dead, poor girl. Her heart no longer beats."

The Negro briefly considers eating the Dancer's body, but the Gentleman prevents him from doing so. In the scuffle that ensues, both men end up falling into the sea as they try to push the body overboard.

The character of the Gentleman hints at a further moral subject that is not explicitly mentioned. Thirst is used as a way to dramatize the human experience in extreme situations where moral codes become useless. In such situations, the only way to survive is by following the rules of savagery, even if it means resorting to cannibalism, as portrayed by the biased representation of the Negro character.

While the Gentleman may seem unrealistic in this context, the psychological realism of the experience of thirst is a testament to O'Neill's integrity as a writer. The Gentleman, the Negro, and the Dancer are all integrated within a single man. The Gentleman embodies sober social behavior, the Negro represents basic instinct, and the Dancer represents the love of finery. When the desire for finery dies, instincts and social morals clash, posing a question of how man can survive without a moral code. After all, man is a rational animal!

Important Notes

👉Main theme: The fragility of life and the human experience in extreme situations, particularly thirst, where moral codes become useless.

👉Characters: The Gentleman, the Negro, and the Dancer, who are integrated within a single man and represent sober social behavior, basic instinct, and the love of finery.

👉Atmosphere: The play creates a sense of isolation and desperation as the characters struggle to survive in a vast, hostile sea.

 Ardhendu De 

References

1. Dowling, R. M. (2007, January 1). On Eugene O’Neill’s “Philosophical Anarchism.” The Eugene O’Neill Review, 29(1), 50–72. https://doi.org/10.2307/29784831

2. Full text of “Thirst, and other one act plays.” (n.d.). Full Text of “Thirst, and Other One Act Plays.” https://archive.org/stream/thirstandothers00oneirich/thirstandothers00oneirich_djvu.txt