Away Michael Gow

3. Whilst it dramatises frustration, alienation and anger, Away ultimately offers a positive view of relationships. Discuss. In Away, the characters and their behaviour towards others can be closely analysed to illustrate both negative and positive views of relationships. Although at first glance emotions such as frustration, alienation and anger appear to be predominant, in the end there is no doubt that qualities like unity, love, sharing and forgiveness prevail. The play dramatises three different families experiencing and working through separate problems of varying degrees, demonstrating that pain is essential to healing. One of the families involve the three characters Gwen, Jim and Meg. Gwen has frustration which verges on anger for “, people who don’t want to improve,” because she feels that as she was able to make something of her life, they should also. Jim and Meg have to deal with Gwen’s obsession with planning and her dissatisfaction for everything. Evidence that Gwen is never happy unless things are done and organised in her way is the incident where she left Jim’s box of presents behind because they were not “in the proper order.” Jim is a

However the problem here is that they are not able to communicate and help each other work through their grief. Tom pretends he does not know of his illness to act as a safeguard for their happiness because he knows it would upset them. As an end result she is able to reconcile with Roy which is evident in the scene where Roy buries his face in the shells in Coral"tms hands. " After Gwen takes a walk with Vic on the beach she is able to see things in a new light which allows her to reconcile with Jim after the Stranger on the Shore play. Looking at these relationships, it is evident that qualities such as love and unity bring frustration, alienation and anger also. This is because ultimately with healing, pain is inevitable. " However it is this frustration that forces Meg to exert her strength and break this cycle of planning by insisting her father "turn off the highway. Despite their distressing situation the family celebrate togetherness. Coral is very much so alienated from the world and doesn"tmt see herself as part of the human race. " The problem in this family is that no one acknowledges Tom"tms illness. conciliatory character who calms Gwen down saying often ", Don"tmt worry. Just once " Do you want me to beg" He feels vexed and alienated from others as he knows of no one else who is also "dying and won"tmt get better. " Meg is frustrated with her mother"tms discontent which is seen in the quote ", There"tms always something I do wrong that takes you weeks to forgive.