Aim: Keeping I mind that these characters are wounded human beings who are members of a dysfunctional family, discuss the meaning of the title Lost in Yonkers. Show how the title applies to three characters: Grandma, Bella, Louie, Eddie, Jay, and Arty.
             Neil Simon must have chosen the title Lost in Yonkers for a reason. None of them were physically lost; they all knew where they were. So why did he choose this title? Let us remember that the family in the comic drama was a dysfunctional one. I believe that Neil Simon chose this title to show that the characters were lost mentally and emotionally. It's pretty obvious that every character in the play was confused and lost in some way. Great examples of this is Grandma Kurnitz, who was lost in her pain and hardship, Bella who was lost in between child hood and adult hood, and Louie who was lost in understand the difference between right and wrong.
             Let us start off with Grandma Kurnitz. Although she gives of a butch, militaristic attitude, she is actually a very weak woman. The play begins by portraying her as a strong woman; probably more feared by her children then loved (This can be proven when Jay said "He's [Eddie] afraid of her the same as Bella"). But as the play progresses, you come to see that she has many mixed emotions eating herself inside. Towards the end of the play, she exposes herself. She tells us "Not dying before them (her children) is my sin". She didn't want to feel the pain of seeing her children die again. She believed that if she didn't care or show any feelings, she would be able to curb any future pain from happening. She said, "I stopped feeling because I couldn't stand losing anymore". As you can see, she is lost. She suffers from the emotional pain of seeing her children die, causing her to build herself some type of emotional cast.
             Bella, although very different from her moth...