Thematic Research

Themes:

Ancestry / Legacy / Family History –

In the play Jamie shares that her grandmother did plays in college, and that her grandmother has told her stories about the war and the pandemic. Jamie also can’t wait to show hew mother her newfound hand sanitizer and bring her Grandmother an old script so she can remember “the best time of her life.: Meanwhile Cam never mentions her family.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3377529?searchText=family+history&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dfamily%2Bhistory&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6704_basic_search%2Ftest-2&refreqid=fastly-default%3A98856f1887a2b47e9b15b8b3ab268b88&seq=5#metadata_info_tab_contents

MLA Citation :Rhoads, James B. “The Importance of Family History to Our Society.” The Public Historian, vol. 1, no. 3, 1979, pp. 6–16. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3377529. Accessed 1 Dec. 2022.

This article analyzes family history as a social institution, as an area of research, and of archives. This is incredibly prevalent because the characters in the play do all three of those things. They find archives and artifacts (hand sanitizer and a script.) Through my spine, they explore in order to learn — a.k.a. Research. The thing that stands out to me most of all is family history as a social institution because in the play, Cam is completely excluded from family history. 

Light –

In Light the Way Back, the ghost light serves as a theme of hope for a brighter future (literally, haha).

https://www.jstor.org/stable/43308544?searchText=ghost+light&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dghost%2Blight&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6704_basic_search%2Ftest-2&refreqid=fastly-default%3A85d4c285937999eff76892c77b868118#metadata_info_tab_contents

MLA Citation: Adair, Gerald M. “Illuminating the Ghost Light: Final Acts in the Theater of Fritz Leiber.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 12, no. 4 (48), 2002, pp. 364–81. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43308544. Accessed 1 Dec. 2022.

The opening paragraph describes the lighting of the ghost light as a ritual or tradition that marks the end of a show. I think that this is a very interesting approach because in the context of the play I always interpreted the ghost light as a symbol of new beginnings, yet, in reality the lighting of the ghost light almost always means that someone is leaving or that the space will be empty.

Pandemic and War–

The play implies that a pandemic and a war simultaneously plagued society, killing many people, and creating a dystopian future.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep25148.11?searchText=pandemic+and+the+future&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dpandemic%2Band%2Bthe%2Bfuture&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6704_basic_search%2Ftest-2&refreqid=fastly-default%3A039d8932fab0af562ca8792d18b27bbe#metadata_info_tab_contents

MLA Citation: Minzarari, Dumitru. “The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Modern Conflict and Future Warfare.” COVID-19: NATO in the Age of Pandemics, edited by Thierry Tardy, NATO Defense College, 2020, pp. 41–50. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep25148.11. Accessed 3 Dec. 2022.

This article suggests that the COVID-19 has increased the likelihood of war by shining a spotlight on national securities, cracks in governmental foundations, and changing the priorities of many nations around the world, This suggests that the events of the play are a real possibility.