A reprint of Act 1, Scene 5 from Tennessee Williams' Will Mr. Merriwether Return from Memphis?, first published by The Missouri Review, 1997, No. 2

Williams, Tennessee

English

University of Missouri: MOspace

12 THE IMMORTAL HINK A REPRINT OF ACT 1. SCENE 5 FROM TENNESSEE WILl-lAMS' W,L.L. MR. M~RRIWETHER RETURN FROM MEMPHIS? , FIRST PUBI..ISHED BY THE MISSOURI REVIEW, 1997, No.2 HlllOI SUMMER 1999 'lbl1u'ssee\Villiallls, .Imlrll '32 , DH L '6'), prubably worked 1m this play abollllif'e uml death smrting ill the late I l)'i()s. It hus been ped'urmcII ju.~t <Ince, in I 9.s0 in Key\Vcst. Fl:!. In tllis scene, thc adoles_ cent Gluria senses her IIl<Irtulity. (,-he whi/r r(lOIl! is IIOW Ihe EII!5.1i.\·h cllISSrIIUIII (II the lillful"Y. 'fill: Ellglish rEACHER sils (II U .1'1111111 d!:.~/1 wilh II fllllll:h oIlIIrtri!!,o{dsoll it. /-Iallll//lt' is MISS YOf{KJ]. rh e u tCIIlha ollisidt' Ih e wi/ldowi.,jilir MISS YORKE: All but une orylHI tlli"llCd in a sorry lot of themes yesterday. As uSllu l lhe olle wh .. tlIrned in a good one wos Gloria Mcl\ride. Gloriu, will you come up here uml read you r theme 1'0 the cluss. (QLOIUA !:/ller.l'from I/lI: willK~ (l1II{ goc.\' II/! to till: des II) GLORIA: Lct me help yuu , MissYol'ke. I'll look throngl l hu ll' and you louk t hrough the other hull'. MISS YORKE: TllU nk YOII, yes. \\lc'll do thut. GLORIA: This is it, here it is. MISS YORKE: Oh. Good. Reud it. (QLORIAj£,,::e dllW1ISIIIgc olld rem/s her 111eme tv Ihe closs) GLOR IA: "Yesrerduy arternoon my geol , ogy class went on a field trip up Hinkson's Creek to look fu r fossils. We (Iidn't expect to find any nlollg the (' reek, of course, hut our objective was the old, abaJl{loned. rock (Iuarry. Almost as ~()()n a~ we arrived there I discovcred five or s ix fossils in the f{)ck walls of the (Juan), and with 1II)' little chisel and hammer and the k ind us.sistuncc of a hoy in the c1u.~s. I chippcd them, or to hc more accurntc, he chippell them (lUI: of the rock. Two of them were fossil~ of ferns und th ree werc fossils of very curl), und primitive k imls of organisms Lhat existed in waler millions ancl millions of yeurs ago, YOIl might say an incalcu lable t illle ago in the oceans and seas of the earth. which at that time were steaming like huge teakettles. And we were so absorbed in our five discoveries that the class went back down Hinkson's Creek without us. and wc---" SUMMER 1999 (AI I/d,\' l!Oilll tflac is sUicl:ailll!, hylh~' /lOtS ii/ Ih~ dll.l'srool/l. AIISS rOJ{K[ (ist:.-- imliglltl!lt/y) MISS YORKE: Stop dHlt right this lIIoment! \Vhat arc you laughing over? The next. Olle that laughs will go to the princi-pal 's ofrice and cx plaill why he did iL G loria, go 011. GLOR IA: I' ve lost Illy pbee. \V]lerewas P MISS YORKE: Yuu wcresucxeiled nver the five fossils that you became sellUrate!1 from the rest of the geology ch~s. GLOR IA: Oh. Yes. There.~"\Ve /(Iund ()lll,,~c1ves alone with uur live immeusur-ubly old mementos of the eUl'th 's IIrst veg' etation and simple olle,eell orgallic IWitlgs. The ufler llolill wus fad ing but s till so clear amllovciy, and fn .. S()1I1e reU,~()I\ that I can't analyze nml ex pin in. I began to cry und I remble. Nil. I don't kllow why. The boy wlw hud ellippell1.he fossil .~ nll l of the {luarry wulll()r me was myst ified hy my trembling IIml crying. I wus tremhling.~o thut lIe had tv lea{1 me, suppllrt me, back tip Hinkson's Creek to Ind ian Road and help me (mto a slreetear dm\. took llIe hOllie , and even when [ entered the hOllse nml.~aid hellu tu Illy nUlther, [ wu.~ .~ til1 trembling and crying a little. Sl le notiee{1 Illy condition and aske{l me what: had hap_ pened. I soid tn her, 'Oh, !!lother, look at dlese rock8, these little fossils on them! They give us evidence t hat there Ilus h(!en life 011 this earth [o r more time than we ure able to estinHlte. ' But she wouldll 't look utthe rocks. she wasn't interested in them. T llcn tlle plwne rong. SJIC snid, 'O h , that's [i)r me!' She llod been expect' ing u cnll fro m a frien(1 in MemphiS. But the cnll wllsn't for her. The cnll wus fur me und it was u cull rrom the boy who hu{1 chipped the f'ossi ls Ollt of the cluarry rock [or me. 'Arc yOIl ull right?' he askNl me, 'Arc you all rigl lt now?' I said, ' I've nlmost stoppeci trel1lbl ing and I will be at the publ ic li hrary tonight to write un Ellglish theme uhout the geology field trip and I hope by that thue I' ll know why I trembled nnd cried.'" (SHE tllniS to Ifle dorR door)- l'm surry. MissYnrke. MI SS YOR KE: I belicvc I enn tell YOIl .IIIZWI why tll(' l;l . ", ils di.,(urlwd you. T lwy llwle )'011 think of how lra(l.~il"ry tllill~S lire. In Iheir l ivin~ sta te. A VOICE FROM THE WINGS: wl.at is "lr:msitnry"? MISS YORKE: Th illgs that pass, tllings of brief duration. Tnke lhesc nowers, these marigolds, filr inslance. TllCy'I'C lovely tocb),. hilt Imllorrow tlley ' ll hegin to wither. TH E VO ICE; And 1(11"lllu l;)ssils? MISS YORKE: Ifwc hu\'e II ruek {llInrry to reemd uur long,pust existence. (gLO/HA.jiu~illg ti,e darl, dO~II-. lIIu/le,~ II gas/Jillg .nlum{ (/lid I!/is her Iiolld~ 10 Iwr jiu;c. 'TiInlilig her flewl) Mi.\s McBri{le! (Na ollly OIlSll1t'r i,I' II/willer ~lIs1'. Q~lll{y) Cloria? Gloria? GLOR IA: ['111 alltrelnbling ag:li n, 1-MISS YORKE:Ynu'veon lygnl (Inc IIlUi"e elas.~. GLOR IA:- It's--geology! MISS YORKE: Wou ld you ruther b'O h()me nnw? (GLOJHt\ nods) [ think Sl)lIle-one in the class shl)nld take Miss McHride (0 thestrcetcur. «rh~ ROMAN7"ICALLl' N:\NDSWvIE rourfl-l ,1'lclls (1111 oj' Ih~ Willg.l) YOUT H: I'm the, thc, thc,-lhe hoy-that helped her get the fu.~sils Ollt nf dIe rock, and pll t, pnt, pllt' ..... ..-her on lhe streetcar. MISS VORKE;Thcll wUllld),Ol I please rI() it again. YOUTH: Gloria?(NB wl,c.v h~r homl IIlId ICllris her iuto lh~ lIIil!g~) MISS YORKE : The Jesson-(Sh~ l(ll, ~s II si/I j'rom II g/uss a/wuler on her lb·},) The lcs.soll to be learncd fr01l1 M i.~s McBride's theme is ~ illlple in a wuy anrl difficult in a way. [ think it i.~ that we llIust{lare to experience deep cnlOliun even though it may make \1.~ cry and lrenl-ble. Will the monitor for this week plea .~e crase the blackboard. (A bell ril!g~)Th c class is di~missed. Not for sevcral milliull years, just till tOlllorrow. Good night Good night.. • 2.1 

The immortal hink

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The immortal hink

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