The Boys Next Door: Act 2

This is the kind of play that made me laugh one second and want to cry the next. I was so enthralled with it that I couldn't put it down.

At the beginning of Act 2 when Arnold is talking and he says, "What does he think I am, an architect," I laughed so hard. I think that Arnold is my favorite character. His love for Russia and his paranoid nature just made me giggle. I know people who are like Arnold in real life. If Arnold was a friend of mine, I would bring him books about Russia and have coffee with him about it. It would be so cool to actually take him there.

I went from laughing to crying very quickly in this play. The next scene with Norman and Lucien was pretty moving to me. Lucien says, "It's hard”, when referring to his forgetting to plug in the vacuum, and then later he says, “When you plug it, it be loud.” This difficulty is more than just forgetfulness, and I think that is what upset me. Of course I myself have tried to work electrical appliances without plugging them in, so I could relate to Lucien. It was the fact that he was afraid of the vacuum's loudness, though, which reminded me of when I was a child. The vacuum scared, me too. I can't imagine living in a world where everyday things still scared me all of the time. There are so many things that I take for granted.

The hardest scene for me to get through was probably the one with Barry and his father, Mr. Klemper. Everything that Mr. Klemper said made me angry, but especially when he said, "It wasn't until you were about three that you said your first word. You know what that word was? 'Bitch.'” He then proceeded to laugh about it and tell about how impressed he was. How could he make fun of his own child? I can't fathom treating another human being the way that Mr. Klemper treats Barry, and Barry is his son. Unfortunately, I have seen parents like this first hand. I want to run off with their children and protect them. Barry is such a sweet man. The irony is that his dad is the one with problems.

I love this play so much that I want to attend a local production. The next time I hear of anyone performing it, I will definitely go and see it or at the very least, re-read it. When a work of literature can make me ponder life, make me cry, and leave me in hysterics, it is totally worth revisiting. I am impressed by Griffin's knowledge of people with mental handicaps, and I now want to read more of his work.