The Past in Long Day’s Journey into Night and August: Osage County

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The past has a funny way of catching up with people. Sometimes, those individuals relish revisiting the olden days. For others, the past is something to be hidden away and never spoken of for fear of stirring up cruel memories and disturbing secrets. For the four members of the Tyrone family, the past is an escape, but also an inescapable prison. Each character in this play longs to return to a point in the past where they were happy, yet they are also haunted by their respective pasts. Some of the Westons of Osage County are also haunted by the events that transpired in the past. But unlike the Tyrones, the Westons do not welcome the past in their home at all. It forces itself into their lives and ruins what little happiness there is to be had. The Tyrones, on the other hand sedate themselves with those memories of happier times. The older generations in both families made decisions that haunted the future generations and condemned not only themselves, but also their progeny. Not one member of either family is able to escape from the events of the past unscathed.
The patriarchs and matriarchs of each family made decisions that set the tone of tragedy for the lives of their children. The events that occurred during this generation’s younger years were the precedents by which their offspring lived. Beverly Weston and James Tyrone both committed questionable acts in the past that affect the lives of everyone else in their families. All throughout Long Day’s Journey Tyrone is reproached for being cheap; his family believes that that stinginess is what led to Mary’s morphine addiction. This accusation plagues Tyrone and when he and his wife begin discussing it, he beseeches her, “Mary! For god’s sake, forget the past!” (O’Neill 90). ...

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...ho hold them. These previous events cause a rippling effect of dysfunction that touches each generation of these households. The decisions of the parents affect the lives of the children and the choices of their children in turn. As Mary Tyrone said, “The past is the present, isn’t it? It’s the future, too” (O’Neill 90). The quote is indicative of both families’ unfortunate relationship to the past. The past always catches up to them, no matter how far away they move or how many pills they take. The Tyrones successfully escape for a short time, but it is not forever. And the Westons physical separation leads to an emotional isolation that is showcased in Violet’s final, desperate scene as she calls out for her dead husband and departed daughter. For these haunted families, the past remains both friend and fiend, a relationship from which they can never truly escape.

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