FREE ESSAY ON TRAINS RUNNING (AUGUST WILSON)

TRAINS RUNNING (AUGUST WILSON)

Trains Running (August Wilson) P.565
Memphis
The owner of the diner is waiting for his chance to go back south, and he knows that they
got two trains running every day. 
Wolf
A numbers runner who sometimes uses the diner as his office.
Risa
The diner's waitress and cook.
Holloway
A regular who speaks out against the constant oppression of African Americans.
Sterling
Just released from jail, he needs to find a way to make a living.
Hambone
A man who stands up for what he believes he deserves.
West
The only wealthy man on stage owns the funeral home across the street.
Two Trains Running, set in 1969, is August Wilson's most contemporary play to date. Like
most of his plays, it unfolds in a single location--a diner in Pittsburgh. Memphis, the
diner's owner, is struggling to get a fair price from the city which is buying up the
entire eighborhood for purposes of urban renewal. Memphis' observation that the
neighborhood has been emptied of its commercial and human activities gives an ironic and
grim spin to urban renewal in particular and the progress of African Americans general.
The play asks the question: In the midst of unemployment, death, and a white power
structure allowing few alternative, where do you look for salvation. Do you turn to
Christianity, as embodies in the wealthy but deceased Prophet Samuel, or do you return to
an older African spirituality embodied by the impossibly aged Aunt Ester? Perhaps
salvation lays with Malcolm X and the black power movement, or with Wolf and the numbers
game of a white Mafia.
A host of tragic figures inhabit the diner. Memphis' struggle with the city is essential
to his fate of returning south to get back the land cruel taken from his by white men.
Sterling--just out of prison--is stymied in his attempts to, by any means possible,
support himself. Risa, the waitress, has scarred her legs in an attempt to escape the
prison of physical beauty. Finally, perhaps a symbol of them all, is Hambone. Tens years
ago he painted the grocer's fence, but was paid a chicken when he felt he had earned a
ham. Every day for ten years he has confronted the grocer, requesting and demanding his
ham, until by now the only phrases he utters are I want my ham. and He gonna give me my
ham. 
August Wilson's 1992 play Two Trains Running is, in effect, a kinder, gentler version of
Spike Lee's film Do the Right Thing. Both address racial tension between blacks and
whites in the inner city and the violence that can accompany it, but in the play, these
social ills are heard and not seen. 
The cast of TheatreWorks' current production creates a well-realized, if insular,
environment that allows the audience to connect the characters. Wilson has created a
compelling story line for each individual, and the fact that most of the stories have
happy endings doesn't seem contrived. On the contrary, their successes are representative
of African Americans who broke through the color line during the civil rights movement. 
Even a character like , the diner owner who treats his lone waitress, Risa , as a
personal servant, redeems himself through his fight to get the city to pay him what he
wants for his building, which is due to be demolished. Memphis plans to use the money to
return to Mississippi and confront the white man who ran him off his land decades ago.
Memphis' story is at once heartrending and uplifting, as is Abdul-Rashid's reading of it.



  
    
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Greed
Greed Greed is a selfish desire for more than one needs or deserves. Greed can make
honest men murderers. It has made countries with rich valuable resources into the poorest
countries in the world. We are taught it is bad and not to practice it. But consider a
world without greed, where everyone is as sharing as Mother Theresa was. The progress of
humankind would be at a standstill. Greed has given our society faster travel, better
service, more convenience, and most importantly, progress. Greed has created thousands of
billionaires and millions of millionaires. But why is greed associated with evil? In
their day, most capitalists like Cornelius Vanderbilt and John D. Rockefeller were
depicted as pure evil. Vanderbilt stole from the poor. Rockefeller was a snake. But the
name-calling did not come from the consumers; it was the competing businesses that
complained. The newspapers expanded on these comments, calling them robber barons. These
are inaccurate terms for these businessmen. They were not barons because they all started
penniless and they were not robbers because they did not take it from anyone else.
Vanderbilt got rich by making travel and shipping faster, cheaper, and more luxurious. He
built bigger, faster, and more efficient ships. He served food on his ships, which the
customers liked and he lowered his costs. He lowered the New York to Hartford fare from
$8 to $1. Rockefeller made his fortunes selling oil. He also lowered his costs, making
fuel affordable for the working-class people. The working-class people, who use to go to
bed after sunset, could now afford fuel for their lanterns. The people, who worked an
average 10-12 hours a day, could now have a private and social life. The consumers were
happy, the workers were happy, and they were happy. Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft
Corporation is another example of a greedy person. He is the richest man in the world
with about $40 billion and he continues to pursue more wealth. Just because he has $40
billion does not mean the rest of the world lost $40 billion, he created more wealth for
the rest of the world. His software created new ways of saving time and money and created
thousands of new jobs. Bill Gates got rich by persuading people to buy his product. His
motive may have been greed, but to achieve that, he had to give us what we wanted. Both
parties benefited from the transaction and everybody wins. In general, many businesses
donate a percent of its wealth to charity. People not only want but also expect those
businesses to donate their money away. Vanderbilt gave one percent of his money away to
start Vanderbilt University. Ted Turner donated $1 billion to the United Nations. But why
do people think that giving away money is better than making money? Giving away money is
much easier than building a new business. Building a new business creates new jobs for
people, giving someone the means to support himself. When you give money away, it does
not help them become more self-sufficient. Charity does not always make big impacts, as
people believe they do. For example, who changed the world more, Micheal Milken or Mother
Teresa? Milken pioneered a new way for companies to raise money, creating tens of
thousands of new jobs. He saved Mattel, the toy maker, by his junk bonds. It is now the
world's biggest toy company. His bonds rescued TWA, Revlon, and many other companies.
Millions of people now joy cheaper phone calls because he funded the phone company, MCI.
His bonds made CNN and other Turner companies possible. On the other hand, Mother Teresa
donated every penny to charity and helped tens of thousands of people in slums of
Third-World countries. She spent her life doing charity work for the poor. Her deeds
continue after her death; four thousand sisters now continue what she begun. Without a
doubt, people would say Mother Teresa did more for the world. But their judgements are
blinded by the fact that they are looking at their motives. Michael Milken didn't suffer;
he didn't go into the slums. Mother Teresa went into the slums and she suffered. Milken
persuaded wealth because of greed and Mother Teresa did charity work in the name of
Christianity. People tend to believe charity work is nobler than making money. Greed
isn't a nice thing or a noble thing. Unrestrained greed would mean theft, fighting, and
taking by force. But as long as theft is illegal, as long as we have to trade with each
other to get what we want, greed is a productive force. So the next time someone tells
you you're greedy, remind them that greed helped build civilization. Is that so bad?
English III Honors