The Tossed Man
The dominating image of the play is that of the man being flung backward into the stage before each of his ironic adventures. The physicality of this image is highly suggestive of a force being responsible for the action. It is a case of physics; motion requires force since the force is invisible and the man is incapable of actually leaving the stage, the implicit assumption must be that a god-like being is the power behind the force. If that is so, then the imagery leads to the further postulation the god-like being wants the man to undergo the tortuous events which take place.
Tantalized
Most of those actions which take place present images of the man desperately attempting to get something that is either out of reach or pulled back from him as he attempts to grasp for it. He can’t reach the carafe of water when it first appears and then is given the mechanism of accomplishing this task with boxes to stack on each other only to have the boxes pulled out from under him. The man is purposely being tantalized with things he is now allowed to have, thus raising the question of what kind of god is behind such misery. What is the purpose of such an existence?
The Whistle
The god-entity makes its presence known to the man through the repetition of auditory imagery. The whistle draws attention to something of interest appearing on stage or else initiates the physical actions of the man. A whistle has certain relatively universal connotations in the modern world: a whistle may be used to direct traffic, in the training of a dog or to initiate or halt the competitive activity in a sporting event. The point being that the sound of a whistle has become a tool for conditioning humans. The man on stage is seen mindlessly responding to this powerfully resonant image of conditioning until finally, without warning, he no longer does. His lack of reaction makes the sound of the whistle all the more noticeable due to the fact that most of us respond to whistles without much in the way of conscious reasoning.
Desert
The action takes places on a stage sparsely adorned to resemble a desert. Into this barren landscape appears items one would assume as necessities: a tree offering meager shade, but shade nonetheless, and a water bottle. Attempts to enjoy the use of both prove vain. Whoever or whatever is tossing him backwards, kicking over the boxes and otherwise providing him with on the tantalizing but unreachable solutions to his most obvious problems can be accurately said to have to deserted all expectations of benevolence. In the end, the man decides to desert his god by no longer responding to conditioned responses. The setting thus becomes imagery reflecting a symbolic wasteland of place and character.
