Essay Questions

Why is Emma angry with Ella?

Emma has been working extremely diligently on her school project, which is making a poster about the best way to cut up a chicken for frying. She has raised a chicken herself and killed it. She has cut it up, and set it aside in the refrigerator. As she readies herself to create her poster, she opens the door of the refrigerator only to discover that the chicken is missing. She realizes that her mother has cooked it already and that they have eaten it before her project is completed. Emma is absolutely furious, because she has worked so hard on the project and is actually more than a little obsessed with her task. This obsession fuels her anger and so she explodes towards her mother, the sense of hurt and anti-climax almost disproportionate to the deed.

Is Taylor a good guy or a bad guy in the play?

Taylor is a real estate developer who at first glance seems to be something of a savior to the family. Ella has reached out to him in an effort to sell the land and he has quickly arranged for her to do so, finding a qualified buyer and getting the contracts prepared. He also seems to have Ella's best interests at heart in that he is determined to prevent Weston selling the land himself.

However, as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that it was Taylor who sold the family the land in the first place. The land is worthless, and nothing can be grown on it, making it a terrible deal. If Taylor did not know this, then he is a decent man, but a bad real estate investor, because he did not do due diligence before recommending the sale to Weston and Ella; he could be trying to make up for this by getting the best possible deal for Ella by way of recompense. If, on the other hand, he knew that the land was worthless, then he becomes a bad guy in terms of character; it is quite possible that he knew the land was worthless, made a sale anyway and then sat back and waited for the family to be desperate enough to sell again, giving himself another transaction and another opportunity to make money from Weston and Ella. It this was the case, and the play's plot line certainly suggests that it is then he would be a bad guy, and it would be predominantly down to him that the family's fortunes have taken an even sharper downward turn.