Essay Questions

What's the meaning of Bill's thumb being injured?

Bill is asked by Hudson if there is something wrong with his thumb. Bill tells him he isn't sure, he's just been staring at it and maybe it's cancerous. The meaning of this is that Bill knows there is something happening within him that is not right. He sees the effects of it as do others, but instead of choosing to find a way to get healing for it he carries on in a state of misery. He would rather not know the truth and carry on, than go to a doctor to find out. By doing so, he is potentially self-punishing. By allowing what could be cancerous to continue to grow, he is allowing this to happen to him as if it is deserved. But, he is also potentially allowing something that is not that big of an issue to become a major problem in his life thus pointing all of the attention upon himself.

What do Bill's pills represent?

Bill is seen throughout the play taking pills with a glass of water. They represent the fact that Bill's inner man, his fraudulence, his truth is percolating within him and the pills are the way he is able to press that pain down so that it does not come out. So, nobody can see his true nature.

What is the significance of Bill's dream at the opening of the play?

The play begins with Bill inside of a dream he is having, which is more of a nightmare of truth. He is before a Judge and has chosen to represent himself. But, instead of mounting a defense he becomes the prosecutor shooting arrows through his life of being a fraud. The significance of this is that Bill has created a life he knows is false, and yet he protects the fraudulence inside with bullying and power-mongering in order that no one will get close enough to him to discover the truth.