Mortality
The story of the narrative makes it easy to identify the play one that is about death, but that turns out to be really facile. While Andy is dying—or at least tells us he is—this is not about seeking treatment or facing up to end with guts and courage. It is really a play about the true, authentic moment of recognizing one’s own mortality. Stories about death ultimate look to the future, which is ironically a dead end. Stories about mortality reach a cul-de-sac which turns the attention back on the past. Andy puts this into metaphorical perspective:
“The past is a mist”
The Immortal Future
Andy engages metaphor as well when peering into the unknown future of the undiscovered country. Looking backward is glimpse through mist-covered glasses. What happens after death is a glimpse into the void through cracked lenses:
“Can I see to the other side? Or is the horizon endless? And what’s the weather like? Is it uncertain with showers or sunny with fog patches? Or unceasing moonlight with no cloud?”
Bridget
Bridget is the most “metaphorical” of the characters in the drama. She exists in a semi-symbolic state that is nevertheless connected to an actual literal representation. So it should come as little surprise that monologue on which the play closes is a veritable symphony of metaphor:
“The flowers surround me but they don’t imprison me…I can only be seen by the eyes of the jungle, eyes in the leaves.”
Andy
Andy’s speech is also peppered with metaphors, but in a quite different way than Bridget. His is the language of the simile, a comparison made sharply and to the point. There is ethereality about it and, likewise, little abstract dignity:
“Rationality went down the drain donkey’s years ago and hasn’t been seen since. All that famous rationality of yours is swimming about in waste disposal turdology. It’s burping and farting away in the cesspit for ever and ever.”
Bel
Bel constantly stands in counterpoint to Andy. They’re the original odd couple! Although details are skimpy, a typical coarse metaphor from Andy becomes fodder for learning a little about just how different these two are from each other.
"Andy: My God, she’s taking the piss out of me. My own wife. On my deathbed.
Bel: Perhaps it’s my convent school education but the term ‘taking the piss’ does leave me somewhat nonplussed."
