Act One, pages 40-81
Summary
Captain Lewis and General Wetjoen reminisce about their times in the Boer War, and when Lewis accidentally calls Joe a “Kaffir” (the equivalent in America is the N-word) Wetjoen admonishes his friend that Joe is actually white. Joe is good-natured about it and states that he doesn’t take the N-word from anyone.
Jimmy is wide awake now, and says almost to himself that he is ready to get his suit pressed and prepare to go out.
Joe broods, commenting to himself that white people always said he was white. They would not let him play craps, but Big Chief Bill in the neighborhood always said he was white and folks know him. Joe asks Hope if he remembers that and Hope distractedly says yes and he’d given Joe a letter stating Hope said he was white, and murmurs to himself that he ought to get out and walk around.
Joe brags about befriending cops and starting his gambling house. When he asks Hope for confirmation again Hope grumbles that he’s told the story too many times.
Lewis asks Hope for a drink since it’s so near Hope’s birthday, which is this evening. Hope rolls his eyes and says that is all Lewis talks about. Lewis sadly agrees and replies that there isn’t much else to discuss anymore. Hope gives him and Wetjoen a tough time about paying their rent and the two men promise they will do so tomorrow.
When McGloin and Mosher add that it seems only fair, Hope turns on them too for letting him sleep on a chair down in the bar waiting for Hickey when he could have been in his bed. McGloin and Mosher protest that they tried to get him up but that Hope had said sleeping in the flat was hard since Bessie died.
Hope immediately softens. He comments sadly that he can almost see her now though it has been 20 years since her death. Larry whispers to Parritt about this pipe dream of Hope’s, for Bessie always annoyed her husband.
Jimmy looks resolved and announces he will get ready and spruced-up and go out tomorrow. Larry mocks the “tomorrow moment” as a “sad and beautiful thing too” to Parritt (46).
Mosher remembers Bessie, who was his sister, as a good woman. Hope says he has not left the house since he became a widower. He lost his ambition, didn’t care for anything, and was no longer prepared to be neighborhood Alderman, which was about to happen before Bessie died. McGloin and Mosher reassure him he undoubtedly would have been elected. Hope stares into space and says he will take a walk out in the neighborhood tomorrow and see his old friends. Tomorrow will be good since it is his 60th birthday.
Jimmy dreams aloud, musing that the laundry must still have his clothes. He is cheered by the fact that he’d run into Dick Trumbell who told him the publicity department hadn’t been the same since Jimmy "resigned". He is confident he could get his position back if he asked.
Hope looks at Jimmy with pity, whispering that Jimmy’s off on his pipe dream again. Larry snickers because he thinks Hope is the same.
Lewis and Wetjoen ruminate on what it will be like to finally go home and how wonderful it is there. Joe dreams out loud of getting a new gambling house opened and how he’ll treat them all "white".
Larry blurts out that they’re driving him crazy but backs down when Hope sharply asks what he said. Hope grumpily tells Larry he is sick of him and Hugo, the old anarchist, and demands they pay up tomorrow or he will “make [his] Movement move!” (50).
Hope continues to lash out, first at Mosher for trying to swindle a drink out of him, and then at McGloin for being a crook and laughing when Bessie was brought up. After all Bessie used to say McGloin belonged in Sing Sing. This bothers McGloin and he says she didn’t mean it.
Willie drunkenly jumps up and points to McGloin. He begins to extol the fact that McGloin is guilty, and addresses his speech to an absent jury. When he begins to sing as well, Rocky approaches him threateningly. Willie screams that he is sorry and can’t go upstairs alone. McGloin smiles that he doesn’t take it personally but then muses that someday he will make them reopen his case; he will be found innocent and reinstated. Wistfully, he says he would like his job back.
Willie comforts him that he will be reinstated indeed, and that he too will get straightened out and start practicing law. In fact, he can take McGloin’s case. McGloin agrees and tells Willie the case will make his reputation.
Larry hears all this and is still annoyed. To himself and Parritt he curses their crazy visions. They always bug him, but his annoyance is more acute due to the anticipation for Hickey's return.
Mosher suggests Willie needs a drink and Hope grumbles about his circus tricks. Mosher reminisces about his sister and how once he tricked her out of a few dollars. Hope is upset about this but Mosher says he doesn’t treat suckers that badly. He speculates on how soon he will get back into the circus life; he will go ask his old boss for his job.
Hope wonders aloud what happened to Hickey and laughs thinking about the gag he always uses with them. When footsteps are heard he gets excited, but Rocky announces that it’s only Margie and Pearl, his girls. The men start to nod off again and even Parritt closes his eyes.
Margie and Pearl are in their 20s and are clearly from the street though they are both still youthful and pretty; their accents are heavily New York/New Jersey. They are also a bit sweet and sentimental and foolish, and treat Rocky almost like an older brother. They wonder cheerfully about Parritt but begin to tell Rocky about their night. They were lucky with a couple of men and hand Rocky some money.
Rocky laughs that if he wasn't around they’d give all their money to some pimp and when Pearl teases him that there is no difference, he grows angry and proclaims he is not a pimp and has a real job. The girls hurriedly apologize. They also claim that they are only tarts, not whores.
Talk turns to another girl, Cora, who is dating the No Chance Saloon’s day bartender, Chuck. Margie and Pearl complain about how they’re always going on about getting married and buying a farm, ideas that seem ludicrous to them. Rocky agrees that it makes no sense.
Cora and Chuck arrive. Cora is a little older than the other girls and more wearied, and Chuck is a stout and healthy Italian-American. They genially greet everyone.
Parritt opens an eye and angrily curses the girls to Larry. Larry retorts that he doesn’t want to know Parritt’s business.
Rocky, Pearl, and Margie continue to tease Chuck and Cora, who lovingly talk about their shared dream. After a few moments Cora asks where Hickey is because she and Chuck saw him outside. Excitedly, Rocky calls to Hope that Hickey is on his way. Cora adds, though, that Hickey seemed different; he was sober of course, but that wasn’t quite it.
Hope scoffs at this and says Hickey will be drinking in no time and preparing some funny new gag for them.
Rocky, who had stepped out, comes back in with his arm around Hickey. The latter is a roly-poly 50-year old man with a friendly face and twinkling eyes. Though he possesses a businesslike and shrewd demeanor, he is generous and liked by all.
Everyone greets each other enthusiastically and Rocky begins to set out drinks. Hickey yawns that he might need to go upstairs and get a few winks first, which surprises Hope. Hickey tells them all not to worry and to drink up. When asked if he is drinking, though, he says he is off the stuff. Hope initially thinks this is a sort of joke but Hickey persists and says he is done with booze.
The men still have a hard time believing this but Hickey explains that he is done with the stuff but isn’t all Prohibition. Everyone else can do what they want and he won’t interfere with their fun. What happened is he finally addressed his own pipe dreams and saw how they were making him miserable so he gave them up.
As he talks he can see the others growing uneasy, so he whips out money and calls for another round. This relaxes everyone and they drink. Hickey adds that he still likes parties and is here for Hope's birthday. Besides, he says, he walked all the way from Astoria. This is even more surprising to the others.
Hickey begins to expatiate on his change. He is honest about his intent to cure them all of their pipe dreams and to live an honest life. After a moment he apologizes for sounding like he is giving a sermon, but continues to address them. He points out Hope’s frequent claims to go out and take a walk. Hope is defensive but Hickey excitedly tells him he’s going to help Hope get out there. He points to Jimmy and tells him he must go get his job back tomorrow. He looks at everyone with a gleam in his eyes.
Larry agrees sardonically. He whispers to himself that Hickey’s hit the nail on the head. Hickey notices him and calls him out as the Old Grandstand Foolosopher, chuckling that he will try his best to help Larry too. Larry is surprised. Parritt opens his eyes and snorts that Hickey has Larry’s number. Hickey asks who this newcomer is and wonders if he knew him from somewhere. Perturbed, Parritt says no and Hickey concedes he probably did not. Parritt remains uneasy.
The group continues to drink. Hickey drowses a bit and mumbles that they should let go of themselves, rest in peace, and give up their dreams. He nods off to sleep.
Even more grouchy now, Hope tells everyone to drink up because all they ever do is cry for booze. No one seems to know what to do about Hickey. Hope bursts out that he wishes he’d never come. Mosher consoles him that Hickey will come out of it; men often claim to be on the wagon and fall off.
Suddenly Hugo wakes up and speaks in his giggling, wheedling voice about all the bourgeois monkeys. He then adopts a soapbox tone and proclaims he will laugh at them all. The group jeers him good-naturedly.
Hickey wakes up a bit when they all laugh and blearily tells them to keep being happy. Everyone looks at him, puzzled and discomforted.
Analysis
There are two major components to discuss with the conclusion of the first act: the men’s pipe dreams and Hickey’s arrival. In the first half of Act I, Larry gives Parritt an overview of each man and his particular pipe dream, which continues in this section. One of O’Neill’s great accomplishments in this play is that even though the men are what we’d deem derelicts or bums, their pipe dreams are recognizable as overwhelmingly universal and commonplace. All human beings tell themselves certain things about who they are, what their past was like, what they’re going to do, etc. While some people may be more self-aware and have the capacity to make progress toward achieving those dreams, or come to terms with the veracity of their self-narratives, the impulse to self-mythologize is utterly human.
For Joe, a black man in surroundings entirely white and in an era of oftentimes extreme racial prejudice and violence, it is easier to pretend he is white and tout the patronage of white leaders. When this slips, though, he clearly has a hard time turning his back on his black community and finds the callously racist comments of Chuck and Rocky to be more than he’s willing to stand. For his part, Rocky doesn’t like to think of himself as a traditional pimp and the girls don’t like to think of themselves as traditional prostitutes. Neither of those roles bespeak success. Mosher and McGloin once held jobs that were interesting and fulfilling enough but they lost them and plan to go back someday. That is the same for Jimmy, whose “tomorrows” are very relatable. Lewis and Wetjoen think they’ll someday make enough money to buy passage back to their home countries, but it is easier for them to drink away the memories of the war than face their responsibilities. And as for Hope, whose very name gives audiences/readers something to ponder, he plans to take that long-awaited walk outside in his neighborhood to see familiar faces and perhaps run for alderman again. He also tells himself stories about Bessie, painting his late wife as a saint and extolling his love for her, but in telling asides from other characters it seems that during her life Hope found her nagging and annoying.
As for Larry, he maintains that he does not have a pipe dream, and as discussed in the previous analysis, he espouses an almost nihilistic worldview. Critic David Aaron Murray looks at Larry through the lens of Nietzsche, wondering if Larry is supposed to be a stand-in for O’Neill and that O’Neill agrees with this worldview. First, Murray writes, “theme is effectively subordinated to character” and “if Larry does carry a measure of the authorial voice, it is a very equivocal one.” Even though Larry claims to be done with the Movement, he still follows news of it and grows very upset thinking someone within its membership turned Rosa Parritt in. Larry is committed to his posture of detachment but his “’failure’ does not really compare with the failures of the others” (think McGloin’s corruption, Willie’s extreme self-ruin). Furthermore, he evinces a level of sympathy and understanding towards Rosa not found in Hickey’s attitude toward his wife. Larry does not embrace simplicity at the end of the play, either; “while his grandstand Foolosopher pose can perhaps be described as a pipe dream, it is not an effort to flee from ambiguity or complexity. It is, rather, an attempt to escape the necessity of acting according to his realization of life’s complexities and the necessity of illusion.” The end of the play (more on that in future analyses) is really the only moment Larry actually stands in for O’Neill himself: “Larry’s passive stare at the end of the play is not the calm resignation of the stoic, nor the passive fatalism of the death-seeker; it is the gaze of the artist who recognizes the truth about character can, finally, only be portrayed dramatically: that its fullness eludes summing up in speeches or dogma.”
Throwing the men into further turmoil is Hickey. At first we only know about Hickey only through the lens of the other characters. He is apparently funny, generous, outlandish, and charismatic. He comes bearing gifts of drink and hilarious gags such as the classic story of his wife cheating on him with the iceman. This crass joke was actually a well-known one at the time; a husband calls up to his wife, asking “Has the iceman come yet?” and she responds, “No, but he’s breathing hard.” There is obviously much more nuance than that to Hickey’s usage of the joke but here it stands as an example of Hickey’s ribald sense of humor.
The jovial Hickey of the men's tales is practically nowhere to be seen. From the moment Cora suggests that there’s something different about him, the audience can intuit that his presence will be more of a disruption than a celebration. His assertion that he’s quit drinking, that he walked all this way, and that he is prepared to help them all immediately sow confusion. O’Neill does an incredible job of demonstrating how the group vacillates between hope that Hickey is the same and disappointment that he is not. Hickey announces, Messiah-like, that he “meant to save you from pipe dreams. I know now, from my experience, they’re the things that poison and ruin a guy’s life and keep him from finding any peace” (73). Although we don’t know what happened to Hickey yet, he implies that he had an epiphany and now has peace. Not long after he adds, “You can let go of yourself at last. Let yourself sink down to the bottom of the sea. Rest in peace. There’s no farther you have to go. Not a single damned hope or dream left to nag you” (77). The evocation of the sea hearkens back to Larry’s earlier comments about the men’s “ship” being the bar, or their individual construction of a fortress to protect them from reality. Now Hickey is advocating abandoning that ship and jumping into the sea of truthful peace (though to them it’s merely the unknown).
At this point Hickey’s words might make a bit of sense. After all, it is clear the men all have big plans for themselves that do not seem to be coming to fruition. Wouldn’t it be better that they were employed? Sober? Honest? Engaged in the world or in search of deeper meaning? In the last three acts of The Iceman Cometh, O’Neill will explore if this assertion is actually true or not.
