Translations Essay Questions

Why does Lancey declare that the entire town will be torn apart?

When Yolland goes missing, Lancey becomes much more antagonistic towards the Irish townspeople. He insists that if no one comes forward and says what happened to Yolland within 24 hours, they will kill all the livestock, and if someone still has not come forward in 48 hours, they will level the houses. This threat shows Lancey's true colors, the fact that he is loyal to the British cause and completely indifferent to the interests of the native Irish citizens.

What is the thematic significance of all the Latin and Greek references in the play?

The play is about a hedge-school at which a group of Gaelic-speaking students learn Latin and Greek. These are dead languages, no longer spoken in the modern world. Meanwhile, in Ireland, British soldiers are trying to anglicize the Irish place-names in the area, effectually rendering the Gaelic language extinct. The characters' interest in the past and its lessons mirrors the issues they are dealing with in the present: the gradual erosion of their language and customs.

How are Manus and Owen different?

Manus and Owen are brothers, the sons of Hugh the schoolmaster, and they have wildly different demeanors and views about the British influence in the region. While Manus has remained at home and is exceedingly dutiful towards his father, doing whatever he can to help out at the school and make sure his father is taken care of, Owen has gone off to find his fortune in Dublin. Where Manus is more academic and sensible in his choices, Owen is charming and confident. Additionally, they diverge in their views about the English; while Manus is very skeptical of British incursion in the region and does not wish to adapt to a more anglicized way of life, Owen believes that the British project is good and beneficial to Ireland.

What does Owen decide to do at the end?

When Lancey threatens to destroy the village at the end of the play, Owen realizes that his boss does not have Irish interests in mind. Realizing this, Owen chooses to betray his employers and join the resistance, fighting back against British intrusion to protect the rights of the natives of Baile Beag.

What is the significance of the final line of the play?

The last line of the play is Hugh reciting lines from Virgil's Aeneid, a piece of classical epic poetry. He stumbles through some lines about the inevitability of certain nations conquering others, and the fact that history is endlessly mutable. This clearly has thematic resonance with the overall narrative of Translations, which examines the ways that old traditions change and get overtaken by the inevitability of the passage of time.