"The Hollow Men" vs "The Hollow Westons"

In August Osage County Beverly and Violet quote verses from “The Hollow Men” by T.S. Eliot. It would be necessary for the two cast members to read and understand the history of the poem. The whole cast should read the poem aloud and discuss the relevance of their life to what Eliot is conveying in this poem. There is such a sense of despair in this piece of work. The first stanza evokes images of the straw man in the Wizard of Oz, desperately seeking a brain, not realizing just how dangerous, and useless, a brain might be.http://www.lorenwebster.net/ The stanzas in the poem have also been association with people whispering meaningless phrases and because they don’t have a brain or do they think too much and have too little faith? Those who have died in the poem if they look back perhaps might see them lacking the passion to live. The narrator in the poem seems to be reaching for death as is Beverly. They long for a peaceful death away from voices. Violet is at times nothing but a loud voice and is driven out of fear from living. The stanza “Here we go round the prickly pear” is a substitution of a cactus for the mulberry bush suggest that the upcoming activities are as dry as desert. This is how Beverly ends the prologue and sets the stage for the next three act in the play. There are references to The Lord’s Prayer in “The Hollow Men” and Charlie stammers his way through this as he blesses the food before the family eats after the funeral. The last line “This is the way the world end? Not with a bang but a whimper” is said to suggest man’s inability to confront life. The whole Weston is afraid to confront life at various levels and this is what causes the dysfunction in their lives. Almost ironic of how one envisions the life of an artist. There is a specific reason Letts chose this poem and each cast member should read and draw an analogy with their character and why they are afraid to live life or what they are hiding from.