39 pages • 1 hour read
Bruce NorrisClybourne Park
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Green Army Foot Locker/"Trunk"
This foot locker belonged to Russ and Bev's son, Kenneth, a Korean War veteran whose apparentPTSD, and subsequent shunning by the community, led to his suicide. Russ and Bev keep his suicide letter and other effects inside the trunk. It weighs so much that it takes two people to lift it. Russ insists that he will move it downstairs, but Francine and Albert end up doing so, and accidentally let it slip down the stairs, where it bars their exit from the stairwell. Its weight becomes a metaphor for the weight of the tragedy and subsequent grief surrounding Kenneth's service and suicide. It reappears in the second act, having been buried in the backyard by Russ. Again, its presence is obstructive, as it must be moved for Dan to install the koi pond in Steve and Lindsey's yard.
Principle
When asked by Bev whether the black family who purchased their home has needs, Karl responds that they do, "in principle" (29). He continues that, even though that may be true, people can't "live in a principle" (29), people need to "live in a house" (29). Later, when talking about Clybourne Park, Lena says that she didn't mean to make it about her "personal connection" to the neighborhood, but rather "the principle," to which Kevin responds that you "can't live in a principle" (64). Both Karl and Kevin agree that people can't always make reality line up with their ethics, but they disagree on what those ethics look like. For Karl, they include a segregated neighborhood, while for Kevin they include an integrated neighborhood.
Gelman's Market
The evolution of this neighborhood market reflects the changing nature of Clybourne Park's residents. The market used to be called Kopeckne's, but was purchased by Murray Gelman, likely a Jewish man, in the 1950s, as the neighborhood started to diversify. Karl offers up the community's patronage of Gelman's as an example of how they've "embraced a different way of thinking" (28). Later, it was turned into a Sup'r Saver, a low-end grocery store, and finally, by Act Two, it's become a Whole Foods. This high-end store is a classic marker of contemporary gentrification.
The Crape Myrtle
This is the tree in the backyard under which Russ buries Kenneth's army locker, and which, fifty years later, Dan must tear out in order to dig the trench for the koi pond's conduit line. Lena reveals that she used to climb the tree in the backyard when she was a child, visiting her great-aunt. Like the house, the tree holds memories for residents past, but can't remain.
Offering Iced Tea
Bev offers iced tea to each of her guests. This gesture denotes Bev's equitable hospitality, and her attempts to maintain appearances of normalcy in the face of the tremendous loss she and her husband have suffered. Being able to offer an iced beverage to her guests also demonstrates that Bev and Russ have a solidly upper-middle class economic status.
