Brian Friel's "Translations": In what ways does this scene represent 2 characters crossing boundaries and understanding each other - a meeting of minds?
In what ways does this scene represent 2 characters crossing boundaries and understanding each other – a meeting of minds?
The scene automatically has a sense of irony, as both Yolland and Maire both cannot understand a word each other is saying, this means communication was needed to be made in an alternate way, these ways are through the use of identifiable feelings and emotions, as well as paralanguage to indicate the feelings and emotions that the character is trying to express.
Throughout their conversation, it would seem unlikely to a person who has just picked up the book that Yolland and Maire do not speak the same language, and therefore cannot fathom what each other is trying to say. This is due to the similarities of speech between the two of them; they always seem to have a vague understanding about what the other person is trying to say. An indication of this is where Maire says, “ The grass must be wet. My feet are soaking.” straight after Yolland points out, “ The grass must be wet your feet are soaking.” It is clear to see the similarities in their speech, although the context is just flipped around, but apart from that it is almost identical. Emphasising this collision, linguistically speaking, is the stage directions, expressing the characters body movement. The way they seem very immature when they realise they are holding hands, then immediately disengage and move apart. Another way that they can be seen as immature is through the basic communication, such as pointing. Knowing that the other person cannot understand what they are saying might be a factor in the characters lexis, especially regarding Yolland where he says “I’ve been watching you night and day for the past…” because if Yolland was to say this to Maire and she understood it, she could take it two very different ways, and decide that in fact Yolland is a bit weird.
