LDJ Research Paper

Despite the sincere love for one another, the characters in O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night alienate themselves from their present realities, resulting in a never ending cycle of denial. Each character opts to dwell in a fog rather than accepting responsibility for themselves. The inability to face their fears inhibits each member of the Tyrone family to counter their current self-destructing path.
Each member of the Tyrone household testifies in being in love with the idea of not facing their present reality. Mary Tyrone isolates herself in the heart of a fog like state. In the midst of a fog flooded house and her morphine addiction Mary finds herself incapable of dealing with her pain directly. She rather blame others for her misery, than to take responsibility upon herself. Mary states “I really love fog… It hides you from the world and the world from you. You feel that everything has changed, and nothing is what it seemed to be. No one can find or touch you anymore” (p.98). Here, Mary isolates herself through her drug addiction from everything she doesn’t want to see. Mary doesn’t want to see that she fails to live up to her motherly role, she doesn’t want to notice how she does not have a home in her house, and she doesn’t want to grasp the loss of hope in her family’s eyes. Mary rejects the present circumstances and lives in a desolate unconscious state of being.
Throughout the play James Tyrone also displays evidence of isolation. James insists on turning off the lights so that he can ignore the environment he built for himself. James Tyrone also lives his life in an unconscious fog through watered down whiskey. He disregards his contribution of allowing Jamie to live a life imprisoned by the past, just as he is.
In Addition, Edmond and Jamie also display traits of their parents. Edmond is unhappy living a human life and wishes to be something other than what he is “Edmund Believes that he has a consciousness which transcends human existence, and his disdain for human live results from this, He wants to be part of nature not simply living in it”(Thiessen,6). Edmund is searching for something greater then himself to believe in, because his parents are unable to provide that for him. Overcome by the mistakes he has made, Jamie has lost the expectation of becoming independent. So instead he drinks his reality away.
Ironically the very substances that the Tyrone’s consume to forget their reality is the very substance which allows the reality to reappear. Travis Bogard states that “Whiskey and morphine effectively remove all disguise” (Bogard 158). Jamie abandons his cynicism and drunkenly confesses his hatred towards Edmund. Edmund reveals his discomfort of being a human and states “I would have been much more successful as a seagull or a fish” (p.153). James reflects on the idea that there is no use for fake pride and pretense. The Tyrone’s can not seem to completely cut themselves off through death or sleep. Jamie complains that he’s had enough whiskey to “sink a ship, but cant sink” (p.156) and both Mary and Edmund attempted to commit suicide. Instead of reliving themselves from misery they insist on a tormented existence (Thiessen, 4)
The Tyrone’s demonstrate numerous accounts of genuine love for one other. Mary and Tyrone declare their love “In Spite of everything” (p.115) and Jamie does assure Edmund he loves him more than he hates him. Love alone does not prove to be enough to overcome their present circumstances. As the novel progresses, the Tyrone’s fall deeper and deeper into a fog. O’Neil does, on the other hand, lead the reader into a glimpse of hope through Edmund, by ensuring that the play is based off of his own life.





Works Cited:
Carpenter, Frederic I “The Climax of O’Neill’s Development.”1979. Berlin 152-6
Thiessen, Bryan “Alone in the Dark: Isolation in O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night.”2005. Missouri
Bogard, Travis, “The Door and the Mirror”1972. Berlin 157-64

Dream

There is something I learned about dreams,
They capture us in
And make fools of us all.
They dictate the next move
And are constant reminders of what we have yet to prove.

There is something about dreams that scare.
The worry of failing all alone
And the lingering threat of disappointment.
By a simple thread,
We hang huge catchers above our bed.

There is something about a dream that the mind that rejects.
In order to protect, minds neglect any dream
Before the heart is able to try.
Maybe the huge catchers above our beds
Should slip into our heads.

There is something I learned about dreams.
They have the power to bring joy and tears.
The power to grow and to destroy.
They are affected by a single lie
And perfected by a single try.