Reviews for Gem of the Ocean

The average rating for Gem of the Ocean based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-02-24 00:00:00 Daniel Koppersmith As part of Black History Month, I wanted to include a play by August Wilson, a premier playwright who authored the Century Cycle: ten plays each focusing on one decade of the African American experience in the 20th century. Wilson won the Pulitzer for drama for both Fences and The Piano Lesson and additional awards for his other works. Although the last play to be completed, Gem of the Ocean commences the Century Cycle by glimpsing life in 1900s Pittsburgh. It is 1904, and older African Americans like Aunt Ester, Solly Two Kings, and Eli still remember what slavery was like. Ester keeps the paper recording her bill of sale in a drawer in her home, and Solly and Eli talk of the 62 people they delivered to safety while working on the Underground Railroad. As senior citizens, they are experiencing a taste of freedom for the first time in their lives; however, in many regards for them, slavery times were simpler. A person was either free or a slave, yet any proud person, did not need a paper to remind him that he was free before the eyes of G-D. It is this wisdom that Aunt Ester attempts to impart on the younger generation who was only known freedom for their entire lives. Black Mary and Citizen Barlow seek out Ester in order to better various facets of their lives. At this time, African Americans are still grappling with life as free people. They seek jobs that are not always available to them and paid a pittance for the labor they put in, often not enough to live on. Many turn to stealing or striking on the job in hopes that future generations will enjoy more rights than they do. This is shown through the entire play as Caesar the law abiding citizen takes on a mob of strikers at a local mill, hoping to bring them to justice. A theme in Wilson's plays is that he chooses one or two characters who are rooted in the past rather than the future. In Gem of the Ocean, Aunt Ester and Solly are such characters. It is difficult for them to come to terms with these new rights because they still see the world in terms of slavery versus freedom. Yet, by imparting their wisdom, they hope that the younger generations can enjoy freedoms that they only dreamed of during their days in bondage. Gem of the Ocean is the fourth of Wilson's plays that I have read. If read chronologically it is an empowering read to commence the century cycle. The reader sees how northern blacks lived prior to the beginnings of the Great Migration, as Wilson plants the seeds for the wave of blacks who eventually find their way north. A powerful play, I hope to read the Century Cycle in its entirety. August Wilson was a gem of a playwright, and Gem of the Ocean measures up to his other award winning works.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-07-16 00:00:00 John W Powell III Set in 1904, The Gem of the Ocean is the first play in Wilson's "Century Cycle" (sometimes called "The Pittsburgh Cycle") of ten plays, each set in a different decade of the 20th century. It is a good place to start, for'other than mere chronology'it ably articulates the central themes of the cycle: how freedom is always partial, something continually sought, how both our dreams and our cynicism may hold us back'or spur us on'in our quest for freedom, depending on our knowledge of, and relationship with, the past. Central to Gem of the Ocean--and the cycle'is the ancient Aunt Esther, a spiritual leader and healer of the black community who is rumored to be 285 years old. Convinced he has killed a man, the young Citizen Barlow ("Citizen" is his given name) seeks the help of Aunt Esther in order to expiate his guilt and guide his decisions. To heal him, she takes him on a hypnotic ritual journey to "The City of Bones", traveling in "The Gem of the Ocean," which is at one and the same time the small boat of his soul and the great boat of his people. Citizen's journey'and what he learns about himself on that journey'constitute the core of the play. Those who only know Wilson through his great play Fences may be disappointed, for Gem lacks the vivid characters and intense personal drama of that earlier play. It is an older man's play (the ninth of the cycle to be written, although the first in order), reflective and meditative in its language and expressionistic in its dramatic technique. Its characters are often little more than mouths, stereotypes to speak the superb dialogue, and the plot lacks tension and urgency. Still, the climax'the scene of the boat journey itself'is very fine, a marvel of expressionistic theater which brings the play to a satisfying conclusion. I will end with the voice of Aunt Esther, speaking of the nature of boats (and also hypnotizing Citizen with words in order to prepare him for his journey): You ever seen a boat, Mr. Citizen. A boat is made out of a lot of things. Wood and rope. The sails look like bedsheets blowing in the wind. They make a snap when the winds catch them. Wood and rope and iron. The workmen with their hammers ringing. A boat is something. It takes a lot of men to make a boat. And it takes a lot of men to sail a boat. Them was some brave men. They left their family and didn't know if they was ever gonna see them again. They got on that boat and went out into the world. The world's a dangerous place, Mr. Citizen. It's got all kinds of harms in it. It take God to Master the world. The world is a rough place. But there's gold out there in the world. Them brave men went looking for it. Remember I told you you could take a ride on that boat? The wind catch up in them sails and you be off across the ocean. The wind will take you every which way. You need a strong arm to steer that boat. Don't you feel it, Mr. Citizen? Don't you feel that boat rocking? Just a rocking and a rocking. The wind blowing.