Search for Self

Though Shue's main interest in The Foreigner is to make his audience laugh, he is also concerned with the theme of self-awareness. Charlie, Ellard,Betty, and Catherine struggle to discover who they really are while David and Owen attempt to hide their real identities from both others and themselves. Only one character, Froggy, is quite comfortable with his sense of self.

Charlie is the most obvious example of the struggle to achieve self-awareness. Convinced at the beginning of the play that he is boring and dull, Charlie discovers not only that he has an interesting personality but that he is worthy of a woman's love. Like many insecure people, Charlie has permitted others to define the way he sees himself. His seemingly lowly proofreader's job doesn't appear exciting or even necessary by the world's standards— "I sometimes wonder whether a science-fiction magazine even needs a proofreader...