Communication

The inability of David, Harriet, Ozzie, and Rick to communicate with each other is one of the play's central themes. The most obvious communication problem is between David and the rest of the family. When David returns from Vietnam, the family tries to communicate with him the same way they did before he left. This does not work because David has been profoundly changed and had experiences that they find distasteful (i.e, involvement with the Asian Girl). At the same time, David does not want to communicate with them on their terms and can only express his angry feelings toward them in destructive ways This standoff ends when Rick, Ozzie, and Harriet convince David to commit suicide and help him complete the act. There are communication issues in the play between the other members of the family. Superficial conversations are what makes everyone but David most comfortable...