The Symbolism Of Timing In Sure Thing By David Ives
989 Words4 Pages
Building a relationship with someone is a difficult task in itself without including the factor that the two individuals just met and don’t know anything about each other. Two people could be meant for each other yet may never know because the timing of their encounter wasn’t correct. In the one-act play, Sure Thing, the author, David Ives, uses form, repetition, and the symbol of a bell to illustrate the role that timing often plays in building a relationship. Ives making Sure Thing a one-act play is so that the play’s finality isn’t ruined by an unnecessary conclusion. The ending of the play is meant to leave the reader with a clear enough message that gives enough information to assume what happens next: “Bill: Do you still want to go…show more content… “Bill: What’s the book? Betty: The Sound of Fury. Bill: Oh. Hemingway. (Bell.) What’s the book?” (1113). Bill begins his line again after the bell goes off because he said the wrong thing. Since Bill got the author of the book that Betty was reading wrong, that shows that the conversation between them is most likely over at the point or at least Betty isn’t going to take anything that Bill says seriously. Also, the bell goes off when the answer isn’t something that the character wants to hear, for example, Bill says: “I mean what does it matter if I had a two-point at — (bell) — three-point at (bell) — four-point at college, or if I did come from Pittsburgh — (bell) — Cleveland — (bell) — Westchester County” (1118). The bell goes off after every answer because Betty is looking for a certain answer from Bill that will further their relationship. During this point of the play, the characters have passed the obstacle of whether or not the timing for them to meet is right or not. They are now having a conversation that consists of qualities that they possess at the perfect time they