Tender mercies
Tender mercies“Tender Mercies,” written by Horton Foote, is a screenplay, which presents to the reader ordinary people, who are trying to live decently in an unpredictable and violent world. The reader comes to be aware of many dramatic scenes where the central characters have come to experience many complex but yet fascinating situations in their lives. Reading this screenplay the reader will come to acknowledge one of the centralized themes in “Tender Mercies,” which is the theme of redemption. For those who are unaware of the word, redemption as it applies to the screenplay “Tender Mercies” is the literary word meaning to be saved or saving someone from an experience or a situation. The reader can observe this redemption at various times through many characters, such as: Mac, Rosa Lee, Sunny, and Dixie. Each one of these characters has been redeemed by other characters or has been the redeemer of other characters. Thus, in the paragraphs to proceed, the reader will be introduced to these exact characters and to the situations from which these characters were redeemed from or whom they had redeemed. Alongside, the reader will also come to recognize how this theme provides the clearest reason why “Tender Mercies” is neither a Tragedy nor Pathos.
As mentioned above, one of the centralized themes in “Tender Mercies” is the theme of redemption and that it can be seen through many characters, of whom is Mac. In the beginning of this screenplay, Mac is viewed as a person with a drinking disorder. In other words, he was an alcoholic. He would drink continuously, being unaware of the hurt he caused to his loved ones. He drank more and more as he tried to run away from his problems; he believed that drinking was the only factor that solved his problems. As he continued to drink on a regular basis, he lost everything from his wife and daughter to his career as a singer. Fortunately, Rosa Lee, who is another character through which the reader sees the theme of redemption, redeemed him. Rosa Lee gave him a job, a place to stay, and most importantly a family. Out of everyone Mac knew, Rosa Lee was the only one who gave him a chance to start over, a chance to rebuild. With Rosa Lee’s and her son Sunny’s help, Mac was able to emerge, as a sober, clean man with the willingness to achieve responsibility. It was as if a caterpillar had died and had emerged as a butterfly. With their help, Mac had the ability to recognize life by becoming sober and starting all over. He, thus, learns that Rosa...
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