Symbols Flashcards
1
Q
What symbols are used in the play?
A
- toilet brush
- judge
- shower
- eye
- camera on a tripod
2
Q
What was the use of the toilet brush in the original Ubu Roi? What was its purpose?
A
- used as a sceptre
- form of parody/satire where Jarry was mocking his teacher and his authority
3
Q
What does Pa Ubu’s use of the toilet brush symbolise?
A
- making a mockery of his role in the TRC
- symbolic of the “crap” that both Ubu’s spoke in their respective plays
- there to mock/satirise their characters and what they stand for
4
Q
What is the irony of the judge as a symbol?
A
- passing judgement but as satirical comedy
- judgement passed down is poking fun at the politicians who got off free
- the head of police who didn’t get punished
- how the people who were ordered to torture were the ones who were punished
- how the play shows us what a farce the TRC was
5
Q
What is symbolic about the shower?
A
- used to cleanse Pa Ubu of his sins of torture
- to wash away the evidence
- though contradicted by Ma Ubu’s use of the shower head to translate the victim’s stories and evidence
6
Q
What is symbolic about the eye/camera on tripod in terms of the government?
A
- there is an ever present eye/camera on screen most of play
- symbolic of the TRC wanting to find the truth
- so the evil deeds of the government being seen/revealed
- victims now being seen as they tell their story
- when they were not seen/heard before during apartheid
7
Q
What is symbolic about the eye/camera on tripod in terms of the police?
A
- police (Pa Ubu)
- how they were always watching and gathering information
- in order to target their next victim
- all the documents, film reels and photos when hiding them in the crocodile and planting them in the dog
8
Q
What is the big eye symbolic of?
A
- the mystical eye which is supposed to protect you from evil
- however, this eye is opposite
- victims were not protected and a lot of evil was performed during apartheid
9
Q
What is significant about these symbols?
A
- postmodernism deconstructs symbols
- mean one thing but are seen as another
- opposite in the play
