On Tuesday November 19th, I watched a play put on by Tulane students. The Old Man and The Old Moon was a mesmerizing, comical, and enjoyable experience for me. One character that specifically stood out to me in this play was the old man, Charles. As the play began, the old man stood on a ladder and filled the moon with light from his bucket. The old man did this every night to help maintain the moon’s beautiful and bright illumination. As the man fulfilled his duty as the moon’s caretaker, his wife cooked dinner for the two of them. After the old man finished, the couple ate dinner and spoke about their memories of being together. The man truly cherished his time with both the moon and his wife. During their meal, the old woman tells the old man that she wants to go on an adventure but the old man is hesitant and does not express much interest. The old woman is determined to go explore so later in the night as they laid together, she got up out of bed and left. As soon as the old man wakes up to realize that his wife is missing, he sets off and begins his journey to go find his beloved wife, leaving the moon behind.
The old man’s motivations are to go find his wife. He is determined and desperate to go find her no matter what it takes. When he first enters town to begin his journey, he tries to buy a boat for himself, but ends up not being able to afford it. Luckily, he comes across a crew on a small boat that is about to sail away and the old man joins them. These men were welcoming and energized, singing songs and making jokes. When the old man first got onto the boat, the men were a little confused, however once they recognized the old man’s hat, they were so interested in his identity. They believed that the old man was a famous war hero from years ago that hasn’t been seen in years. In order to gain their initial trust and approval, the old man lies to the men on the boat and tells them that he really is the famous commander who they think he is. The old man fakes stories about himself and his history however it is difficult for him. Another tactic of the old man’s is that as they continue sailing, he tries to encourage the men to sail west in order to go find his wife. He tries to convince them that there is a lively city with light in the west that they should explore. Throughout the play, to demonstrate his desire to go find his wife, the old man looks off into the distance often where he thinks his wife may be. He repeatedly says “my love” and “I’m coming for you” as he looks out into the distance.
The old man had to face several obstacles during his journey of finding his wife. One of his major obstacles was leaving the moon, which he so cared for, in order to go find his wife. The old man filled the moon with light every night and he had to give up this duty in order to reunite with his wife, who he loved so. As they were sailing, the old man noticed that the moon would lose its light at times. This worried the old man but he continued to remind himself and the moon that he’d be back soon to care for it. The old man and the moon were bonded. Another obstacle that the old man faced is that once he confessed that he wasn’t the commander, the crew was disappointed in him and lost their trust for him. As the play continued, the entire boat crew had to go through several dangerous storms and civil wars as they were on the water. It was even more difficult for them to experience these dangers because it was very dark outside, without any light shining from the moon. The old man was very old at this time and throughout the entire play, even on the boat, the old man limped with a cane. He didn’t let his age come in the way of his determination to go find his wife. Finally, the overall and main obstacle that the old man had to face was change. The old man had a set routine of living in his house with his wife, always filling the moon with light at night as his duty. In order to find his wife who escaped, the old man was spending his life on a boat with strangers and fighting storms and civil wars in dangerous conditions. This was a very different lifestyle than what the old man was normally used to.
Towards the end of the play, during one of the major storms, the men went overboard and the old man got eaten by a huge fish. Once the old man wakes up, he realizes that he is inside the belly of a large fish. Inside this fish, he meets the real lieutenant who the old man originally pretended to be. Inside the fish together, the two men discuss their journeys and how they ended up where they are now. The commander kindly shares his wisdom about his life and his values to the old man. The commander seems to have given up on life but the old man tells him that there is still hope and that he is determined to escape this fish and find his wife. Finally, the old man persuades the commander to work with him to escape the fish and they successfully do so. Once they escape, the old man finds his wife and they reunite together with their memories rekindled, happily in love together back in their household. The old man even gives one of the sailors his job of caring for the moon.
In this play, the old man faced his fear of the water, abandoned his duties for the moon, and attempted to impersonate an old war hero, all just to find his wife in the end. The old man understood what his priorities were and what he had to give up in order to go find his wife. Because of his journey, the old man learned more about life and how to appreciate the little things. In the end, the old man finds his wife and perhaps their love will be even stronger because of the difficult journey the two of them went through. In life, we must understand that we have to make difficult decisions at times that may have initial consequences. However, in the end, these decisions lead to the best outcomes that make us stronger and happier in the end.