Beyond The Horizon And Diffrent By Eugene Oneill :: essays research papers fc

Beyond The Horizon and Diff'rent by Eugene O'Neill In Beyond the Horizon and Diff'rent, Eugene O'Neill reveals that dreams are necessary to sustain life. Through the use of the characters Robert Mayo, Andrew Mayo, Ruth and Emma Crosby, O'Neill proves that without dreams, man could not exist. Each of his characters are dependent on their dreams, as they feed their destiny. When they deny their dreams, they deny their destiny, altering their lives forever. O'Neill also points out, that following your dreams, brings you true happiness, something all of his characters do not experience. The characters of Rob, Andy and Emma are stripped of their dreams and their destinies, by the ones who profess to love them. Rob and Andy unknowingly allowed Ruth to lead them down a path, they were not meant to travel. Emma is the same as Rob and Andrew in this respect, because she let Caleb's actions control her ability to follow her dream. Rob is a dreamer. His only wish is to go `beyond the horizon' and discover the mystery of life. Andy, however, is Rob's opposite. Andrew is practical and down-to-earth. His deepest desire is to spend his life farming. "One constructs the world out of fact, the other out of pure imagination." Rob's quest is strange to Andy; it goes beyond anything he can comprehend. Andrew, who is "A Mayo through and through." does not think in the imaginative terms Rob does. "It's just beauty that's calling me-the beauty of the far off and unknown...in quest of the secret which is hidden over there, beyond the horizon." (Horizon, 85) Andy does understand, that his brother could never be happy living on the farm, because his heart is elsewhere. Emma is like Rob in a few ways. Both characters have idealistic views. Rob believes in the secret beyond the horizon and Emma in Caleb's fidelity. Neither of them consider the fact things may not be as they perceive them. For Emma, this innocence is her undoing. Emma considers Caleb to be `diff'rent'. This difference is what makes him special to her. She trusts he will always be this way and that they will always have a future. "But you're diff'rent. You just got to be diff'rent from the rest." Andrew is not like Rob or Emma. He is always logical. He considers Rob's dreams to be a result of his College education, something Andy does not have. Andy has no desire to go anywhere beyond the farm, because it has everything he needs. He is the one to tell Rob that "we've got all you're looking for right on this farm.