TopDog / UnderDog Response
“Conflict”
This play presents a story of two brothers caught in conflict as to who should be the top dog and who should be the underdog. The two brothers Lincoln and Booth, have names that were chosen based on historical figures that their father used as a joke in naming them. Their naming brings out an aspect of history that the author has used. Lincoln earns a living through impersonation of Abraham Lincoln while Booth makes a living through theft which he describes as “boosting” which is stealing. He does this by scamming people by use of card tricks. The first scene presents Booth in a room making preparations for his scamming game using his cards. The play’s first half presents a development of the major conflict which happens between the brothers Lincoln is contented with the earnings he makes at the arcade while Booth dreams of a life that is prestigious thinking about all the money and the women that could belong to him. He hopes to achieve this through his con game of three-card monte as a hustler with his brother’s help. The two brothers have different views about how they view life in the sense that Booth is a dreamer while Lincoln is comfortable with the place he is at the moment. Lincoln takes pride and is comfortable with his job at the arcade as he gets to earn a living that is honest and resists the attempt by his brother to get him back into the life of crime.
In a scene that is foreboding and humorous, Lincoln is engaged in practising his impersonation routine with Booth suggests that the scene about the president’s assassination should be more dramatic. In this scene, an aspect of irony gets brought in the fact that while Booth pretends to shoot Lincoln as part of the preparation for the impersonation scene that Lincoln plays, the two brothers a