The Sunset Limited- An Atypical Coming-Of-Age Play

Christmas is Not What it Used to Be:

The Coming-of-Age Morality of White and Black in The Sunset Limited

                The Sunset Limited is a story about the discrepancy between what people want and what they get. It follows the conversation between two men as they describe their lives, experiences, and world views. First, White is a nihilistic and suspicious scholar whose education has led him to be disillusioned with America’s hypocritical values. The second man, Black, is a pious and poor working man guided by Faith. This piece focuses solely on a single conversation, and in it we learn much of the character’s pasts and views. White has already experienced his epiphany and Black is on his way to having his.  It is interesting to note, too, that in both cases education is at the root of disenchantment.

                White is an armchair professor who has spent his whole life learning, yet has nothing of value to show for it. No friends, no family; White is utterly alone and in despair. His lifetime of education has turned him into a dreary cynic with no beliefs or passions. Though the reader does not witness White’s disillusionment, it is clear from his dialogue that he has experienced a change in his morality and beliefs. When Black asks him what he values, White responds with: “Probably I don’t believe in a lot of things that I used to believe in” (McCarthy 24). This statement reveals a change in character; the professor used to have values which he no longer adheres to. “The things I believed in don’t exist anymore. It’s foolish to pretend they do” (McCarthy 27). And education is the root cause of White’s (albeit negative) coming-of-age: “”It’s what education does. It makes things personal (26)… I’ve been driven to finally face the truth. The more one knows the unhappy one is likely to be" (McCarthy 81). The Sunset Limited chronicles White’s growing anger at society and descent into despair. He wasn’t always the suicidal cynic portrayed to the reader. But now he knows everything, and feels nothing. Whereas White’s coming-of-age occurs before the action of the novel, it can be surmised that Black’s epiphany will occur after the ending lines.

                In the beginning of the story, Black steadfastly preaches his Christian beliefs. It is significant that the first personal story he discloses to White is his Calling: “And I’m laying there and I hear this voice. Just as clear. Couldn’t have been no clearer. And this voice says: If it was not for the grace of God you would not be here” (McCarthy 49). Black is a religious man with true Christian beliefs. At least at the start of the play he is. As his conversation with the Professor advances, Black listens to profound scholarly critiques of his religion and reality. He asks White to detail his beliefs on the power of education, and his response inspires Black’s first waves of religious doubt: “No… It’s the first thing in that book there. The Garden of Eden. Knowledge as destructive to the spirit. Destructive to goodness… It gives people the unhealthy illusion that they can outwit the devil” (McCarthy 111). This scholarly critique plants the seed of disillusionment within Black’s moral ground.  He has now begun to grow into a nihilistic, pessimistic stalk that is the modern man. His Faith has been poisoned by the virulent, yet factual argument proposed by the Professor. After White storms out of the tenement, Black collapses on the floor and expresses his religious doubts as he pleads for God to give him a sign: “That’s all right. If you never speak again you know I’ll keep your word. You know I will…. Is that okay? Is that okay?” (McCarthy 143).  Losing his faith, Black is left in a silent room alone with his disillusionment. The professor’s eloquent argument inspired an epiphany which will lead to Black’s subsequent change.

                The Sunset Limited shows the effect and cause of disillusionment, and consequent evolving world view of Black and White. The professor demonstrates a character who is already embittered by society, and workingman represents a character on his way to such disillusionment. Both experience jaunting life experiences: White has lost his passion, and black has lost his Faith. Like J. Alfred Prufrock, the men will be forced to bite of the manner with a smile, and come to terms with their newly devolved sense of reality. But would it have been worthwhile? Worthwhile for these men who now posses knowledge, but lack conviction. The Sunset Limited is a play about what men want, and what they get. They want truth (Truth?), and instead they receive disillusionment.

Famous Quotes Related to Disillusionment

"Wisdom comes by disillusionment"

George Santayana

"IT is only a step from boredom to disillusionment, which leads naturally to self-pity, which in turn ends in chaos."

Manly Hall

"Living in an age of advertisement, we are perpetually disillusioned. The perfect life is spread before us ever day, but it changes and withers at a touch."

Joseph Priestley

"The longer you stay in one place, the greater your changes of disillusionment."

Art Spander

"The novel is born of disillusionment; the poem, of despair."

Jose Bergamin

"I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all."

J. D. Salinger (Holden Caulfield)