Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: Isaiah – 26:19

Awake and Sing was written by Clifford Odets in 1935 and is considered his masterpiece. Set in 1933, Awake and Sing tells the story of the Bergers, an extended Jewish family living through the Depression in the Bronx.

Characters

--Bessie Berger: the mother; described as “a shrewd judge of realistic qualities in people in the sense of being able to gauge quickly their effectiveness,” “afraid of utter poverty,” and “proper according to her own standards.”

--Myron Berger: her husband; “a born follower” with a “dignified sense of himself,” but “heartbroken without being aware of it.”

--Hennie Berger: their daughter; “self-reliant in the best sense,” and although she “won’t ask favors,” Odets states “till the day she dies she will be faithful to a loved man.”

--Ralph Berger: their son; “a boy with a clean spirit,” who “wants to learn,” and is “ardent…romantic…sensitive...naïve.”

--Jacob: Bessie’s father; described by Odets as “trying to find a right path for himself and the others…aware of justice, of dignity,” with a “reflective nature,” “he is a sentimental idealist with no power to turn ideal to action.”

--Uncle Morty: Bessie’s Brother; he is wealthy, but “something sinister comes out of the fact that the lives of others seldom touch him deeply.” And although he seems to have a good life with financial stability, “he is really deeply intolerant finally.”

--Moe Axelrod: rents a room in the Berger household; “all he wants is Hennie.” “His passionate outbursts come from a strong but contained emotional mechanism.”

--Sam Feinschreiber: courts Hennie; a “lonely man, a foreigner in a strange land…conditioned by the humiliation of not making his way alone.” “He might have been a poet in another time and place.”

--Schlosser: the building’s janitor; an “overworked German” whose family has fallen apart; “he has lost his identity twenty years before.”

Plot Summary

--Act I:

The scene opens on the family eating supper in their apartment in the Bronx. Ralph talks to the family about his future; he wishes he could afford tap dance lessons to become a performer, but he only makes enough to help pay the rent. Bessie takes offense at his comments and they begin to argue, the argument is only avoided by Ralph leaving the table. Myron begins to tell the family about a lottery, but Bessie interrupts to tell them that a nearby family was thrown out of their apartment that day. Myron continues and Bessie instructs him to buy a ticket in Hennie’s name. Ralph returns to the table. Myron mentions that Sam has sent Hennie a present and that he continues to talk about her since he was invited to dinner with them. Hennie is not impressed and speaks sarcastically about Sam although she acknowledges that he loves her. Bessie chastises her for not being concerned about marriage. Bessie, Myron and Jacob begin to clear the table, but Hennie interrupts them by offering to take them out with her savings. Myron asks her if she is sure they should go out that night because Moe had mentioned that he and Hennie had a date; Hennie says she turned Moe down, but he chooses to believe that she is interested in him.

Myron, Bessie and Hennie are ready to go when the doorbell rings and Schlosser is there, bringing their trash cans up. He tells them not to let their dog walk around in the hallway and Bessie becomes angry with him and shoos him out of the apartment. After Myron, Hennie and Bessie leave, Ralph reveals to Jacob that he is going out to see his girl. We find out that the girl, Blanche, is an orphan and Bessie would not approve if she knew Ralph was dating her. Ralph tells Jacob that he loves her and wants to marry her; Jacob warns him against acting hastily but Ralph insists that he knows what he’s doing. Moe enters and Ralph leaves to see Blanche.

Moe finds out that Hennie left even though they had a date, but hides his feelings from Jacob and instead challenges him to a game of cards. As they begin to play, Myron, Bessie and Hennie enter explaining that they came back because Hennie threw up on the way to the vaudeville. Bessie tries to get Hennie into bed, explaining that she’s been feeling ill for two weeks and they should call the doctor. Hennie refuses to see the doctor and insists that they go to the show. Moe leaves as Bessie and Hennie continue to argue over calling the doctor. The argument escalates and Hennie admits that she is pregnant and has no idea where the father is now. Bessie tells Myron to invite Sam to dinner again, Hennie refuses to marry him.

Moe returns and he and Hennie exchange insults when Myron tells him that she’s engaged. Hennie goes to her room and Moe admits to Bessie and Myron that he has feelings for Hennie and would consider marrying her. When Bessie begins pressing him on the subject, Moe makes excuses for his statement and changes the subject.

--Act II, Scene I

The scene opens one year after Act I and we find Jacob giving Uncle Morty a haircut while Ralph Moe read the paper. Bessie enters to announce that dinner will soon be ready and asks Ralph to run out for seltzer. Ralph protests because he is waiting for a phone call which Jacob promises to answer for him. Jacob, Moe and Morty have a brief conversation about the suicide rate and how many people are jumping off buildings because they’ve lost everything. The phone rings and Bessie beats Jacob to it; it is obvious that a Miss Hirsch is calling for Ralph, but Bessie claims it was a wrong number.

There is mixed conversation and Hennie enters. She calls for Sam to come take the dirty diaper away and tells Moe that the baby is sleeping. Jacob finishes Morty’s haircut and hands him a large envelope – his insurance policy – for safekeeping. Jacob tells Morty that a policy is made out to Ralph for $3,000. Ralph comes back in and asks if he had a phone call which incites an argument over Blanche which ends in Ralph telling Bessie off and Hennie applauding for him. Sam enters and offers to make a bottle for the baby and leaves; Moe makes a snide comment about Sam and how he would be a better man for Hennie. He and Hennie get into an argument that ends when Moe expresses some feelings for her and she insults him. Ralph enters and begins to ask what happened when Blanche called for him and then admits that he is worried because she made a comment that she might be leaving. Bessie announces that dinner is ready and everyone begins to seat themselves. The phone rings and Ralph lunges for it, it is Blanche. We learn from one half of the conversation that Blanche is being sent to Cleveland by her Aunt and Uncle; Ralph is very upset. Jacob tells him that it will be alright and, although Bessie calls them for dinner, they cry with one another.

--Act II, Scene II

The scene opens on Jacob alone in the night following the previous scene; when he hears someone entering, he withdraws to his room and re-enters to see who it is. Ralph is there and tells Jacob that he saw Blanche and he doesn’t know what to do. Sam enters disheveled, he and Hennie have had a fight on the way home when she told him that the baby isn’t his. Bessie and Myron enter and attempt to calm Sam down. Appeased, Sam leaves and Ralph attempts to talk to Bessie about Blanche. She refuses to help him and end the discussion but Ralph counters with the accusation that they trapped Sam into marrying Hennie. Bessie flies into an emotional fit and yells at, among others, Jacob to take the dog up to the roof and exits crying. Moe enters and Jacob exits with the dog. Myron, Moe and Ralph talk for a few minutes before the doorbell rings violently. Bessie is roused out of her room to find Schlosser at the door to tell them that Jacob has fallen off the roof and is dead.

--Act III

The scene opens one week after the previous scene. Morty, Myron and Bessie are talking while Moe pretends to occupy himself but is really listening to them. Morty reveals that he has bribed the insurance agent and they are hoping to collect on Jacob’s life insurance policy so that it won’t go to Ralph. Moe tells Ralph what they’re planning to do and they confront the group. Moe produces a suicide note that he claims he found under Jacob’s pillow and threatens to give it to the insurance agent so that nobody will collect. Morty decides to leave and Sam goes with him; Hennie tells Sam that she will stay the night because she’s tired. Bessie and Myron start for bed, but stop and have a candid talk with Ralph about the insurance money. Bessie tells him that they all work hard, and they should all share the money because they all need it; Ralph says that life isn’t right and he doesn’t want “life printed on dollar bills.”

Bessie and Myron go to bed, leaving Ralph, Moe and Hennie in the room. Ralph asks if he can have Jacob’s note because he would like to read it and we find out that it is blank and Moe was faking for Ralph. Hennie begins to cry as Ralph exits. Moe opens up to Hennie and tells her that he loves her, begging her to come away with him when the phone rings. It is Sam, calling to tell Hennie that he arrived home safely. Hennie has Moe tell Sam that she’s sleeping. Moe continues his attempts to convince her to run away with him and Ralph enters, supporting Moe’s case. They leave as Ralph sees them off.

Themes

--Class

--Manipulation

--Love/Relationships

--Duty

--Revolution vs. Tradition