One’s past prevails throughout their entire life, with flashbacks that remind of deed long finished, reminders of what occurred, amongst a multitude of others. There exists no escape from it for many times history repeats itself so in the present one finds themselves confronted with their past. Such is the case with Eugene O’Neill except he does not try the futile gesture of escape but rather accepts it and uses it to his own advantage. In Long Day’s Journey Into Night, O’Neill employs his own past with the whole family in particular the character of Edmund, a reflection of O’Neill himself, and Jamie, who represents O’Neill’s true brother in name and actions.
The character of Edmund Tyrone in O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, reveals himself as a direct parallel to the life of Eugene O’Neill through the use of characterization in an effort to convey the idea that O’Neill’s own past directly influenced the events taking place in the play. The events that take place in the character of Edmund’s life parallel distinct events that took place in the life of O’Neill. The only difference between the play and O’Neill’s actually life reveals itself in the switch of names of two of the brothers. In the play the baby who dies is named Eugene and the youngest one is names Edmund. In O’Neill’s life, the opposite reveals itself as the truth, a switch that obviously had personal motives but unrevealed the reader they remain. (Hinden) The purpose of the personal influences in Long Day’s Journey Into Night lies in the pure fact that the play presents itself as dedicated to O’Neill’s wife as an anniversary present, in attempts to paint a complete portrait of him. (O’Neill) However Edmund is not the only character of the play to have true to life connections, Jamie also has similar connections.
The character of Jamie Tyrone directly reflects a bother that O’Neill had in real life, with a complete and accurate portrayal of him behavior and attitudes with the use of characterization, which also aids in the portrayal of O’Neill’s past influencing the play. In the play, Jamie reveals himself as a drunkard, failure who finds himself the bane of the family because of his actions. (Hinden) Mary and James Tyrone constantly warn Edmund of the poison that Jamie has and the deadliness of it. (Hinden) This reveals itself as a true depiction of the actual Jamie O’Neill with many of his actions reflecting those he actually committed including his direct influence in the death of Edmund O’Neill, for when Jamie O’Neill had the measles he infected the young infant, much like the Jamie Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night. (Hinden) But Edmund and O’Neill alike owe their life to the oldest son of the family, for both brothers, imagined and real also directly influence their own births occurring for without the deaths of the middle child, it seems unlikely the mother would have had another child as all indication point in the biographical information of O’Neill and Mary’s own words in Long Day’s Journey into Night. (Hinden) In Long Day’s Journey Into Night, there exists a scene in which Jamie tells his brother of his intended treachery should he have the opportunity while at the same time saying he loves Edmund more than he hates him. (O’Neill). This even may or may not have occurred in real life, but it shows that undeniable the life of the older brother Jamie, had a huge impact on the Life of Eugene O’Neill and perhaps pushed him in a direction much most successful than that of Jamie.
Eugene O”Neill’s past presents itself as one full of hardship and sorrow but O’Neill grew from this and the events of his past shaped him into the person he reveals to all today. But the truth lies in the fact that the play Long Day’s Journey Into Night reveals itself as a coming to terms with the events of O’Neill’s past, with his brother, with his family, with everyone. Whether this actually occurred, hard to tell, but undeniably is the fact that O’Neill reveals a full image of himself and those closest to him growing up.
Bibliography
Hinden, Michael. "O'Neill and Jamie: a survivor's tale."Comparative Drama Fall 2001 (2001): 435. Gale. 8 Sep. 1921.
O'Neill, Eugene. Long Days Journey Into Night. New Haven: Yale University Press, New Haven, 1955.
