Dec 17, 2009

J. B. | Themes

Hopelessness and Despair
The world of J.B. is a frightening world. In the beginning of the play, J.B. and his family are healthy and wealthy, happy and loving. J.B.'s children have never known suffering or deprivation; as J.B. tells Sarah, the world seems to them ‘‘New and born and fresh and wonderful.’’ J.B. himself trusts his "luck'' because it comes from God. He is safe in his knowledge that God is "just. He'll never change.’’

But without warning—and without cause—J.B.'s luck does change. His children are killed in particularly...