Two Trains Running (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: August Wilson
- First Published: 1991
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: 1969
- Setting: A restaurant in a ghetto of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Genres: Drama, Psychological drama
- Subjects: Justice, 1960’s, Gambling, Restaurants, bars, taverns, or pubs, Poverty or poor people, Inner cities or inner-city life, Death or dying, Preaching, Money, Funeral rites or ceremonies, Pittsburgh, Economic conditions, Consumers or consumer rights, Prophecy or prophets, Urban renewal
- Locales: Pittsburgh, PA
Characters Discussed
Memphis Lee, whose restaurant forms the play’s only set and who has struggled to build a life in Pittsburgh after whites forced him off his Jackson, Mississippi, farm in 1931. Intelligent and determined, he has fought a valiant, if unsuccessful, battle to maintain his establishment amid grinding poverty and urban decay. Although his marriage of twenty-two years has foundered and his restaurant faces the wrecking ball, he still yearns for the financial success that would enable him to reclaim his farm. The sale of his restaurant at the play’s end makes...
[The entire page is 888 words long]
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