Student Question
Write a critical analysis on the play Sorry, Wrong Number by Lucille Fletcher.
Quick answer:
The play "Sorry, Wrong Number" by Lucille Fletcher uses paranoia as a central theme, which David Crane terms "paranoid textuality." This paranoia is crucial to the narrative, as it becomes a reality within the drama. The telephone, typically a comforting communication tool, transforms into an ominous device transmitting anxiety and foreboding. Instead of connecting people, it isolates them, leading to fear and ultimately death, driving the plot forward.
You may want to look at the article "Projections and Intersections: Paranoid Textuality in Sorry, Wrong Number" by David Crane (see the link below). Crane writes about what he refers to as "paranoid textuality" in the play; this phrase refers to a kind of paranoia that becomes an element in and of itself in the drama and that moves the action of the drama along. In paranoid texts, Crane notes, paranoia always becomes a reality.
Crane writes that the paranoia in this play is essential to the narrative; the telephone is the device through which this paranoia and its attendant anxiety are transmitted. The phone in this play becomes a portent of evil that is about to arrive. The play turns what is generally a comforting device that connects people to others into something that only transmits worry and eventually death. Rather than connect people, the phone strands them and subjects them to their worst nightmares.
This article is one place you can start your process of research and writing.
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