Michael Gow’s “Away” uses a multitude of theatrical devices to explore the transformation of the central characters. The central character who demonstrates the most notable change within themselves, which, results in an outward change is Coral. This change is from letting being grief stricken due to the loss of her son in the Vietnam War, to mastering her grief and accepting her son’s death.. Another central character who transforms in a positive manner is Gwen; Gwen transforms from being materialistic and narcissistic into being empathetic towards others. Although most of the central characters experience a transformation of some kind, Tom, the character who suffers from Leukaemia, does not experience any change. This is done deliberately by Gow to highlight the pivotal part he plays in the transformation in the transformation …show more content…
Coral is one of the central characters in “Away” who demonstrates a distinct change in mental and social state from the beginning to the end of the text. At the start of the play, Coral shows how she is disconnected and socially removed through the use of her dialogue when interacting with others, mainly the way that she has a refusal to talk to anyone and instead looks away, behaving “like a ghost”. This is later explained as Coral “…not ignoring them. [She] can’t think of anything to say.” Coral’s depression and fragile mental state is further displayed through the use of her soliloquy at the end of act 1. Where she shows that she feels alone by talking to herself about how “[she] had to wipe away tears.” because “[her] heart would break.” despite the fact that the section of the play she was feeling emotional about was the most humorous scene. Her emotional response is due to her inability to reconcile her feelings of loss, which stem from her grief over her son’s death while serving in the Vietnam War. However, through the use of her interactions with Rick, who Coral treats like she would her son, she grows to overcome