Ragged Man Summary

I. What is the plot of this play?
a. Three Irish policemen, under the occupying English government, post up wanted posters for an escaped political criminal.
b. The Sergeant sends his assistants to post more leaflets around town while he keeps watch at the water's edge.
c. A man in rags tries to slip past the Sergeant, explaining that he merely wants to sell some songs to incoming sailors. He orders the man to leave the area immediately.
d. The Ragged Man claims to have information about the fugitive and provides it at the officer’s request.
e. Frightened of this new information the Sergeant gladly accepted the Ragged Man's offer to stay with him on the wharf to help look for the fugitive. They sit back-to-back on a barrel and smoke pipes

The Ragged Man starts to sing a traditional, sentimental song about lovers and the Irish countryside. Then begins a nationalistic ballad about a legend of an oppressed old Irishwoman named Granuaile. The Sergeant stopped him, saying it is inappropriate considering the political tension between Ireland and England.
g. The man convinces the sergeant to allow him to continue his ballad to lift their spirits, but this time he inserted the wrong lyrics. The sergeant corrects him, revealing his knowledge of a rebel song.
h. The ragged man begins to probe the Sergeant's memories of former days as a patriotic young man, singing ballads like the ragged man. The man suggested that the Sergeant and the fugitive perhaps share the same memories, perhaps even knew each other.
i. When the sergeant acknowledges this the ragged man describes a hypothetical where the sergeant joins those singing friends to free Ireland, and perhaps the pursuer could be fated to be the pursued.
j. The sergeant considers this possibility and reflects on his past life choices and how different his life could be. He hears a sound come from the water, believing it to be the fugitive’s rescue finally arriving.
k. The ragged man is happy that the sergeant still sympathizes with the Irish nationalists and signals for the rescue boat, revealing himself to be the wanted