Themes In Joe Turner's Come And Gone

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is a play by American playwright August Wilson which depicts the lives

of a few freed former enslaved African Americans in the North and deals with the conflict of racism and

discrimination. This journal does not seem to fall into one singular genre, but is a collaborative of already

existing ones including tragedy, melodrama, classic comedy, and farce. In my opinion, this journal falls

under the category of melodrama. It is because it tries to make something sensational in the viewers

explaining about the past African American culture.

The major themes in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone are identity, migration and racial discrimination. Each

of the characters in the play is looking for his/her identity/traits as

This event continues to the point that the police uses their power to

snatch the money of Jeremy and his friend. Also, there is a part in the play which displays the power ruled

over the colored people making them pay money to keep up with their jobs. Anybody who refuses to pay

will have been fired. The white man who collected money could get money easily just because of his

color of the body but for the same money, others should suffer and work hard to earn their living. This

particular problem is the main focus of this play thus explaining that the ending of civil was wouldn’t

necessarily mean the freedom of the African Americans but they have to fight for their rights.

Thus, I conclude this play as a melodrama even though there are a lot of tragedies present. In my opinion

this is a melodrama as it tries to explain the then concept of racism, discrimination and the migration

caused due to the racial conflict. The writer covers multiple themes such as search for identity, theme of

study discrimination and tries to promote the significance of African American history in gaining their

rights and