Reading: Read Act I, Scene 2

Notes on the Text:

(page 21) "That 651 hit yesterday"   Rose’s comment references a “Numbers Game.” Playing the numbers was a game where players bet on a series of three digit numbers from 000 to 999. The game was considered to be the "poor man's stock market" where those separated by social and economic racism and segregation could "invest" in the chance to earn a huge return. However, as the case with most numbers games (lotteries in today's PARLANCE [language]), the majority of participants did not win. In addition, in some places it was predatory and took advantage of poor people. Troy’s attitude towards it shows that he values hard work over luck.

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(STAGE DIRECTIONS, page 24) "Troy's brother...carries a trumpet around his waist and believes with every fiber of his being that he is the Archangel Gabriel." Archangel Gabriel is the angel of Incarnation, Consolation, and Annunciation in Christian mythology, and so is perceived as the angel of mercy in Christian tradition. In the Jewish tradition, Gabriel is regarded as the angel of judgment. In the Muslim tradition, the Qur'an (Koran) was delivered to Muhammad by Gabriel. Although the character Gabriel says things at times that do not make sense, unlike some of the other characters, he can live without the constraints of society. He makes his own rules and sells what he decides he has to sell.

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(page 26) "Did you know when I was in heaven...every morning me and St. Peter would sit down by the gate and eat some big fat biscuits?"  In the Christian tradition, Peter or Simon-Peter was an apostle of Jesus. In popular culture, St. Peter is often depicted as an old, bearded white man at the "pearly gates" of "heaven" checking in those with "reservations.”