I think Arthur Miller is an interesting writer. He is well versed in the Holocaust. He wrote Incident at Vichy which takes place in France in 1942, it has been a very important play that has well written scripts. In 1915 Arthur Miller was born in New York City. He studied at the University of Michigan. He wrote many successful plays, such as; Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, A Memory of Two Mondays, After the Fall, Incident at Vichy, and the Price. These were all written between 1949/1968. Arthur has been a brilliant writer of many successful plays.
While reading the play I was introduced to 17 characters who showed a range of emotions while waiting to be seen by the police captain. The seven main characters had very dramatic parts. The main characters I identified with were Bayad, a master electrician who is 25, Marchand, a cheerful and impatient businessman who was 25, Lebeau, a bearded, unkept painter who was also 25 and very out spoken, Monceau, an actor, Leduc, a doctor of psychiatry and captain in the French army, Von Berg, an Austrian prince, and Ferrand, a cafe proprietor.
What a profound insight Arthur Miller has given us on these characters who all lead very different lives and were thrown together in similar circumstances. What was similar amongst these characters were that they were put in a holding house awaiting their sentence, to be set free or to be called a Jew and die. Every one had fear inside of them. But in particular, Lebeau showed his aggression on that very cold and dreary day. The great author brought out the fear of the people awaiting their sentence and how they reacted in the play.
Leducs life was change drastically at the end of the play by Von Berg. This conversation involved Von Berg and Leduc regarding how unfair it was that Von Berg, who had nothing to live for and Leduc who had a wife and two small children, thought it unfair that Von Berg would survive and he would not. This disagreement escalated by a simple question from Leduc to Von Berg, Why do you feel your life is more valuable than mine? Luduc responded with, Im just as worthy as you are to live free. However Von Berg made the difference by giving his pass to freedom to Leduc.
By giving his pass to Leduc, Von Berg showed the Captain that Leducs life is just as valuable as his, if not more so. Von Berg was brave enough to show that there was something he could do to make a difference. The Captain couldnt believe Von Berg gave his pass away, he assumed Leduc has stolen it and made a run for it. The Major realizes Von Berg has given his pass to Leduc Von Berg was a great hero in this play. He was able to understand and sympathize with the others. His courage was overwhelming to the other characters in the play.
