If I would ride 4000 miles, then I would ride 4000 more...

Just to be the man who rode 4000 miles and fall down at your door! da-DA-da!!!

So the play 4000 Miles by Amy Herzog has multiple patterns scattered throughout. One of the main motifs is Leo as a traveller. There are multiple mentions of Leo as this nomadic figure. Not connected to anyone or anything. His first action when entering his grandmother's place is to unclip one of his panniers. This suggests, that with multiple bags like this one, he's been on the road for a while and hasn't had to rely on anyone else. He has all the supplies he needs. He also shows interest in rockcliming, which is another rustic, manly thing to do. He is also constantly reminding his grandmother that he won't be here for long. Even after being with her for 3 weeks, he still claims that he won't be there much longer. He is always and forever trying to prove he doesn't need anyone, as long as he has his mountains and open road. This, of course, doesn't hold much water when considering how long he has stayed with his grandmother, how upset he is over his friend's death, how much he seems to miss his girlfriend and makes effort to see her, and especially how much he misses his sister. In fact, he creepily tries to sleep with an asian girl who reminds him of his sister. He needs people, but for some reason fights against this impulse. Including the estranged relationship he clearly has with his mother. This seems to somewhat clear away near the end of the play when he finally attends the funeral of his grandmother's neighbor. He strangely connects with this woman he doesn't even know, when he was so unwilling to attend the funeral of his best friend. He didn't want to see all of his friends and family. He wanted to be alone in his grief. Now, it would seem, he's making up for this by writing a eulogy for this woman and finally gaining some closure.

One other pattern of this play that I found irritatingly repetitive was the, whaddayacallit, oh yea, Grandma Vera's forgetful streaks. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the fact that we need to know that she feels scared and vulnerable due to her memory loss. But that word "whaddayacallit" seemed more and more cartoon-like every time I read it. You could almost set your watch by when it would show up in the script. But I digress. It's important to note how often Vera is "not being able to find [her] words" (Herzog, p. 39) because it becomes that much more satisfying at the very end when she's looking for, "What is that expression?…Green thumb." (Herzog, p. 50) It almost gives the impression that she will be okay when Leo departs because she's finally found her words. Or, another way of looking at it is that Vera is becoming better because Leo's around and vice versa. Maybe Leo won't leave after all.


All in all though, I've had trouble figuring out what the play "expects of me". I'm not entirely sure what to take from all this. The slice of life aspect is clear, but why was it important to tell this story? I'll have to think about this thingamajig.