FINAL POST!

“Sure Thing”

1)      The story that I have been real fond of was the play by David Ives “Sure Thing”. This playwright is about this guy who is interested in a woman he sees in a café table. It starts off with a gentleman walks in and sees a woman he is interested in, so he goes up and tries to pursue her but it doesn’t work out at all the first couple of times. So there is a bell that allows the guy to go back in time to say the right thing to get her and each time he messes up the bell rings for another try until he gets her. This bell acts as time sort of cosmic time warp that allows the conversation to work out for the favor of the gentlemen in the pursuit of the woman. For example, each time that the guy would say something to turn the woman off the bell is rung so he could have another chance in talking to her in a way that would win favor with her. So pretty much the story is about an average Joe that gets a bunch of times to actually get a date with a woman.

2)      At first the playwright is not that straight forward and easy to understand it sort of takes awhile before you could get what’s going on. When you read the first couple or few lines all you read is a dialogue between a guy and a girl that repeats it’s self after a ringing of a bell. It seems as though you’re reading the same lines over and over again but you’re not, if you pay close attention you see that the flow of the conversation changes and the words are different. At first the changes are very subtle and undetectable but as the play unfold the changes are made more obvious.

3)      This story is about a guy named Bill and a woman named Betty. Bill is interested in Betty and sees her sitting by herself and decides to himself to pursue her. It begins with him wanting to sit and speak to her but it doesn’t work out for him and she immediately shuts him down, then the bell rings and another opportunity comes and here is where his pursuit is being dependent on a time shift and favor of the words that he says and how the woman responds. The play in my opinion is about chances, and how many of us need chances in life to make things right and better. Here I see an average dude and before he is even given the opportunity to get with this woman is shut down, without the woman given herself a chance to get to know him. I believe that the story is showing people how sometimes we don’t give people and even doorways of opportunity a chance to see if this path is for them or not. Many times we shut the door on our very destiny without allowing the possibility of it being a blessing in disguise. If you read the story in the beginning the woman immediately shut the doorway of opportunity in the man’s face, not realizing that she was closing the door on her also. As the bell rings it shifts more and more not just for the favor of the man but then the woman also, and before you know it you read lines like this at the end “Bill: Do you still believe in marriage in spite of current sentiments against it? Betty: Yes. Bill: And children? Betty: Three of them. Bill: Two girls and a boy. Betty: Harvard, Vassar, and Brown. Bill: And will you love me?
Betty: Yes. Bill: And cherish me forever? Betty: Yes. Bill: Do you still want to go to the movies? Betty: Sure thing. Bill and Betty (together): Waiter!” You never know if love is at the door unless you give it a chance.

4)      I interpret the story this way because of the evidence that is given and supported in the play, if you read the lines you will see that a theme of chance is given. Look at the first lines and see how Bill gets turned down “Bill: Excuse me. Is this chair taken? Betty: Excuse me? Bill: Is this taken? Betty: Yes it is. Bill: Oh. Sorry. Betty: Sure thing”. Before Bill could barely get his name across he is shut down, but the moment chance because the salvation of the story and Bill by the bell they are so in love with each other they want to get married. If chance was never given to Bill it would never have had such a happy meaning, and not only was Bill benefited by the bell but Betty also. Though the story is unrealistic there is some truth that is giving in the play. If anyone should read this story no matter the interpretation that many possible people could get no one could negate that fact that if the bell did not introduce chance Bill and Betty’s story would have ended in the first five lines. In my opinion the bell is the salvation and instrument of “chance” used.

5)      This interpretation does matter in reading this story because if the reader does not realize the grace of chance that is given to Bill and Betty the whole purpose of this play would be diminished. In order to get a good solid understanding and even enjoyment in reading this you would have to entertain the thought of the universe working in your favor through time lapses and opportunity.  I ‘am not ruling out any other possibility of another interpretation and there even might possibly be a more complex deeper meaning to what I received from this story that may add more towards this interpretation. All that I’m saying that there are many people including myself in this world that would die for a second chance to make something in the past better. And I believe that this story does not just speak to just the characters of the play with the idea of chance but to us all, did not Jesus give us a second chance when Adam fell? So as we see here Christ is our bell of salvation that allowed a second chance of life after we all deserved death.