Topdog/Underdog by Suzan Lori Park

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Analysis of TopDog/UnderDog
Actors Characters
Lincoln is an experienced, honest and a changed man who wants a good life for himself and his brother. This is evident when he said, “I can’t be hustling no more bro …, It is an honest work” (Parks 27). On the other hand, his younger brother, Booth is a conman and a thief. He keeps on stealing from the local store outlets. In one instance of his arguments with his elder brother, Booth said, “theys stole from a big ass department store. That store takes in more money in one day than we will in our whole life. I stole, and I stole generously (Parks 32).”
The Characters Needs
Booth spends all his time in the play trying to bring Lincoln back to the three-card Monte con business. In one of his conversations with his brother he told him, “We could be a team man, Rake in the money” (Parks 24). Also, booth tried further to persuade his defiant elder brother by saying, “No one knows the cards like you Link, and with your moves …, we would be golden bro!”
However, Lincoln having witnessed a friend shot and killed by one of their customers who lost from the Three Card Monte game, have made up his mind never to play that game again and so have decided to remain honest in his career. In addressing his younger brother, he said, “I ain’t going back to that bro, I ant going back (Parks 27)”
The Main Conflict in the Book
The main conflict is whether the two poor brothers should join forces and do the same work of playing Three Card Monte.

According to Booth, their combination, and a few friends would give them a lot of money. However, Lincoln is against the plan, preferring to be honest instead.
The Language of Play
Literal and Figurative languages are used in the play. Literal language is when the actors refer to issues with their factual names but using symbolic figures is figurative. For instance, Booth said that he would give his children five hundred bucks and then cut out (Parks 72), his parents having done the same to them. But in another case, he refers Lincoln as the local train when he can’t play the Three Cards Monte as well as himself (Parks 83).
About The Book
The most interesting thing about the play is the way the two characters live to their names. Lincoln named after the assassinated President Abraham Lincoln shows an honest character, but falls victim of Booth, the younger brother, who shares a name with John Wilkes Booth, the president’s assassin.
Achieving the Theme
Linking of the names with the popular presidential assassination hampers the use of suspense. The person following the act can have a popular clue that Booth would kill his elder brother Lincoln, a fate that comes to be true.
Recommending the Book
The play is recommendable to another person to have a recollection of President Lincoln’s assassination, and also to see how life among poor brothers may revolve around the need for each other’s influence.

Work Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Parks, Suzan-Lori. TopDog/ UnderDog. New York: Dramatists Play Servuces Inc., 2002. Print.