Introduction
Am I Blue, set in the French Quarter of New Orleans, begins during a rainy night in 1968 with a sixteen-year-old girl, Ashbe’s successful attempt to pick up seventeen-year-old preppy college freshman John Polk in a bar led the two into Ashbe’s apartment. The background mood of the bar and the apartments are linked together by a song “Am I Blue?” that was being played on the piano room behind the bar, and later played on Ashbe’s radio in her apartment. The two characters, Ashbe and John Polk represent different aspects of modern society as defined by their family backgrounds, which eventually contributes to the way they conduct themselves and view society. This essay compares Ashbe and John Polk in relation to their behaviors and views of life as defined by their family background.
Ashbe as a Character
Ashbe, a somewhat wacky type of girl, dresses provocatively in her endless attempt to get attention from strangers. In fact, her attire is somehow flamboyant but in some sense garish, that is, “a flowered plastic rain cap, red galoshes, a butterfly barrette, and jeweled cat eyeglasses” (Henley 68). It is possible to argue that Ashbe’s choice of colors is basically meant to get her noticed easily by anyone who may be interested in her. Divorced from her friends, Ashbe portrays the life of her parents who are divorced hence live separately. She does not want to be close to her friends who are all members of a school dance, a group she considers to be too old-school for her to join. Instead, she prefers to be alone, fantasizing about everything she deems to fit the bill of good and modern life, including sexual escapades. However, Ashbe is a girl with really low self-esteem, which is visibly displayed in her shabbily arranged room. In fact, she sort of defends the unhygienic state of her room when she says that he mother “never was too good at keeping things clean” (Henley 74). Like a girl with a missing link in her life, Ashbe is trying to fit in different aspects of her life by being wayward in her dealings and even justifies the wrongs she does. For example, she justifies her actions of stealing two ashtrays from Screw Inn, saying that she wasn’t any different from Robin Hood. This indicates a girl who wants to retaliate against her loneliness, a typical trait of low self-esteem.
John Polk
Ashby’s act of thievery somewhat perplexed John Polk, especially concerning the fact that she was fantasizing about how her actions were similar to Robin Hood. This made him link Ashbe to violence, and remarked, “You’ve probably got some gang of muggers waiting to kill me” (Henley 73), in regard to her proposal to go to her apartment. Once they get into the room, Ashbe continues with her own fantasy, going ahead to even imagine how they would get their baby aborted, in case she gets pregnant. In fact, by seeking out a man that she can take home, Ashbe becomes a perfect example of a sexual aggressor. This is more like going against the socially imposed societal roles where men are expected to be more sexually aggressive than women.
The Varied View of Life
While the two find themselves getting along, it is apparent that Ashbe and John Polk belong to two different worlds as they have very little in common. While John portrays a character of straightforwardness, Ashbe is a complete contrast to John Polk. John brags about his ability to get numerous dates and friends as he is really comfortable at social events, which he attends regularly. Again, John Polk is so attached to the family, and always listens to his parents who want him to define his life by joining a business school to become a management-oriented person. Unlike Ashbe who expresses her lack of love for school, John is a cultured individual who is brought up to believe that success is getting higher into education that enables one to secure a well-paying job. Polk often goes out as a social requirement, although in most cases the dates he gets end up disappointing him because they are either incompatible or unable to hold a prolonged conversation with the opposite sex. However, to fill the gap in his life, he involves himself with prostitutes.
When one looks at the separate lives of the two, it is possible to presume that they hail from the different social and economic backgrounds. When Ashbe hears John Polk’s intent to finish his business schooling and become a manager, she remarks, “I’d hate to be management-minded” (Henley 77), and criticizes John Polk’s intention to conform, as she tells them, “You think I want to be in some group…a sheep like you? A little sheep like you that does everything when he’s supposed to do it!” (Henley 80). She is somehow appalled that his conventional way of thinking is parallel to her bohemian lifestyle.
Conclusion
The two characters represented by Ashbe and John Polk distinguish two distinct characters representing modern society. Ashbe represents a modern youth in pursuit of pleasure and exploring herself, probably due to the missing link in her life or lack of social cohesion between her parents. Parents divorced, plunging her mother into loneliness, and ostensibly she carried forward this loneliness with her, exposing a bohemian lifestyle. John Polk on the other hand is a cultured individual, representing a strong family background that believes in the conventional way of thinking on what entails good life. He wants to be a manager after school, something Ashbe does not see to make any sense in the modern world. Indeed the two characters belong to two different worlds!
Works Cited
Henley, Beth. Am I Blue? New York. Dramatist’s Play Service, 1982. Print.