2ALLIE MAYO: I know where you're going! What you'll try to do. Over there (Pointing to the line of woods). Bury it. The life in you…But I'll tell you something! They fight too. The woods! They fight for life the way that Captain fought for life in there (Pointing to the closed door)!
3MRS. PATRICK: And lose the way he lost in there!
4ALLIE MAYO: They don't lose.
5MRS. PATRICK: I've watched the sand slip down on the vines that reach out farthest.
6ALLIE MAYO: Another vine will reach that spot (Under her breath, tenderly). Strange little things that reach out farthest!
7MRS. PATRICK: And will be buried soonest!
8ALLIE MAYO: And hold the sand for things behind them. They save a wood that guards a town.
9MRS. PATRICK: I care nothing about a wood to guard a town. This is the outside—these dunes where only beach grass grows, this outer shore where men can't live. The Outside. You who were born here and who die here have named it that.
10ALLIE MAYO: Woods. Woods to hold the moving hills from Provincetown. Provincetown—where they turn when boats can't live at sea.
11MRS. PATRICK: The edge of life. Where life trails off to dwarfed things not worth a name (Suddenly sits down in the doorway).
12ALLIE MAYO: Not worth a name. And—meeting the Outside!
13MRS. PATRICK: (Lifting sand and letting it drift through her hand) They're what the sand will let them be. They take strange shapes like shapes of blown sand.
14ALLIE MAYO: Meeting the Outside (Moving nearer; speaking more personally). I know why you came here. To this house that had been given up; on this shore where only savers of life try to live. I know what holds you on these dunes, and draws you over there. But, other things are true beside the things you want to see.
15MRS. PATRICK: How do you know they are? Where have you been for twenty years?
16ALLIE MAYO: Outside. Twenty years. That's why I know how brave they are. You'll not find peace there again! Go back and watch them fight!
17MRS. PATRICK: (Swiftly rising) You're a cruel woman—a hard, insolent woman! I knew what I was doing! What do you know about it? About me? I didn't go to the Outside—I was left there. I'm only—trying to get along. Everything that can hurt me I want buried—buried deep. Spring is here; this morning I knew it. Spring—coming through the storm—to take me—take me to hurt me. . . . What would there be for me but the Outside? What was there for you? What did you ever find after you lost the thing you wanted?
18ALLIE MAYO: I found—what I find now I know. The edge of life—to hold life behind me—
19MRS. PATRICK: (Passionately) I have known life. You're like this cape—a line of land way out to sea—land not life.
20ALLIE MAYO: A harbor far at sea. (Raises her arm, curves it in as if around something she loves) Land that encloses and gives shelter from storm.
21MRS. PATRICK: (Facing the sea, as if affirming what will hold all else out) Outside sea. Outer shore. Dunes—land not life.
22ALLIE MAYO: Outside sea—outer shore, dark with the wood that once was ships—dunes, strange land not life—woods, town and harbor. The line! Stunted straggly line that meets the Outside face to face—and fights for what itself can never be. Lonely line. Brave growing.
23MRS. PATRICK: It loses.
24ALLIE MAYO: It wins. Which best expresses a theme of this play?
Responses
A human beings’ need for friendshiphuman beings’ need for friendship
B society’s lack of compassionsociety’s lack of compassion
C the struggle to survivethe struggle to survive
D a loss of innocencea
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The theme that best expresses the essence of the dialogue and interactions between Allie Mayo and Mrs. Patrick is:
C the struggle to survive.
Throughout the exchange, there is a strong focus on the fight for life in the face of death and the challenges posed by both nature and human experiences. The characters discuss life, death, and the resilience and courage required to endure in a harsh environment, which underscores the central idea of survival amidst adversity.
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