All he had seen was ashes
Hamm tells this story in endgame that moves me every time:
HAMM: I once knew a madman who thought the end of the world had come. He was a painter---and engraver. I had a great fondness for him. I used to go and see him, in the asylum. I'd take him by the hand and drag him to the window. Look! There! All that rising corn! And there! Look! The sails of the herring fleet! All that loveliness!
(Pause.)
He'd snatch away his hand and go back into his corner. Appalled. All he had seen was ashes.
Is there something that I'm missing? I tend to be one of those who think that madmen see the truth. But, maybe, there is something to be said for ordinary life. I wonder if it could be said that most of my fellow americans are optimists, or do they just act that way? or is it that if you act that way you become that way? Who knows!
001109_11.html - 2000-11-09
HAMM: I once knew a madman who thought the end of the world had come. He was a painter---and engraver. I had a great fondness for him. I used to go and see him, in the asylum. I'd take him by the hand and drag him to the window. Look! There! All that rising corn! And there! Look! The sails of the herring fleet! All that loveliness!
(Pause.)
He'd snatch away his hand and go back into his corner. Appalled. All he had seen was ashes.
Is there something that I'm missing? I tend to be one of those who think that madmen see the truth. But, maybe, there is something to be said for ordinary life. I wonder if it could be said that most of my fellow americans are optimists, or do they just act that way? or is it that if you act that way you become that way? Who knows!
001109_11.html - 2000-11-09