PLAYBILL

Submitted by: Patricia Eimeren Barron

Submitted to: Ms. Daisy Colita

is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities, by giving

them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal
sense.

a bill advertising a play, usually announcing the cast and is

used for a Theater Program.

phrases that are different from their meanings.

SYMBOLISM
GREAT DEPRESSION
DEAF MUTE FATHER AND
HIS DAUGHTER
IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS
The Great Depression was a time of great economic crisis during
the 1930s. It began in the United States, but quickly spread
throughout much of the world. During this time, many people were
out of work, hungry, and homeless. In the city, people would stand
in long lines at soup kitchens to get a bite to eat. In the country,
farmers struggled in the Midwest where a great drought turned the
soil into dust causing huge dust storms. The Great Depression
began with the crash of the stock market in October of 1929.
Historians and economists give various causes for the Great
Depression including drought, overproduction of goods, bank
failures, stock speculation, and consumer debt. Herbert Hoover
was President of the United States when the Great Depression
began. Many people blamed Hoover for the Great Depression.
They even named the shantytowns where homeless people lived
"Hoovervilles" after him. In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected
president. He promised the people of America a "New Deal." The
New Deal was a series of laws, programs, and government agencies
enacted to help the country deal with the Great Depression. These
laws placed regulations on the stock market, banks, and
businesses. They helped put people to work and tried to help house
and feed the poor. Many of these laws are still in place today like
the Social Security Act. The Great Depression ended with the start
of World War II. The wartime economy put many people back to
work and filled factories to capacity. The Great Depression left a
lasting legacy on the United States. The New Deal laws significantly
increased the role of the government in people's everyday lives.
Also, public works built up the infrastructure of the country with
the construction of roads, schools, bridges, parks, and airports.
The film is about a father whose daughter becomes
ashamed of him because he uses sign language. After she
attempts to commit suicide, he dies trying to save her. All
of which is a great mechanism for selling some life
insurance, obviously. The film tugs on every possible
heartstring in order to make everyone who sees it feel sorry
for the Dad, burst into tears due to his sacrifice at the end,
before buying some cover – presumably in case they start
using sign language, then have a child who grows up to feel
deeply ashamed of them before trying to kill themselves.
The ad begins with the daughter looking in the mirror
thinking to herself ‘I want a better father… someone who’s
not deaf-mute.’ No, I’m not making it up. She really thinks
this. We then see the daughter getting bullied at school (for
having a ‘Deaf Mute Dad’). Then, on the evening of her
birthday, as her father sits waiting at a table in front of her
cake, she tries to kill herself. He’s alerted when he feels the
thump of her body falling to the ground in the bathroom.
In hospital she is rushed along on a stretcher, as we see
flashbacks of the Dad doing good things. A montage shows
him telling his daughter to eat her greens, be good at
school, and even (as he waits with her birthday cake)
saying sorry for not being like other Dads. “I was born a
deaf mute,” he says. “I can’t speak like other fathers. But I
want you to know that I love with all my heart.” Back in
the hospital, The Deaf mute Father then begs a doctor to
take his blood. It’s a good move. His blood saves his
daughter and his daughter becames conscious again, her
hand reaches out for his. But then Hero Deaf mute Dad has
flatlined from giving too much blood and dies.