Verduzco 1

Jorge Verduzco

Professor Rodrick

ENGL 115

13 Nov 2019

Play it as it lays draft

In the novel Play it as it lays, there is a theme of wanting to escape it all and wanting to

have freedom. The characters in the novel are living in a life full of drama with each other and it

can be seen through the eyes of Maria. Many of the characters have their own way of escaping

their lives and having the sense of freedom reach into their lives again. In the novel, the theme of

freedom can be seen trying to be attained by Carter, Maria, and BZ.

In the novel Play it as it Lays, I think Carter’s way of freedom is being away from Maria

after they had been divorced. Carter is always seen far away from Maria working and doing his

own thing on location. The divorce between Maria and Carter seemed to not affect Carter as

much. Carter throughout the book is seen doing his own thing getting away from Maria.

However, it is difficult for Carter to escape from Maria because they have Kate. Maria is also

always looking for Carter and wanting to make contact with him. For example, Maria ends up in

Baker near to where Carter was on location. Maria was planning to contact Carter but before she

did that, she started playing out scenes in her head on how Carter would react to her being in

Baker (31). Carter seems to be the only one who has moved on while Maria still holds on to

him. Carter’s way of trying to move on and acquire freedom from Maria is by being on location

doing work. Ultimately Carter can’t seem to escape her because Maria finds her way back into

his life.
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The theme of freedom also surrounds Maria. Being unable to be with Kate cause of her

sickness, being used by those in her same profession, always being the one who takes orders and

never being in power, the divorce with Carter, the abortion she had. All these aspects throughout

the book lead her to seek freedom and escape the lifestyle that she is in. Towards the beginning

of the novel, it shows that Maria likes to go on the freeway frequently. The thing with Maria is

that she likes to speed through the freeway with no destination in mind, she just drives aimlessly.

The freeway is her way of escaping reality, it is her own way of freedom. “...Maria found herself

in Baker. She had never meant to go as far as Baker, had started out that day as every day, her

only destination the freeway” (30). The things going on in her life prevent her from sleeping

because she can’t find a way to escape it. In the novel, it states that sometimes at night “flash

images of Les Goodwin in New York and Carter out there on the desert with BZ and Helene and

the irrevocability of what seemed already to have happened, but she never thought about that o

the freeway” (18). Maria feels encaged, unable to free herself from the confinement of life. Just

like a bird in the cage who is trying to fly. Maria uses the freeway and goes as fast as she can to

feel freedom and not think about anything else, not where shes going nor what is happening in

her life. On the freeway, she is no longer a caged bird, she is free.

The theme of freedom was different for BZ than it was for Maria or Carter. To Bz, it

might have seen like people only stuck around with him because he had the money. Such as with

Helene, who was with BZ and had to endure everything he did to her because she was getting

paid to do so. BZ’s life seemed to be complicated he decided to no longer play this game known

as life. Towards the end of the novel a there is a scene where BZ and Maria are in bed.

According to Maria, “He poured twenty or thirty capsules onto the bed…” (211). “He was
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swallowing the capsules with a glass of water”(213). The theme of freedom affected BZ

differently, by the end of the novel he is the only one who can relate closely with Maria and no

one else. BZ used the pills and overdosed on them which ultimately ended up killing him. Killing

himself was a way for him to escape from where he was. He did not really have any other close

connections to anyone, people like Helene only stuck around being his wife because his mother

paid her. Even though Helene was getting paid she was still sleeping with Carter. Ultimately

killing himself was the way he acquired his freedom, he wanted to get rid of the nothingness that

life brought to him.

The theme of freedom or wanting to escape and make a change affects the characters in

the novel. Each character deals with this theme differently. It seems like Carter kind of wants to

escape his past life with Maria by working and always being on location. The only time he

struggles with this is when Maria finds her way to him. He does not think too much about Kate

because there is nothing either of them can really do to help Kate in her sickness. So many things

are happening to Maria and it seems very overwhelming for her to handle. She does not really

have anyone who she can rely on. The only person he seems to care most deeply about is Kate

but just like Carter she cannot really do anything to help her and they won’t release Kate from

the hospital. She seems to care somewhat about Carter still, probably because of Kate. Like

previously stated, she really doesn’t have anyone else who can really understand her so she uses

her car and the freeway as a way to clear her mind and feel free. BZ seems also to have almost

no one who he can relate to so he also seeks that same freedom. It is only towards the end of the

book when he relates to Maria. By then his urge to seek freedom is too powerful and does so by
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killing himself. The theme of freedom and the way each character sought freedom played

differently and affected each one of them differently.

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Works Cited

Didion, Joan. ​Play it as it lays​:​ A Novel. ​2005 paperback edition. New York, Farrar Straus and

Giroux, 1970.