Green Card: Analysis of Major Characters
"Green Card: Analysis of Major Characters" explores the complex and varied experiences of immigrants as portrayed through a diverse cast of characters, each embodying different cultural backgrounds and historical narratives. The characters include Raye, an Anglo man who reflects on Jewish immigration and later adopts a comedic persona, and Jesse, a young Latin man who grapples with racial stereotypes while portraying an illegal alien from El Salvador. Rosalind, a young Asian woman, serves as a cultural bridge, assisting with pronunciation, while George, another Latin man, portrays a television evangelist and an Indian peasant who recounts familial persecution.
Jim, an Asian man in his fifties, presents a CIA perspective on U.S. foreign policy in Central America, and Dana, an Asian man with ties to the Vietnamese Mafia, reflects on his troubled assimilation into American life. Alma, a Latin woman, contrasts her impoverished reality with the opulence she encounters in her cleaning jobs, while Jessica, an Anglo woman, shares her ancestral experiences in a sweatshop, engaging directly with the audience. Lastly, Josie, a young Asian woman, enriches the performance with a cultural puppet show, and Mimi, another Anglo woman, nostalgically recounts the allure of Vietnam prior to the war. Through these characters, the narrative delves into themes of identity, struggle, and the multifaceted immigrant experience in America.
Green Card: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: JoAnne Akalaitis
First published: 1987, in Theatre
Genre: Play
Locale: The United States and a jungle
Plot: Social
Time: The 1980's, with flashbacks to the late 1800's, early 1900's, and 1960's
Raye, an Anglo man, forty to sixty years old. Raye takes the part of a nineteenth century Jewish immigrant from Lithuania. He tells how his people were persecuted in Europe and how wonderful America seemed to him on his arrival. Later, he dons a comical wig to portray the overbearing host of the Green Card Show. He also plays a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee who describes the Cambodian people in a patronizing and stereotypical manner.
Jesse, a young Latin man. Jesse plays a nightclub comic who spews out racial slurs for ironic effect, in the manner of Lenny Bruce. Later, he takes the role of an illegal alien from El Salvador who has been arrested by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. He describes the harsh treatment he received at the alien detention center.
Rosalind, a young Asian woman. She acts as a pronunciation guide for Asian names in the second act.
George, a Latin man, twenty to forty years old. He portrays a sleazy television evangelist. Later, he plays an Indian peasant in Central America, and he recounts the persecution his family suffered there.
Jim, an Asian man in his fifties. He plays a CIA employee who narrates a slide show justifying America's support of the right-wing death squads in El Salvador.
Dana, an Asian man, thirty to fifty years old. Dana takes the part of Marshall Ky, a member of the Vietnamese Mafia who later settled in America. He complains about the difficulty of adjusting to life in America. Later, he justifies his takeover of Danang and his attack on the Buddhists. He wonders aloud if it was a mistake to lead the fight against the Communists in Vietnam for the United States, because, when he arrived in this country as a refugee, he received no acknowledgment from the government.
Alma, a Latin woman, twenty to forty years old. As a Mexican maid, she describes the luxury of the homes that she cleans and contrasts that with the poverty in which she lives. She explains that when she comes home after a hard day of tidying up the homes of the rich, she loves to relax by watching television. Later, she plays a Salvadoran refugee who describes the torture she received at the hands of the death squads.
Jessica, an Anglo woman, twenty to forty years old. She walks around the audience, playing a Jewish immigrant describing the work she did in a sweatshop when she first arrived in America. She gives pieces of cake to members of the audience.
Josie, an Asian woman in her twenties. She dresses in an elaborate costume to narrate a puppet show that tells the folk-tale of the origin of the Vietnamese people.
Mimi, an Anglo woman, thirty-five to fifty years old. Mimi plays a rich American woman describing the charms of Vietnam before the war there.