Joe Turner's Come and Gone

Both Bynum and Loomis have quasi-hallucinatory visions in Act One. What do these experiences represent? What function do they serve in the play?

What function do Zonia and Reuben serve in the play?

Bynum observes that “Seem like everybody looking for something” (66). What are the characters in the play looking for? What do they find?

What is the role of traditional African cultural practices in the play?

Analyze the characters of Bertha, Martha, Mattie and Molly to examine the

the status of women in the play.

How does Seth’s experience as the son of a Northern freeman compare to the experience of his boarders leaving the south?

How does the legacy of slavery affect the US today? How does it compare to the legacy of slavery depicted in the play circa 1911?

Bynum, describing how he found the Binding Song, observes, “the way people cling to each other [is from the] truth they find in themselves” (15). In what ways does this describe the relationships between the characters in the play? For example, between Seth and Bertha, Jeremy and Molly, Mattie and Loomis?