One Good Beating :: English Literature

One in force(p) BeatingMany contemporary Scottish plays explore the conflict that send amodal value existbetween people of different generations. In this essay I am going todiscuss whether or not Linda McLeans One Good Beating conveys thisissue of conflict and explore the other themes throughout the play.Although One Good Beating only consists of three characters(Robert-dad, Elaine- daughter and Stephen- watchword) there are umpteenconflicts throughout the play, many of which are between all threecharacters over the same issue.Stephen is in conflict with his dad Robert because when he was youngerhe employ to beat him. Stephen is still affected by his traumatisingchildhood even though he is in his mid thirties.Stephen But he never hit youElaine If he thinks for a minute youre stuck in the past hell Beat youThese words illustrate how Stephen has been emotionally scarred bywhat his father did to him and cant live his life properly because heis living with the memory of his tragic ch ildhood.This conflict, which has grown between these two characters, does notjust go in the angiotensin converting enzyme direction, Robert is in conflict with Stephen butfor an entirely different reason. Robert never kip downd Stephen however Stephen continued trying to changehis fathers opinion. The only way Robert could react to this was tohit Stephen.Robert I couldnt give a tuppenny damn whether you forgave me or notStephen all I wanted from himI wanted him to love meRobert I dont like youRoberts only problem with his son was that he had been born. Howeverhe didnt love Stephen because he could not love any one. It was justsimply because he did not like him.Robert its temporary, Elaine knows I love her.These words emphasise even more that it was just his son he had a problem with and that he was devoted to his daughter.Stephen is not the only one in conflict with Robert. Elaine is also inconflict with Robert because when she was young, Robert killed herpuppy.Robert dead some thing. pup maybe.Elaine reacts to this by (stage directions) hitting the coal-sheddoor, which demonstrates that she has never forgiven her father forwhat he did and still feels strongly about the issue. She is also inconflict with her father because he hit her aim and brother andburied their take without even informing them of her death.Elaine you didnt even give her a proper funeralElaine you never told anybody she was deadThis emphasises how she felt about her mother and how much hate shehas for her father because of how he mistreated her mother.