Cabot vs. Eben

The entire play is a constant struggle between what is soft and what is hard. In our adaptation, Ephraim Cabot represents the white man and Eben represents the inferior minority, exploiting superiority through race and class. According to the social hierarchy, Cabot's pure blood is more superior than any of Eben's mixed blood. Both squander for power and ownership, particularly of the land, in spite of their vastly different backgrounds.

The social conflict we've enhanced in the production is Eben's Native American heritage. I've collected some images that can give an idea of their contrasting backgrounds.

Eben's BackgroundA Few Relevant Native American Facts

• In Native American culture, it is common to communicate with the dead, except they are thought of as “present”
• Native American people were given allotments of land. At this point in history, Eben's parents or grandparents would have been awarded territory, almost like a reservation
• It was common for European husbands to marry women for land, so Eben sees the land and farm as his

Cabot's Background
This last image is of an Ozark marriage in 1916.