Jesus Hopped a Train
...tors stand, trapped by polls outlining a metal cage in New York’s Rikers Prison. Although both Angel and Luicius are imprisoned in the same sort of cell, the play presents two starkly different reactions to this reality. Luicius himself appears free, enjoying the sunshine he once hated, a rosary caress his chest close to his heart. He is active in movement, running in place, stretching, doing push ups, praising the lord. Angel in contrast is still. He cries, paralyzed by his pain, he hides from the sun and essentially from contact with the exterior world. He condemns himself for what many can see as a just act and in his prison cell his soul is caged. Through these characters we see two sides of religion; one that liberates and one that cages. Lucius is set free, at least reaching psychology moments of tranquility when he believes in god’s redemption for his past and believes in the will of the lord. His name can be taken to symbolize two different things, Lucius for Lucifer, or perhaps resembling Lucas for a disciple. This possibility of association and interpretation of his name in these two different ways is perhaps an attempt of the writer to reveal both the good and bad side of this man. In the present, Lucius appears a good man displaying an admirable optimistic attitude and practicing disciplined piety. However, in the free world he was a serial murder, a cocaine addict and a recluse introvert. In prison, he becomes a preacher, a man who finds purpose and meaning in faith. Religion gives Lucius strength, guidance and a path to redemption. His piety is admirable inspiring others like the ex-prison guard to change his life and later Angel to reconsider the existence of God and the unfavorable circumstance he finds himself in. All the characters in the play are constructed to be complicated and to both contradict and contrast with themselves as well as with the other characters. The themes touched on by Guirgis explore a social criticism of religion, good vs. bad, the prison system, the institution of the law and power. The questions are essentially left unanswered. In the end does Lucius lose his faith? Condemned to death row, Lucius dies by lethal injection “high as a kite” off drugs. Does his consumption of drugs repre...