Doomsday

America is a nation of immigrants. People from all over the world come here for a myriad of reason, but they all have one thing in common: travel. Immigrants have to make a journey to get here. (Unless you are Native American, in which case this essay would not apply.)

Once upon a time, the journey to America was a life-changing event. Irish immigrants during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, mostly poor laborers, considered such a move to be almost an exile, and rightly so. The voyages onboard ships were too expensive for casual visits, and for a long time, crossing the Atlantic was a dangerous endeavor, for a variety of reasons. One would most likely never see their kinsmen again, if they left for America, unless the rest of the clan moved as well.

This great move was what came to mind as I read the Act I, Scene One of Tony Kushner’s “Millennium Approaches.”  During the funeral of Sarah Ironson, Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz said, “such Great Voyages in this world does not exist anymore.” (16) He was referring to Ironson’s journey from Russia, and for a while, I agreed. The physical hardships of being on a boat full to capacity with people, combined with possible malnutrition and less than sanitary conditions—these are things that one rarely sees today.

Yet, as the play unfolds, the modern hardships of life appear, like lesions on previously unmarked skin. The stress of trying to be ethical while making a living is no less severe than crossing the Atlantic in the steerage. Today’s diseases, like AIDS, will weaken your immune system just as much, if not more than a lifetime of malnutrition. Valium, among other drugs, will destroy one’s will to face reality. Everyone’s life is difficult, but in different ways.

In essence, we are all making a Great Voyage. But where does that voyage lead?