Play-03: The Oyster and the Pearl by William Saroyan

Play-03: The Oyster and the Pearl by William Saroyan Exercise Question / Answers
"The Oyster and the Pearl" is a poignant and introspective one-act play by William Saroyan, a celebrated American playwright and writer. This play is a beautiful and contemplative exploration of human connection, love, and vulnerability, told through the tender and fleeting relationship of a young couple. With Saroyan's signature lyrical prose and nuanced characterizations, "The Oyster and the Pearl" is a powerful and moving portrayal of the human experience.
1	Where does the play take place?
Ans:	Harry Van Dusen is a barber. The play takes place in his shop in OK-by-the-Sea, California, Population 909.
2.	Why is Harry sitting in the barber’s chair?
Ans:	When the play begins, we see Harry sitting in the barber’s chair. He is reading a book and Clay, a boy of nine or ten years old, is cutting his hair.
3.	According to Harry, how does one bring merriment to the tired old human heart?
Ans:	He says that one can bring merriment to the tired old human heart by composing a symphony, painting a picture, writing a book or inventing a philosophy.
4.	What is Harry’s philosophy?
Ans:	Harry’s philosophy shows ‘a way to live’. It is the “Take-it-easy way”. He means to say that we should not get worried about the little things. We should live in ease and peace.
5.	How much money did Harry pay for his barber shop? How long has Harry been in O.K-by-the-Sea?
Ans:	Harry paid 75 dollars for the shop. He bought it twenty-four years ago. He had been living there in O.K-by-the-Sea since then.
6.	How many barbers are there in O.K-by-the-Sea?
Ans:	O.K-by-the-Sea is a little town near the sea. almost a thousand people live in the town. There are no barbers there except Harry.
7.	How many money does Harry charge for haircuts?
Ans:	He charges a dollar for a haircut. But as the people in the town are poor, he accepts half of a dollar or even a quarter of a dollar.
8.	Why is Clay going?
Ans:	Children in the village often go to the beach to find things washed up by the sea. Clay is going there to find some stuff.
9.	Why does Clay need money?
Ans:	Clay is a poor boy. His father has left home. He needs money to bring his father back. He also wants to buy a gift for his mother.
10.	What has happened to Clay’s father?
Ans:	Clay’s mother fights with Clay’s father for not providing his children with the basic needs. He gets irritated with this sort of life. He leaves his house and goes to Salinas to work.
11.	What does Clay want to put in the local newspaper?
Ans:	Clay’s father had left home. Clay wants to put an ad in the newspaper. In this ad, he requests his father to come back home.
12.	Who is Miss McCutcheon? How does she feel about her job?
Ans:	She is a young girl. She has come to teach the children in O.K-by-the-Sea. she feels excited about her job. At the same time, she is upset at the carelessness of the school children.
13.	What is Miss McCutcheon looking for? How does she feel about the children of the town?
Ans:	It is Saturday, the weekend. The school children have not come to school. She feels worried and is searching for them. She is annoyed with them as they are carless and unruly.
14.	What does Harry advise her to do?
Ans:	Harry advises her to go to San Francisco. He says that she needs big excitement in a big city. He also advises her to get married and produce her own children to teach.
15.	What kind of haircut does Miss McChtucheon want? OR Can Harry give a poodle haircut?
Ans:	She wants a poodle haircut. But Harry does not give her a poodle haircut. He says that he does not know how to give a poodle haircut.
16.	What does Miss McCutcheon think that a poodle haircut will do for her appearance?
Ans:	She thinks that by having a poodle haircut, she would look well, plain and simple. She thinks that such a haircut would help her adjust herself to the surroundings.
17.	Where has Clark Larrabee been? How does he get to O.K-by-the-Sea?
Ans:	He has been working in Salinas He has come to O.K-by-the-Sea by a truck. He wants to give money to his family.
18.	What does Clark give to Harry? For what purpose?
Ans:	Clark gives Harry three ten-dollar notes. He asks him to give it to Clay. He asks Harry to tell Clay to take it home to his mother.
19.	How far is to Hollywood from O.K-by-the-Sea?
Ans:	O.K-by-the-Sea is situation near a highway that goes to Hollywood. Harry says that Hollywood is about two hundred miles away from there.
20.	What work does the Man do?
Ans:	The man says that he is a writer. When Harry asks him about what he writes, he says that he writes a little bit of everything.
21.	What did Clay find near the Black Rock?
Ans:	The Black Rock was a rock standing on the beach. No one could go around to its ocean side except when the tide was low. Clay found an oyster from there.
22.	What is Clay’s belief about the oyster? What does Clay think about the worth of the oyster’s pearl?
Ans:	He believes that there is a big pearl in the oyster. He believes that the worth of the peal might be three hundred dollars.
23.	Does Miss McCutcheon believe that there is a pearl in the oyster?
Ans:	Miss McCutcheon is a straightforward girl. She says that they should accept the truth. She says that the truth is that there is no pearl in the oyster.
24.	Why does Miss McCutcheon have a chair with three legs?
Ans:	She goes to the beach. There she finds a chair with three legs. She brings it with her. However, she does not seen to do anything with it.
25.	What kind of judge is Judge Applegarth?
Ans:	He is called a judge because one he judged animals at a country fair. He judged dogs. He is not a judge at any court of law.
26.	What year is it? (The Oyster and the Pearl)
Ans:	Miss McCutcheon disapproves of Harry’s thoughts. She asks him if he lives in the Middle Age. Then Greeley says that Harry does not live in the Middle Ages, he lives in the year 1953.
27.	Who is Greeley? What does he have in a bottle?
Ans:	Greeley is a boy who brings sea water in a bottle. As pearl in the play stands for hope; the bottle of sea water stands for the details of life that have to be looked for.
28.	Who suggests that they should open the oyster?
Ans:	Miss McCutcheon disagrees to the idea that the oyster contains a pearl in. therefore, she suggests that they should open the oyster and see if it contains a pearl or not.
29.	Why do they want Wozzeck to come?
Ans:	Wozzeck is a mechanic. He repairs watches, radio etc. thus they want him to come and open the oyster with care.
30.	How does Harry describe the inhabitants of O.K-by-the-Sea?
Ans:	Harry says that they are very poor. Some people get jobs for a couple of months. Some get pensions. Every family has a garden and a few chickens. They earn a few dollars by selling vegetables and eggs.
31.	How does Miss McCutcheon view Harry’s thinking about the pearl in the oyster?
Ans:	She thinks that Harry has confused ideas. She thinks that he is playing a trick on Clay. However later, she comes to know that Harry wants to help Clay with money.
32.	Why does the Judge think that Miss McCutcheon will not last as a teacher? What kind of teacher does the Judge think is needed?
Ans:	He says that Miss McCutcheon will not a stay a month in the school as she is pretty. He says that their school needs some cruel old woman instead of a bathing beauty like her.
33.	What is Applegarth’s complaint about the sea?
Ans:	Applegarth goes to the beach to find things. As he finds no valuable thing there, he says that the quality of the stuff washed up by the sea has become poor.
34.	What kind of gadget does the writer describe?
Ans:	He tells Harry that they have invented a gadget in New York. It is like a safety razor. Anybody can give a haircut with it. Its price is 295 dollars.
35.	Who buys the oyster? How much money does he pay?
Ans:	The writer knows that there is no pearl in the oyster but even then he buys it. He pays three hundred dollars for it. In fact, he helps Clay in this way.
36.	Does the writer open the oyster? Why not?
Ans:	He does not open it as he believes that pearls do not stop growing. In face, he knows that there is no pearl in the oyster. He just helps Clay with money. Actually he buys the story which in itself is a pear.
37.	Why does Clark Larrabee return?
Ans:	Clay has put an ad in the newspaper about his father. Clark reads it. He misses his family and then returns home.
38.	What does the writer do with the oyster?
Ans:	He looks at it carefully, turning it in his fingers. He does not open it. In the end, he puts it into his pocket and goes away.
39.	Do you think that it is right to allow Clay to believe that there is a pearl in the oyster? Explain briefly.
Ans:	Clay finds an oyster. He believes that there is a pearl in it. Harry wants to help Clay. He wants to buy the oyster. Finally, a writer buys the oyster for three hundred dollars. The end of the story proves that there is no wrong to make Clay believe that there is a pearl in the oyster.
40.	In your opinion, why is the writer willing to buy the pearl? What has he received in return? What does he mean by saying: “As far as I’m concerned, the whole thing’s a pearl?”
Ans:	The whole event takes place before the writer. The event is simple but full of lofty sentiments. The writer buys the oyster. But in fact, he buys the story not the pearl. The whole event is a matchless story for him. He thinks that it is no less valuable than a pearl.
41.	What has attracted Harry and other people to O.K-by-the-Sea? Is it the kind of town that appeals to you? Do you think that it resembles an idea town? Give reasons for your answer?
Ans:	O.K-by-the-Sea is full of natural beauty and peace. It is an ideal town to live a peaceful life. This is what has fetch Harry there. But the village lacks the excitement of life. The people like Harry can live there. But the people loving thrill cannot be happy there.
42.	Harry’s philosophy is to “Take-it-easy” (Relax-and-enjoy-life) nature. How does that philosophy appeal to you? Why or why not? Do you think that this philosophy works better in small towns than in large cities? Explain.
Ans:	Harry’s philosophy of life is ‘take-it-easy way’. It looks beautiful to talk about. But in reality, man needs certain facilities to live a happy life. Life without zeal is not worth-living. Man cannot live a lazy and inactive life. Life full of zeal is the real life.
43.	In your opinion, does the play reveal the author’s views about life? If so, what is this view of life?
Ans:	Usually a playwright does not depict his own point of view in his play. It is the character of the play whose point of view the playwright conveys. Different characters show different temperaments. The dramatist cannot be identified with any of them. However, the view of life conveyed in the drama is ‘take-it-easy way’.
44.	Would you call this play one of “the action plays”? Why or why not? How would you describe the play to a friend?
Ans:	Aristotle regards the plot of the play as ‘the action’. In this sense, the play has an action. Second, action stands for the real activity of the stage. But here, a big part of the play is narrated not performed. Third, a play of action must urge the reader on action. But his play does not do so. We can tell the story of the play to a Harry like friend.
45.	Do you think that this would be a good play to produce? Why or why not?
Ans:	To produce this play would not be good for business point of view. The play teaches the lesson of laziness and idleness. This is not a good lesson to teach. We should teach our pole to work. Movement is life and stillness are death.

In The Oyster and the Pearl, William Saroyan crafts a heartwarming one-act play set in a sleepy barbershop, where a boy’s belief in a pearl-hidden oyster sparks poetic musings on dreams, loneliness, and human connection. With Saroyan’s signature charm, this 1953 gem blends humor and philosophy, celebrating everyday miracles in ordinary lives.

#WilliamSaroyan #TheOysterAndThePearl #OneActPlay #AmericanTheater #Whimsy #SmallTownLife #Hope #HumanConnection #1950sDrama #MagicalRealism #Heartwarming #BarbershopTales #Optimism #ClassicPlay #SaroyanCharm