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Journal Article
Risa Thomas
2020
Overview
In Two Trains Running (1992), August Wilson uses three interlocutors to feed the spirit of the community with the moral-ethical imperatives of the past. Joining Aunt Ester and the diner’s jukebox, Wilson’s most striking device of ancestral wisdom is Risa Thomas, the enigmatic character with the scarred legs. On the corporeal level, her scarification is the means through which she redresses sexual objectification and defines the self—just as Wilson intends. However, on the spiritual level, her leg inscriptions are an atavistic gesture that alludes to Yorùbá orature, the Odù Ifá (Odù), and speaks to the prevailing cosmic forces that challenge the community and offers curative remedies to solve its moral dilemmas. In the context of the Odù suggested through her scarification, Risa is more voiced than the text demonstrates. She carries stories of the entire community, and thus, is representative of the dramatic journey of the play.
Publisher
Association for the Study of African American Life and History
Subject
