An Author’s Microphone: The Voice For The Silenced (Question 3)

    Question 3: The New Yorker describes Lynn Nottage as having "built a career on making invisible people visible." How does Sweat accomplish this and do you think enabling visibility is important? Why or why not?

 

    Throughout the play, “Sweat,” Lynn Nottage highlights the struggles of the oppressed. She may not directly reference the cases of living people, but she discusses topics such as worker’s rights, or the unfortunate lack of. Her words weave narratives and her play showcases people that we may not hear of on a daily basis. Hence, in the play and the world today, people are silenced and their lives are controlled by big corporations. People are fired and replaced simply because the companies can. Brucie is a prime example of this, as he “went through hell when his plant locked him out” (Nottage 18) and had his life torn apart by “messing with that dope” (Nottage 17). After attempting to protest against the unfair working conditions, Brucie was repaid with the cost of his job. After financial strain and turning to substance abuse to try and mitigate some of that stress piling up in his life, he ruins the relationships he has with his family. Thus, fighting against the decisions of the corporation has detrimental effects, as the other characters learn later on. These companies have the ability to push around and bully their employees into resignation or expulsion. Even the employees who have worked tirelessly for years aren’t given the “decency to let us clear out with dignity” and are prevented from retrieving some of their valuables, such as Tracy, who couldn’t even “go into my locker and get my stuff”, including a photo of her late husband (Nottage 80).  Lynn Nottage, by giving a voice to these people, shines a spotlight on and encourages backlash to a fundamental issue, without any detrimental effects to the laborers. 

    Therefore, this exposure allows for visibility. In my opinion, this act of enabling visibility is crucial to the functioning of society. It limits the oppression of the people, by revealing the injustices and the cruel procedures that the poorer, lower-class people suffer from. With Lynn Nottage and other great individuals bringing attention to issues such as the vice-like grip corporations have on their workers’ lives, the backlash and controversy may have a greater impact on solving issues that should have been resolved a long time ago with the progression of technology and living standards. We’ve seen time and time again that issues only seem to resolve with public backlash and exposure. People only seem to “change” with controversy and scandal. Publicly shaming these corporations by simply sharing the narrative of the workers may be the most efficient way to solve these issues. The worker may rely on the corporation but the corporation also relies on the interest of the consumer. If that interest wanes, the profits get smaller and the corporations suffer. The relationship is almost like that of a food chain; the consumers/public, acting as the keystone species, can take control and influence change throughout multiple levels of the system or economy.