The Visit

Symbolism

  • the train

    • shows the economic state of Guellen, more train = higher economy, less train = lower economy

  • black panther

    • the black panther that Clair owned before it got loose and was ordered to be killed. Alfred Ill was called “Black Panther” by Clair as a nickname when they were young. The black panther was killed by the people, foreshadowing Alfreds fate to being killed by the people

  • money

    • the motivation of the people, Clair controlled the entire town into following her by using money. Clair states that she has bought all of the buildings in the town and that she can buy anything she wants

  • pile of shit

    • another word for Guellen

Important Terms

  • macabre

    • gruesome and horrifying; ghastly; horrible

    • of, pertaining to, dealing with, or representing death, especially its grimmer or uglier aspects

    • of or suggestive of the allegorical dance of death

  • avant-garde

    • new and unusual or experimental

Satirical

  • something that uses or contains satire, which is humour or irony that is sarcastic or ridiculing

  • an example of a satirical play is a play that uses irony or dark humour

Satire

  • a genre in literature where shortcomings and vices are held up to ridicule rather than shaming individuals, corporations, government or society into improvement

  • although meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often social criticism, using wit to draw in attention and intrigue

The Visit is viewed as a parable

  • a parable is a specific type of story. a parable is a brief story with realistic characters and events intended to convey morals and ideals

  • The Visit would be a parable of revenge, justice and karma, while displaying the moral corruption of human beings

Allegory

  • a story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one

Literary Genre

  • tragicomedy

    • contains elements of a tragedy and comedy

    • characters are exaggerated and may have a happy ending after a series of unfortunate events

    • jokes are often incorporated throughout the story to lighten the tone

Types of Irony

  • dramatic

    • audience knows something when the characters don’t

  • situational

    • the opposite of what is expected happens

  • verbal

    • disparity of what is said and meant; sarcasm

Allusion

  • a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, idea, piece of literature or history, thing, etc.

  • does not go into detail on the reference

Themes

  • greed

  • responsibility

  • forgiveness

  • can justice be bought?

  • romantic love

  • vengeance/revenge