How I Learned To Drive Blog

In Paula Vogel's play, How I Learned To Drive, the Greek Chorus is every person except Peck and Lil' Bit. I believe that she chose this dramaturgical choice because she wanted Peck and Lil' Bit to stand out more than any other character. Obviously in Peck and Lil' Bit's lives there are going to be more than just them in the sequence. Vogel makes sure that our focus is mainly on Peck and Lil' Bit, but she also wanted to throw in some other characters, too, without as much focus. By doing this she created a Greek Chorus for every other character. I think this was incredibly smart of her! It was a bit confusing at times and I would have to keep reading who it was in parentheses, but her idea worked wonders for the play!

The next very confusing, but perfectly made choice Vogel presents to us is putting the scene where Peck actually does something to Lil' Bit when she's unwilling towards the end of the play. At first, I was very confused. Peck seems like this disturbed man the entire time, but never really forces himself on Lil' Bit. You feel sorry for the guy and then BAM! He does something horrible to Lil' Bit AND even though it was at the end of the play, it was the earliest thing that happened (if you put the dates in order). She was only eleven when he did this to her. I think Vogel made this decision because she wanted to show us that people do grow and learn from mistakes or things that happen throughout their life. The whole play, Peck keeps insisting to Lil' Bit by telling her she doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to. At the end, we realize why he always says this. He must have had a really low point in his life and did this horrible thing. He felt bad, but he liked it, which is so disturbing. Lil' Bit hated it at that time, but as she grew, she still in some ways wanted him. Vogel probably put this at the end because she wanted us to sort of feel for Peck, but then show us that truly he was a bad guy. No matter how much he has grown or changed, he was a disturbed man who did something horrid that even he can't take back by convincing Lil' Bit he's better now..