The themes of power and the search for justice are two other themes that connect Walker’s work. In Escape From Happiness, Elizabeth is on a crusade of sorts against police brutality and the abuse of power by the police. Wrestling her in this mini-war is another woman; Dian the female cop. The entire story around Junior’s having drugs in the basement and having his mother-in-law put in jail was all a result of Dian. She had the drugs planted in the basement so that she could strike a deal with Elizabeth so that she would not reveal to the public that police brutality was taking places more than ever in their town. There is an overwhelming theme of power here that is overcome through Elizabeth’s justice. Tom and Junior are searching for their own justice. Their neighborhood is crime ridden and their plan is to pose as criminals in scheme to turn gangs ans mobsters against themselves in a game of mistaken identity. They had been successful until the Dian stepped in, causing problems for everyone.
In The Art of War, power is also a predominate theme. Hackman has an unnecessary amount of power which he uses for his illegal acts such as murder. He used to be the Minister of Defense, but was suspected of arms dealing and so to remove these allegations from the spotlight along with himself, he was moved to the Minister of Culture. He now gets away with just as much but is not so much in the public eye. His abuse of power agitates Tyrone Power, the journalist, who intends to bring him down by hunting him down. When he’s finally in a good position to stop Hackman, it’s as though he freezes and his character is unable to continue; as though the war must continue, so let him go and start all over again. Power would like to think of himself as a sort of private detective to bring evil down from the inside. Here in lies his personal pursuit of justice.
HEATHER- We should have called the police.
POWER- Nah. They’d ruin everything. Besides, vengeance is mine saith the Lord and since the Lord isn’t here tonight I’m standing in. Vengeance, therefor, is mine. (Page 882, Modern Canadian Drama)
In Zastrozzi, there is not so much the theme of power than justice. For three years Zastrozzi has been pursuing Verezzi, an Italian who once killed Zastrozzi’s mother in what we must assume was a blind rage for him killing her sister. The truth is he didn’t actually kill Verezzi’s sister, but his student Bernardo did.
Zastrozzi- …Only two things should matter to you. That Verezzi killed my mother in a horrible manner. And that I, her son, have a legitimate claim to vengeance.
Victor- But he has no memory of the crime. He never has had. He must have blocked it out almost immediately.
Zastrozzi- I don’t care. I seek revenge. Revenge is a simple matter. … (Page 40, Zastrozzi)
Verezzi is a “lunatic” who doesn’t believe that Zastrozzi is hunting him, telling his tutor Victor that Zastrozzi is merely a figment of Victor’s imagination. Victor has kept Verezzi out of danger for three years, but Zastrozzi has caught up and they confront one another after both sides confront one another in a series of fights. They kill one another off leaving just Zastrozzi and Verezzi, but Zastrozzi lets him go so he can find him again.
Zastrozzi- You have to hide. I am giving you day and I am coming after you. And do you know why I am coming after you?
Verezzi- No.
Zastrozzi- Because it will keep me preoccupied. Now leave. And hide well. I wish to be preoccupied for a long time. (Page 69, Zastrozzi)
Again we get the sense of a perpetual game of cat and mouse. Zastrozzi, like Power, will never actually provide justice or take revenge because they’re both stuck in hunting mode and they’re unable to exact they’re justice. While Escape From Happiness there seems to be a completed justice cycle, it will never be so for Zastrozzi or Tyrone Power.
Walker has managed to pin down the average or less than average people in our society and has given them unbelievable circumstance to thrive in. His characters speak without subtext, but rather say what they mean and mean what they say. Every speech and emotion is immediate, there’s no room to think everything through or to analyze things to death. Just an immediate stream. They speak with this kind of truth and honesty, which we are not capable of ourselves. The characters in his plays always experience some sort of unbalance in luck. The good guys’ are always at the end of bad luck while the enemy seems to get away with everything. It is this that calls for justice, which is always sought but not always exacted as planned.