Analysis Of Two Brothers By Hannie Rayon

Hannie Rayon’s play, Two Brothers, utilises the experiences of many of it characters to endorse the beliefs of Martin Luther King regarding the importance of speaking up about important issues. Written as a response to the political and social turmoil regarding the sinking of the Siev X, Two Brothers offers a commentary on the way in which politicians and the Australian media can spin and omit important issues to best serve themselves, rather than a greater good. During the play, Eggs Benedict crafts an elaborate omission of the truth regarding the sinking of the Kelepasan in order to preserve his position as a prolific politician. The destruction of his relationships with his wife and brother as a consequence of his silence represents King’s

belief in the importance of integrity to preserve ones life. Furthermore, Fi Benedict remains unable to challenge her husband for his morally corrupt actions and as such, resigns herself to a life of unhappiness.

Through their behaviours, many characters embody Martin Luther King’s belief that speaking out about the things that matter is integral to living a fulfilled life.

Due to purposely omitting the details of the sinking of the Kelepasan, Eggs Benedict remains silent about the tragic aspects of the refugee experience in order to further his own selfish agenda. His calculated silence contradicts Martin Luther King’s belief regarding the importance of speaking up about issues in order to serve a cause greater than oneself. Regardless of this, through his killing of Hazem and the hundreds of others aboard the Kelepasan, and his refusal to release the information to the public, Eggs ruins the relationship he has with his wife and his brother. Despite not realising it through his ambition and desire to “run the country”, Eggs’ actions have caused him to lose important aspects of his life, which metaphorically conveys Martin Luther King’s belief that one's life, or aspects of one's life, will begin to die when a person remains silent regarding important issues. Upon first hearing of the Kelepasan sinking, Eggs immediately urges the navy captain to take “no action” so that he may remain free from the Australian public’s

scrutiny, and not jeopardise his chances of becoming Prime Minister. Additionally, his immediate consideration for how the sinking of the Kelepasan will affect his chances of being in power represents Eggs’ disregard for the important issue of asylum seekers. Moreover, the topic of asylum seekers was prevalent in the Australian news, and a large amount of the Australian public were increasingly invested in it, both in the play and out. As a consequence of his decision, this time marks the beginning of Eggs’ transformation into becoming a cunning and cruel politician, demonstrating that while he personally doesn’t epitomise King’s belief, his actions caused the death of his relationships and morals, an integral aspect of one's life. Furthermore, once the sinking of the Kelepasan becomes public, Eggs and Jamie desperately consider how they can stop the public and fellow politicians from “asking questions” that could harm Eggs’ rise to becoming Prime Minister. They decide to incriminate “the Indonesians” to ensure that the public believes the sinking had “nothing to do with” Eggs’ and his decision to abandon the boat. His cunning omission of the truth serves his ambitions and selfishness, and eventually puts him into the position of Prime Minister. Despite not embodying Martin Luther King’s belief, Eggs’ cultivated silence represent the metaphorical death of his relationship with his brother and wife and the innocence he lost through condemning the refugees upon the Kelepasan to death, and killing Hazem.

Through her continual placating silence towards her husband, Fi Benedict condemns herself to a life of unhappiness.

Despite convincing herself that she acts out of “loyalty”, Fi exemplifies Martin Luther King’s belief regarding one's life “begin[ing] to end” when they remain silent about important issues. When Eggs’ murder of Hazem becomes common knowledge within the family, Fiona remains passive and doesn’t confront him regarding the attack and still doesn’t “challenge” him and his actions. As a consequence of her inability to confront the situation, he has seemingly received no obvious punishment for Hazem’s murder, and Fi must resign herself to live a life alongside a murderer. Fi’s misplaced “loyalty” is representative of the “ridiculous parod[y]” of herself, she feels she must demonstrate to support her husband, a parody she must now continue as a consequence of lack of confrontation towards her husband. Fi embodies the words of King as she must live an unhappy life with Eggs as a result of her silence and inability to accost her husband for his horrific actions. Furthermore, Fi’s silence has not only denied herself the opportunity to “be free” of her husband, it has potentially condemned many asylum seekers to death, as Eggs receives no chastisement or retribution for his policies and beliefs regarding seeking asylum in Australia. Moreover, Fi’s passive nature supports the idea of women having a lesser position in a family. Lachie address her difficulty with

“think[ing] for” herself and “challengin[ing]” her husband to which she replies that she only acts so because she is loyal. Similarly, when speaking with Angela, Fi resignedly calls herself “loyal to the end”, followed by a beat to accentuate her acknowledgement of the wrongness of such a statement as a justification for her continual silence towards Eggs. As can be seen, Fi’s silence is representative of King’s words as she does not outright confront Eggs regarding his murder of Hazem, which lets him escape his actions without punishment, which may lead him to believe that there will be no consequences for him if he continues to act in such a cold and “callous” manner. Additionally, Fi’s ambivalence and passiveness facilitate the belief of women having a lesser position within a marriage and that their opinions must be invalidated so that the male can remain in power.