Long Days Journey Into Night: Forgiveness

Long Day’s Journey Into Night: Forgiveness Old pains cannot be forgotten. In order to forget, one must first forgive and for the Tyrone’s, this is a very difficult thing to do. Forgiveness is one of, if not the most important theme in Long Day’s Journey into Night. This is very apparent in Edmund and Jamie’s relationship. Although it is not Edmunds fault his mother got addicted to morphine during his birth, Jamie still blames him for the corruption of their mother Mary. On the other side, Mary blames Tyrone for the death of their second son Eugene. Tyrone’s need for attention forced Mary to leave and tend to his needs while Jamie and their newborn son Eugene were left in the hands of a caregiver back in Keneticut. Although the Tyrone’s remain a family, their relentless jalousies and hatreds constantly open up old wounds. The Tyrone’s past is much like a scar that never healed properly and continuously causes tension between them. Mary’s addiction to morphine is a constant struggle for the Tyrone men. The fear of leaving her alone causes bickering and fighting amongst them. Their heavy drinking just adds more insult to injury. Jamie secretly blames his brother Edmund for his mother’s shortcomings. Edmund feels the pressure from Jamie and even he too starts to believe that his birth is the reason his family is so torn. This attitude in Edmund is what sparked one of the most famous Long Day’s Journey into Night quotes revealing Edmunds true emotions. “It was a great mistake, my being born a man, I would have been much more successful as a seagull or a fish. As it is, I will always be a stranger who never feels at home, who does not really want and is not really wanted, who can never belong, who must be a little in love with death!”
What is also interesting is that both boys blame their father too. They accuse him of contracting a cheap doctor with little expertise just to save a couple of bucks, knowing very well that their father was