The Homecoming

Key to understanding The Homecoming is remembering how long a shadow World War II cast over Britain even after its conclusion. The conflict has left its scars on all the play’s characters and the world they inhabit; they often refer back to it as a formative event and to service during the war as a measure of how they see themselves. In Act I, Scene 1, Lenny and Sam speculate that Sam’s big shot passenger, for example, must have been “…a navigator, or something like that, in a Flying Fortress. Now he’s most likely a high executive in a worldwide group of aeronautical engineers” (14). There is an idea here of military service conferring rank beyond the war, playing into notions of class. Max confirms this with his questioning of Sam’s military record, suggesting that Sam’s lack of wartime distinction is a blot on his character and undercuts what Max sees at Sam’s attempts at socioeconomic climbing. Lenny too fantasizes about the war, imagining he might have been stationed in Venice, as if having done so would make him more desirable to Ruth.

These numerous references paint the war as a time of welcome certainty despite its hardships.