Suish-Gradi Parks's Topdog And Underdog, By Suzan-Lori Parks

A rigged system can only survive when most of its targets are not aware that it is rigged. Suzan-Lori Parks uses her play, Topdog/Underdog, to make commentaries on the unjust racist system that oppress African Americas in America. The play revolves around two brother, Lincoln and Booth. Lincoln plays a big role because Parks uses him to represent the “Topdog” when he speaks about his experiences and feelings as a dealer of a card game. But, he also brings the story back to very real aspects of being a working class black man who tries to do honest work, this way, he represents the hardworking “Underdog.” On the other hand, Booth represents the confusion and uncertainly of Underdogs who wants to get in on the game, and the unpredictably of Underdogs …show more content…
Parks uses Lincoln, again, to explain that people should not believe everything they see because some people works with the Topdog. As Lincoln told Booth when he first started teaching him the game, “Everybody out there is part of the crowd. His crew is part of the crowd, he himself is part of the crowd” (Parks 73). The dealer, or the top-dog, has a crew. This crew spreads out and integrates themselves with regular people, and they are part of the trick. They could be random strangers, but they could also be people who the targets interact with every day. They could be a neighbor, a friend, and even a family member. It becomes hard for the targets to figure out what is real, and what it not, when they are not in on the game. The Topdog’s accomplice could convince the target that what is wrong, is right, and what is right, is wrong. And target might not even think twice about it because these individuals may not seem to be part of the game. When a person begins to question the game, an accomplice can come in and make them think that it is all in their head. They can convince the target that it is not the game, but actually themselves. Only when enough people, or the right people, start to realize the truth of the game, it becomes dangerous for the …show more content…
Lincoln runs through a mix of emotions as he talks to himself at home. He thinks about his past as a dealer, and he says, “Like something in you knew-. Like something in you knew it was time to quit. Quit while you was still ahead” (Parks 54). The work Lincoln does is not right because he harms others with his scams. Something in him tells him to stop while he is still able to prevent the potential consequences. Parks implies that the rich and powerful Topdogs know the situation, and they are aware of how dangerous it is to continue this system that oppresses an entire population of