SCENE VIII
MERCY AND JUSTICE ELUDE OUR MINDS AND ACTIONS
MERRICK in bath. TREVES, GOMM.
MERRICK: How long is as long as I like?
TREVES: You may stay for life. The funds exist.
MERRICK: Been reading this. About homes for the blind. Wouldnât mind going to one when I have to move.
TREVES: But you do not have to move; and youâre not blind.
MERRICK: I would prefer it where no one stared at me.
GOMM: No one will bother you here.
TREVES: Certainly not. Iâve given instructions.
PORTER and SNORK peek in.
PORTER: Whatâd I tell you?
SNORK: Gawd almighty. Oh. Mr. Treves. Mr. Gomm.
TREVES: You were told not to do this. I donât understand. You must not lurk about. Surely you have work.
PORTER: Yes, sir.
TREVES: Well, it is infuriating. When you are told a thing, you must listen. I wonât have you gaping in on my patients. Kindly remember that.
PORTER: Isnât a patient, sir, is he?
TREVES: Do not let me find you here again.
PORTER: Didnât know you were here, sir. Weâll be off now.
GOMM: No, no, Will. Mr. Treves was precisely saying no one would intrude when you intruded.
TREVES: He is warned now. Merrick does not like it.
GOMM: He was warned before. On what penalty, Will?
PORTER: That youâd sack me, sir.
GOMM: You are sacked, Will. You, his friend, you work here?
SNORK: Just started last week, sir.
GOMM: Well, I hope the point is taken now.
PORTER: Mr. GommâI ainât truly sacked, am I?
GOMM: Will, yes. Truly sacked. You will never be more truly sacked.
PORTER: Itâs not me. My wife ainât well. My sister has got to take care of our kids, and of her. Well.
GOMM: Think of them first next time.
PORTER: It ainât as if I interfered with his medicine.
GOMM: That is exactly what it is. You may go.
PORTER: Just keeping him to look at in private. Thatâs all. Isnât it?
SNORK and PORTER exit.
GOMM: There are priorities, Frederick. The first is discipline. Smooth is the passage to the tight shipâs master. Merrick, you are safe from prying now.
TREVES: Have we nothing to say, John?
MERRICK: If all thatâd stared at meâd been sackedâthereâd be whole towns out of work.
TREVES: I meant, âThank you, sir.â
MERRICK: âThank you sir.â
TREVES: We always do say please and thank you, donât we?
MERRICK: Yes, sir. Thank you.
TREVES: If we want to properly be like others.
MERRICK: Yes, sir, I want to.
TREVES: Then it is for our own good, is it not?
MERRICK: Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Gomm.
GOMM: Sir, you are welcome. (Exits.)
TREVES: You are happy here, are you not, John?
MERRICK: Yes.
TREVES: The baths have rid you of the odor, have they not?
MERRICK: First chance I had to bathe regular. Ly.
TREVES: And three meals a day delivered to your room?
MERRICK: Yes, sir.
TREVES: This is your Promised Land, is it not? A roof. Food. Protection. Care. Is it not?
MERRICK: Right, Mr. Treves.
TREVES: I will bet you donât know what to call this.
MERRICK: No, sir, I donât know.
TREVES: You call it, Home.
MERRICK: Never had a home before.
TREVES: You have one now. Say it, John: Home.
MERRICK: Home.
TREVES: No, no, really say it. I have a home. This is my. Go on.
MERRICK: I have a home. This is my home. This is my home. I have a home. As long as I like?
TREVES: That is what home is.
MERRICK: That is what is home.
TREVES: If I abide by the rules, I will be happy.
MERRICK: Yes, sir.
TREVES: Donât be shy.
MERRICK: If I abide by the rules I will be happy.
TREVES: Very good. Why?
MERRICK: Why what?
TREVES: Will you be happy?
MERRICK: Because it is my home?
TREVES: No, no. Why do rules make you happy?
MERRICK: I donât know.
TREVES: Of course you do.
MERRICK: No, I really donât.
TREVES: Why does anything make you happy?
MERRICK: Like what? Like what?
TREVES: Donât be upset. Rules make us happy because they are for our own good.
MERRICK: Okay.
TREVES: Donât be shy, John. You can say it.
MERRICK: This is my home?
TREVES: No. About rules making us happy.
MERRICK: They make us happy because they are for our own good.
TREVES: Excellent. Now: I am submitting a follow-up paper on you to the London Pathological Society. It would help if you told me what you recall about your first years, John. To fill in gaps.
MERRICK: To fill in gaps. The workhouse where they put me. They beat you there like a drum. Boom boom: scrape the floor white. Shine the pan, boom boom. It never ends. The floor is always dirty. The pan is always tarnished. There is nothing you can do about it. You are always attacked anyway. Boom boom. Boom boom. Boom boom. Will the children go to the workhouse?
TREVES: What children?
MERRICK: The children. The man he sacked.
TREVES: Of necessity Will will find other employment. You donât want crowds staring at you, do you?
MERRICK: No.
TREVES: In your own home you do not have to have crowds staring at you. Or any...