The setting of Picnic in the
Battlefield is very crucial to develop the themes that are treated in the
play.
First, the danger surrounding the family and the two
rivaling soldiers, Zepo and Zapo, makes their oblivious nature even more evident. When
Zapo's parents show up in the middle of the battlefield to celebrate a picnic with their
son, they completely ignore the horror surrounding them. This is congruent with the
theme of living in oblivion and careless of what is both obvious and dangerous. Zapo's
parents are proud of having their son fighting in the war but completely set aside the
dangers of war, their son's lack of skills, and his immature connection to
them
In the play, the battlefield is quite active: The
characters could hear bombs and shots everywhere. In fact, these noises are specifically
accentuated during the picnic scene, in order to show the magnitude of the danger that
they have just gotten into. Interestingly, Zapo's parents continue their picnic, ignore
the bombs (even when Zepo and Zapo themselves hear and try to escape from them), and
continue their nonsense conversation. This is indicative of our silliness as individuals
of giving importance to trivial things, and moving our attention from what is really
important.
Finally, the two red cross soldiers coming in
and out of the scene are morbidly seeking dead bodies to take back to their camp.
Disgusted by not seeing any the men are clearly upset. Ironically, Zapo's mom continues
with her nice and proper manners and apologizes for not being dead and sort of wishes
them luck so that they can find some corpses. These same two red cross soldiers re-enter
the scene to recover the bodies of Zepo, Zapo, and Zapo's parents. This is a clear
message showing the horror of war and, once again, emphasizes the lack of common sense
in the characters.
Therefore, the scenario of war presents
a highly contradictory and contrasting setting: Politeness and family unity persisting
absurdly under chaos.
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