Plot Synopsis
The play begins with a father, Salter, and his son Bernard (B2) discussing the fact that the son has found out that he has been cloned. The father claims not to have known this and claims that a hospital must have stolen his cells at some point and made illegal copies of him. He talks about suing the hospital for money. The son then mentions that there were others and the father admits that the son is a clone. He says that the original son and his mother died in a car crash and that he wanted his son back so he had him cloned. Then the original son confronts Salter and has a discussion about the clones, Salter again denies knowledge about the others. It turns out Salter lied about the mother dying in a car crash; she killed herself by throwing herself under a train; and that the original son did not die, but was instead 'sent away' by Salter, unable or unwilling to care for him due to his grief. The first clone then finds out the original is still alive. Bernard (B1) meets with Bernard (B2) and murders him, and then proceeds to commit suicide. Salter then meets with Michael Black, another clone. Michael Black lives a very normal life, has a wife and three children, and is happy. Salter ends up miserable and seemingly alone even though he knows that there are 19 more clones.
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Famous quotes containing the word plot:
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)