The yellow jacket 7th post for Idiot Savant

Throughout this play I had to think deeply about almost everything and not just take it for what it appeared to be on stage, but out of all of the actions and language used in this performance there was on object which stood out the most to me. This object was the yellow jacket worn by Wilem Defoe's character for only a short scene. This jacket stood out to me because it was random, just as the little boats that were driven on stage which will be in my next post. This jacket represented more than what it obviously was, it represented Wilem Defoe's quest for composure. He was running around the stage for the entire play never with a moment to just be calm. Just as an autistic child or any young child for that matter has a certain object which they tend to cling to which they find to be comforting, the Idiot Savant has his yellow jacket. As I recall it was only put on after he began to yell at his own thought, "the voice". Once he began to scream one of those men with the funny hats brought a yellow jacket out onto stage. For a moment he began to keep calm when it was on, but after a while he became uncomfortable. Once he became uncomfortable he took it off in a frantic way and moved onto the next piece of the performance. He did this just as an autistic child can often not keep their focus and move on from one subject to another. It is hard for them to sit still and they begin to throw tantrums when they do not get their way. These were all the actions of Wilem Defoe's character while in possession of the jacket. He merely had it on for a short amount of time and then moved on to another subject because he has trouble focusing. At first the jacket was comforting to him and then it became more of a bother to him then anything else.

Along with the representation of his lack of ability to focus, this jacket also had one more meaning behind it. Going with the idea that he did not have jacket on for long brought me to think of how he could not be bounded. He was unable to sit still and to collect his thoughts and he barely gave himself time to focus on what was going on. All of this showing to us how he could not be tamed merely by giving him an object to find comfort in.

P.S. If this helps at all, think of Linus from Charlie Brown and his security blank. He always used it when he got nervous or uncomfortable. The Idiot Savant here uses his jacket when he is angry but since he is autistic he loses his focus so easily and moves on from it. The concepts of a security object are the same here though.