Children of a Lesser God

Children of a Lesser God Summary | Act 1 Summary

"Children of a Lesser God" begins out of sequence, with a break-up that will happen later on in the work. Sarah Norman, the lead actress, who is deaf, is signing to James Leeds, a speech therapist. They have reached the climax of a heated argument, and she signs to him that she has nothing except for him, but that she doesn't need him, as she still has herself. She makes the sign for "Join, Unjoin," a sign that we'll learn more about later on in the play. James is obviously upset, and after she runs off the stage, he addresses the audience (with words). He asks himself whether she left of her own accord, or if he drove her away. If he did, he says with some difficulty, it was because "In the beginning there was silence and out of that silence there could come only one thing: Speech. That's right. Human speech. So, speak!"

One of James' students enters at this moment, and is trying to read a sentence. James is suddenly together and energetic, and encourages his student, a hearing-impaired youth named Orin. Orin is frustrated by his inability to make the "S" sound, but keeps trying and finally gets it right. Mr. Franklin enters towards the end of class, followed by Sarah Norman. He introduces her to James, saying that he'd like James to be her speech therapy teacher. James tries to protest, as her beauty intimidates him, but at that moment, Mr. Franklin exits, leaving them alone. James assumes she can lip read, and starts talking to her. She stares back blankly at him, but it takes him a few minutes to realize that she is not following what he's saying. He's obviously nervous, and makes some jokes, until she takes the upper hand in the situation and tells him that if he doesn't sign a little faster their session will be over before he finishes with the small talk. After a few more words, she exits.

The next scene is James talking to Sarah's mother, Mrs. Norman, at her home. This scene reveals that Sarah hasn't been home since she was 18, and that she is not close to her mother. Her mother does not know, for example, that Sarah works at the school as a maid, although she is not upset or surprised by it, and challenges James to find her an alternative. He tells Mrs. Norman that Sarah is intelligent, and that with more communication skills she could go to college and find a better job. Mrs. Norman mocks him, accusing him of trying to "force her to speak and lip read so she can pass for hearing." He counters that he is simply trying to help her to function in the world of the hearing. She responds cynically, and then escorts him to the door.

Sarah returns to the stage, and she and James begin to sign, although he finds it difficult to follow her rapid hand movements, and she doesn't understand his "hearing" sense of humor. He continues to make bad jokes, and she tells him that his timing is terrible and that his signing is boring. He mentions his visit with Sarah's mother, and she flies into a rage. He tries to calm her down, and then asks her out on a date. She is somewhat surprised, but accepts his invitation.

James finishes up his day with a session with Lydia, another one of his students. The end of the lesson overlaps with Sarah, on the other end of the stage, "at the restaurant." Lydia leaves the stage and James goes to join Sarah. It is in this scene that we are acquainted with how helpless Sarah is when she ventures out of the deaf bubble she has created for herself at the school. When she points to a desert item on the menu, James realizes that she either can't read, or has no idea what anything on the menu means. She asks him to help her, and he does.

During dinner, Sarah makes fun of the way deaf people try to speak. She mockingly does a grotesque imitation of Orin and Lydia trying to form words, and James reprimands her by asking her if she likes being a maid. She says that she does, because it allows her to be alone with her silence.

Sarah asks James to dance, saying that she can hear the vibrations of the music through her nose. Through dancing they are able to connect on a physical level, although Sarah maintains her distance by trying to sign and dance at the same time.

The next scene is James having a conversation with Orin in Orin's dorm room. He has found out about James' date with Sarah, and is upset by it. He tells James, "You don't fool us. You think learning to sign means you can communicate with us, that because you want to change us we want to be changed." He accuses speech therapists of working with deaf people simply to glorify themselves, and asks James to leave his room.

The next time Sarah and James see each other is days later. She tells him that she's been avoiding him on purpose. She says that Lydia is falling in love with James, and that he's trying to con everyone. He kisses her, and she runs away. As James tries to chase her, he runs into Mr. Franklin, who reprimands him for his romantic involvement with Sarah.

James goes to see Mrs. Norman again, and she reveals to him that Sarah used to try to talk, but because she spoke poorly, everyone thought she was mentally handicapped, so she stopped. She also hints to James that her attempts to try to get Sarah's sister's male friends to pay attention to her backfired in a tragic way.

James asks Sarah about it, and Sarah tells him that she used to have sex with boys when she was younger to prove there was something she could do better than hearing girls could. She tells him that although she's had sex with many men, no one has ever penetrated her inner silence.

Orin confronts James about his relationship with Sarah again, telling him that he needs Sarah for the deaf "cause." It is here that we learn that Orin has plans to become an activist for deaf rights. James accuses him of being in love with Sarah, but Orin denies it. Mr. Franklin also confronts James again, and tells him that Sarah had a relationship with the speech therapist that worked at the school before James.

Far from being upset, James asks Sarah to marry him and leave the school. She says that she wants to continue to go to school, but agrees that they should marry and live together so that James can continue to teach.