The Iceman Cometh Defeat Quotes

The people at Harry’s are pretty fond of building themselves up and telling stories about their lives that make them seem way better off than they really are. Parritt, the newcomer, comes pretty clean on this one, though. Sure, he makes up lies about what he did to his mother and why he did it, but this actually seems like a moment of real honesty from the kid.

There’s nothing left to do, so they might as well give up, get drunk, and sleep through the rest of their day...er, lives. It’s simple, classic defeatism, and it kind of sums up the spirit of Harry Hope’s. Once again, Eugene O’Neill really knows how to cheer everybody up.

Harry reaches his lowest point when not even booze can help him escape the failure of his life. From the minute the play starts, the need for alcohol drives these people, so when they lose that crutch, things just totally collapse for them.