Institutional Repository | Satya Wacana Christian University: Penelope Longstreet’s Thoughtful Behavior Through Plot in Yasmina Reza’s Film Script Carnage: Freudian Psychoanalysis

APPENDIX
SYNOPSIS OF FILM SCRIPT CARNAGE

In Brooklyn Bridge Park, eleven year old Zachary Cowan strikes his eleven
year old classmate Ethan Longstreet across the face with a stick after an argument.
Among the more serious of Ethan's injuries is a permanently missing tooth and the
possibility of a second tooth also being lost. Their respective parents learn of the
altercation through Ethan's parents questioning him about his injuries. The
Longstreet parents invite the Cowan parents to their Brooklyn apartment to deal
with the incident in a civilized manner. They are: Penelope Longstreet, whose
idea it was to invite the Cowans, she whose priorities in life include human rights
and justice; Michael Longstreet, who tries to be as accommodating as possible to
retain civility in any situation; Nancy Cowan, a nervous and emotionally stressed
woman; and Alan Cowan, who is married more to his work as evidenced by the
attachment he has to his cell phone and taking work calls at the most inopportune
times. Although the meeting starts off civilized enough, it quickly degenerates
after an unfortunate incident by Nancy. The degeneration of their meeting not
only has to do with their boys' fight, but also the other couple's fitness as parents,
the state of their respective marriages and their place in a crazy world.