The family reunionT.S. Elliott's "The Family Reunion" is a play about returning home and looking back at the ghosts of the past. The show begins with Harry returning to his childhood home for his mother's birthday. The plot centers on Harry's return, the mystery surrounding his wife's death, and his family's desire for Harry to take on the role of breadwinner. It's an early return, the one everyone has been waiting for. There are simultaneous plots that intertwine in the play, such as the mystery involving his father's death and disappearance, Harry's schizophrenia, and Mary's return to the family, as well as her inability to leave. In Scene II of "The Family Reunion", Mary and Harry meet in the drawing room, waiting for the family dinner (reunion) to begin. Mary and Harry are second cousins, both raised in Wishwood. Harry has returned after an eight-year absence and the mysterious death of his wife at sea. There's a recurring thread of "waiting" that runs through the show: waiting for Harry to return, waiting for dinner to start, waiting for Harry's brothers to appear, waiting for the other guests. While awaiting Harry's return to Wishwood, everything in the house has been kept as it was when he left. "I had just noticed that this room has remained almost unchanged: the same curtains... the same paintings... even the table, the chairs, the sofa... all in the same positions. I was looking to see if there was something, it was changed, but if so, I can't find it." The unchanged room symbolizes the Harry of his youth and the person Harry hopes to find when he returns. It also symbolizes his family's inability to accept the fact that Harry has moved on. Their desire to keep life the same. In this scene Mary and Agatha were waiting for Harry to arrive for dinner. Agatha leaves and Mary alone says, "Waiting, waiting, always waiting, I think this house means to make us wait." Harry, returning from Wishwood after eight years, talks about his desire to return to his childhood home. (This semester's theme of home.) Her return to Wishwood is actually her need to make peace with her past, the loss of her father, and the confines of her childhood. By returning to Wishwood, he is also trying to escape his recent past and his inability to live in the present.