One of the most important themes in O’ neill’s play Long Day’s Journey Into Night would be conflict as a whole. During the course of the play conflict takes place between many key characters but most importantly, characters experience conflicts against themselves. The Tyrone family is full of characters that are insecure about themselves and are always having internal conflicts that affect not only their moods but also their relationship with other characters. These conflicts prove that these characters are unable to let go of the past and move on. O’ neill shows that one’s past can control one’s present. This is especially true when applied to Mary and other characters within the book. None of the characters are willing to move on and embrace the future and that is why they will remain in a state of conflict until they can move on.
Edmund has the second largest internal conflict in the play, only second to Mary’s. Edmund’s conflict is not so much about the past but wishing that there was no past. Edmund is very sick and does not really care too much for his current situation in life. One could describe his situation as almost miserable. Edmund’s conflict is about escaping the present or dreaming about what he could have been. Edmund states directly that he would have enjoyed being a seagull much more than being a human being. He has a hard time accepting reality and what is happening to him. This is why he enjoys taking walks through the fog even though he knows that it might intensify his illness. He enjoys being in the fog because it makes him feel like nothing matters and no one in the world, or the world itself, can touch him. Edmund’s conflict is about whether he wants to exist or not whether it be an animal or a human. Edmund is also unhappy because it seems that he has no real potential and he will never do anything with his life. This feeling is certainly not helped by the semi-neglect he receives from his parents. Edmund struggles to find purpose for his life as a whole.
Mary by far has the largest internal conflict out of any other character in the work. The quote that one character’s past can control the present especially applies to her. Time after time Mary refuses to embrace the present; instead she desperately tries to relive the past by using morphine. Mary has almost completely given up on the current situation. Instead of trying to leave morphine behind or work through her current difficulties she gives up hope. Mary wishes to relive the past before she married James, when she still had opportunity and potential. She believes that she can do this with morphine but in reality every time she uses it she just looses touch with reality more and more. Ultimately Mary lets morphine control her life and her internal conflict affects the rest of the family as a whole. When the Tyrones realize that Mary is more dependent on the drug than ever they begin to loose what little hope they had before.
Unless the Tyrones are unable to overcome their longing for the past they will loose all hope and become helpless. They still have time to turn their lives around but the more they stay in this almost constant state of conflict, the harder it becomes. People have to learn to move on because the past is the past. It is all right to reflect on the past once in a while but you have to move forward or else you will get nowhere in life. The Tyrones have yet to realize this and it has already had detrimental effects on their lives. Perhaps they will figure this out and move on but if they continue on their current path they will become a lost cause. This is why this play should be an important lesson to all who read it.
