Water by the Spoonful

One scene in which realities intersect is Scene Eight, in which Elliot and Yazmin communicate with Orangutan on Odessa’s website. In this scene, Elliot logs into Haikumom’s account and antagonizes Orangutan after impersonating Odessa. Orangutan then reveals Elliot’s addiction to pain medication, which shocks Yaz. This interaction ends when Elliot abruptly unplugs the computer. Not only does this scene feature intersecting story lines but intersecting realities as well. Here we see Elliot and Yazmin, previously in the realm of physical reality, insert themselves into the addicts' cyber reality.

This scene operates in terms of the central motif of dissonance in several ways. First, this scene is the first time that Hudes explicitly discusses Elliot’s addiction, introducing discord into his relationship with Yaz. In addition, this incident further disturbs Elliot’s peace, evident in his rough handling of the computer. After Elliot ends the conversation on the website, Hudes states in the stage directions on page 59, “He throws the keyboard on the ground. He starts unplugging cables violently.” Elliot’s actions indicate the dissonance that will follow.

Dissonance is also evident in the consequences of this moment. After Elliot unplugs the computer, he directly refers to the Ghost on page 59 when he says, “That’s when he came, and some days I swear he ain’t never gonna leave.” As a result of his interaction with the cyber reality, he acknowledges an element of his spiritual or psychological reality. Almost immediately, the Ghost appears and blocks Elliot’s exit, further invading his physical world. The collision of worlds (and Elliot’s open acknowledgement of this phenomenon) is a sort of dissonance in itself. In other words, Elliot’s interaction with the cyber reality prompts more collisions between worlds, physical and psychological.