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Character Role Analysis

Seth Beckwith

It's hard to know where we'd be in Homecoming if Seth didn't have that little conversation with Lavinia about that no-good scallywag of a sailor Adam Brant. It's his remarks to his pals, in both Homecoming and The Haunted that give us important information that helps us make sense of what's going on. 

The Townsfolk

While we don't get as much face-time with them as we do with loveable old Seth, the various townsfolk and their gossiping chatter are also crucial to giving us info about what's happened between plays and about how other folks feel about the Mannons and all their drama. O'Neill himself says that the townsfolk are all just symbolic "types" and not real people, which is yet another reason why you can't think of them as full-fledged, living and breathing characters who have any real power over the action (Homecoming, Act 1). They're just there to describe the scenery to us as we go along on our journey.