Waiting for Lefty Lesson Plan

Depression-era literature often portrays big business as mysteriously, virtually anonymous figures. Why do you think this is the case?

Although we've encountered this trope a couple of times - notably in the mysterious gunman in the opening scene - Fayette is the first "villain" that we spend any meaningful amount of time with. Ask students first to talk about what we learn about Miller from this scene: he is a sentimental man, he's unwilling to betray his countrymen for a dollar, and he has lost a brother in the war. In this brief scene, we see Miller as a scrupulous man.

On the other hand, we learn almost nothing about Fayette. It is clear that he occupies some...