4,000... Whaddayacallit

A motif I noticed in the play 4000 Miles by Amy Herzog was the use of the word "whaddayacallit". Vera used this word in almost every other line when she was trying to remember something. This phrase showed Vera's old age but to me it also tied together the whole story. In the beginning she and Leo are almost like strangers. They haven't seen in each other in a long time when he stops at her place. Leo, in the first couple of scenes, is keen on leaving and not staying there to long. As you move from scene to scene, he is still there and hasn't left yet. The word "whaddayacallit" also never left. She used it when they had their first encounter and she used it in the last scene with Leo before going to her neighbor's funeral. I almost want to say I feel that the use of the word whaddayacallit so many times was to take a pause and create a pause in Leo's life. I can't explain it but it is just my feeling. 

- I