Themes in A Number

The themes that are presented in A Number revolve around the morality of genetic engineering and “designer babies”. I believe Caryl Churchill had a clear vision of how she wanted A Number to impact audiences, as the fast paced dialogue between Salter and each of his sons and the dramatic differences in personality from son to son prevents the audience from becoming immersed in the action and the characters. This leads to them jumping from scene to scene picking up only on key plot points: predominantly what Salter agreed to and how this has impacted the lived of B1 and B2 in particular. this brings up the question of Salter's ethical integrity and whether or not he was right to do what he did. Churchill, however, does not allow this question to be answered as she first leads the audience to sympathise with Salter's decision by portraying him as desperate to recreate his son that he claimed had dies; but then steering their sympathies to B2 as he was in fact cloned in order for Salter to "try again", as he was very neglectful towards B1 and their relationship appears irreparable.

A Number Mrs Griffifths Theory