Fog/Foghorn (17,41,82, 98-9, 130, 139)
Hair (68, 75)
Eyes (81, 170)
Appetite (14, 56)
Drinking/Inebriation (58, 141-151)
The Spare Room (38)
Glasses (cf. Act l and Act 4)
Books (11, 131-135)
The Trunk in the Attic (152)

Suspecting (15, 20)
Spying (43, 47, 65, 144)
Acting (27, 29, 54, 59, 90)
Denying (16, 55)
Traveling (83, 153)
Recollecting (48, 61, 86, 115, 138)
Escaping (46, 60, 76, 131-2)

Wealth and social standing as an ambiguous measure of "success" and membership in the community, or "family," of mankind. (23, 44, 85, 111)

Man’s paradoxical desire for both solitude and companionship. Those to whom he looks for comfort and affection are also the source of his greatest frustrations and disappointments. (49, 82, 102, cf. also, the close of each act)

Tension between the old world and the new/age versus youth (94, 132-5)

The longing of innocence for experience/experience for innocence (173)

The rural (Jeffersonian) versus the urban (modern) model of American life. (133-1,36)

The universal search for the dream substance that will ease the pain of life. (94, 104, 151, 173)

Conception of  the truth as something either to strike out against, to blame others for, or to escape. (30-32, 103, 141)

Tendency to express love of family members indirectly, by sharing with an adversary a common interest in a third party. (29, 36, 137)

Tendency to "act" for others, but to resent their acting as evidence of hypocrisy. (20, 40)

Tendency to blame others rather than accept responsibility for current conditions (33-4, 54, 45, 67, 74, 110-1, 1l6)

Inability to see deeper aspect of another person. (32, 43, 69, 86, 129)

The almost indistinguishable boundary between love and hate. (36, 166, 87, 119)

The Persistent influence of the past (39, 64, 86)

The tendency of the idealist to hold others to a standard that he himself fails to meet. (29-33, 69)

Principle of movement:

• From day to night
• From clear sky to solid fog cover
• From sobriety to inebriation
• From reality to escape

The morning is sunny and clear.
However, an atmosphere of tension and mistrust is obvious beneath the superficial air of optimism and heartiness.
  The act concludes with Mary alone

The late morning has become hazy.
There is a bottle of bourbon on the table.
Evidence suggests that Mary and her family are entering another painful cycle of degeneration.

Suspicions are confirmed.
Unpleasant truths appear: Mary is still an addict; Edmund is very sick.
The act concludes with Mary alone and clearly under the influence of narcotics as Edmund goes off to see the doctor.

The afternoon fog has arrived.
Mary is again lost to drugs.
Edmund discovers that he has consumption.
The act ends with Mary, and the entire family, now craving solitude and an escape from the pain of awareness. General surrender to alcohol, drugs and the promise of a few moments of freedom from despair

Act 4

There is a solid evening fog.
All family members are anesthetized but unable to escape.
There occurs a moment of larger understanding and reconciliation during which Tyrone and his sons acknowledge the truth about themselves and renew their love and sympathy for one another. (Reconciliation: 141-151, 166; Understanding: 153)
Although Mary is completely lost to her addiction, Tyrone, Jamie, and Edmund face the truth about themselves with courage. The moment is undermined, however, by the fact that all of them are drunk.
As Mary retreats further into the past, Edmund tries unsuccessfully to make her acknowledge the truth about his condition.