Outline of The Man Who Turned into a Stick by Kobo Abe

The play The Man Who Turned into a Stick is written by the Japanese dramatist Kobo Abe. It is a dark, philosophical exploration set on a hot, sticky Sunday afternoon in June on a main thoroughfare near a department store. It details the aftermath of a man's transformation into an inanimate object and the administrative process conducted by agents from Hell.

The Inciting Incident and Characters

The action begins with a young man (HIPPIE BOY) and a young woman (HIPPIE GIRL) sitting on a sidewalk curb, appearing withdrawn and indifferent to their surroundings. They may be sniffing glue. Suddenly, an ordinary stick, about four feet long, falls hurtling down from the sky. It lands in the gutter near the hippies. The HIPPIE BOY picks up the stick, using it to bang a rhythm on the pavement. The hippies treat the incident with withdrawn cynicism, wondering if hitting them or missing them would have been the true "accident".

The stick is in fact THE MAN WHO TURNED INTO A STICK. The Man, through internal monologue, coordinates his movements with the stick being held by the HIPPIE BOY. He recalls that he was leaning against a railing on the roof, looking down at the crowds below, when his boy called him for a dime to look through a telescope. He transformed and fell off the roof at that second, insisting he had no intention of running away from his child.

The Arrival of the Earth Duty Squad

The two central figures driving the plot are MAN FROM HELL, a supervisor, and WOMAN FROM HELL, who is recently appointed to the Earth Duty Squad. They arrive, noting that "Today, once again, a man Has changed his shape and become a stick". They are on a mission to retrieve the stick, which they believe is "a valuable item of evidence relating to a certain person".

The agents identify the setting as Ward B, thirty-two stroke four on the grid, and note the time of the incident was precisely "twenty-two minutes and ten seconds before" the hour. They are looking for the stick to verify its certification number, decide on punishment, and register its disposition.

Conflict and Negotiation

The Hell agents demand the stick, but the hippies refuse to hand it over. The hippies are characterized by their nihilism: they state that "Aims are out-of-date" and they don't understand anything anymore, claiming "Everything is wrapped in riddles". The HIPPIE GIRL suggests the stick looks like the HIPPIE BOY.

The conflict intensifies when the WOMAN FROM HELL hurries off and confirms a complication: the man's son is coming. The boy is causing a disturbance in the department store, insisting he saw his father turn into a stick and fall. The Stick can hear the child's footsteps.

Alarmed by the child's approach, the HIPPIE BOY decides to sell the stick, setting the price at five dollars. He justifies the sale as a "contradiction of circumstances"—he is selling it because he doesn't want to. The MAN FROM HELL pays, but warns the boy, "It wasn't just a stick you sold, but yourself". The hippies quickly exit.

The Nature of the Stick and Final Disposition

After retrieving the stick, the MAN FROM HELL gingerly picks up the dirty object. The agents then discuss the nature of the transformation and the deceased:

The Man's Life: The stick is covered in scars, indicating harsh treatment, yet the MAN FROM HELL calls it "capable and faithful". He argues that a stick is the "root and source of all tools" and that its faithfulness lies in the fact that it remains a stick, "no matter how it is used".

The Rarity of Sticks: The WOMAN FROM HELL is perplexed because she cannot recall any stick specimens in the specimen room. The MAN FROM HELL clarifies that this is because sticks are so common. He reveals that during the last twenty or thirty years, the percentage of sticks has steadily increased, reaching 98.4 percent of all those who die in a given month in extreme cases.

Judgment: The MAN FROM HELL references the textbook, which says: "They who come up for judgment, but were not judged, have turned into sticks and filled the earth". He concludes that the deceased, having been a "living stick" who turned into a "dead stick," requires "No punishment" and "Registration unnecessary" (Certification number Me 621). The Man From Hell asserts that the stick was created because the person was "satisfied with himself", a claim the STICK furiously rejects.

Before departing for their next assignment, the MAN FROM HELL stands the stick up in a hole in the gutter. The WOMAN FROM HELL suggests they give the stick to the child so he might use it as a "mirror" to ensure he doesn't become a stick like his father, but the supervisor dismisses this idea.

The play ends with the MAN FROM HELL addressing the audience, stating that they are surrounded by a "whole forest of sticks," representing "All those innocent people, each one determined to turn into a stick slightly different from everybody else, but nobody once thinking of turning into anything besides a stick". The STICK remains frozen between "fury and despair", wondering what would be better to turn into than the one thing "somebody in the world is sure to pick up".