Part 2: Act 5, Scene 6 Summary

On the way out of the council, Prior meets Sarah Ironson and Rabbi Chemelwitz in Heaven, playing cards. He recognizes her, and asks her if she knew her grandson was gay. She explains that they play cards in Heaven to offset the idea that everything is already decided. The Rabbi helps Prior find the ladder to go back to Earth. He leaves with a message from Sarah to Louis: Louis should struggle with God, because it is the Jewish way.

Part 2: Act 5, Scene 6 Analysis

Louis had said before that the Jewish faith did not have an afterlife. What Sarah tells Prior effectively releases her grandson from his ideological and religious crisis. She gives him a symbolic blessing. To Prior, she gives the message that humans are yet capable of influencing events in their own way, even if their destiny...