Sam Shepards American Siblings
True West is an intense dramatization of the relationship between two brothers: Lee and Austin. As each scene progresses, the brothers’ rivalry and animosity towards each other become more and more apparent, building towards a single emotionally involving climax. Throughout the play, the characters undergo subtle changes as each brother subconsciously attempts to absorb the part of the other brother’s life which he feels might complete him. This role reversal is the pivotal instrument in which Sam Sheppard shows the intensity of sibling rivalry.The play starts en medea res. Lee and Austin have not talked to each other in some time, and Lee obviously resents Austin. In the conversation Lee almost has something to prove to Austin. A few sentences into the conversation, Austin’s estimation of Lee and Lee’s hostile resentment of this view become apparent: AUSTIN: I’ve got too much to deal with here to be worrying about— LEE: Yer not gonna’ have to worry about me! I’ve been doin’ all right without you. I haven’t been anywhere near you for five years! Now isn’t that true? (P. 8) Austin clearly thinks of his brother as a responsibility, and does not think of him as an equal, much less as someone who can take care of . . .
Well, you’ll all wind up on the same desert sooner or later. After Austin’s agent offers Lee a deal which Austin was hoping to get, Austin almost refuses to believe it. For Lee on the other hand, being looked down upon by his younger brother is insulting. LEE: Saul’s gonna’ be my agent. 49) The first major change in one of the brothers is in Austin. In a reversal of the play’s opening scene, Lee is trying to write the draft of his story, and Austin is the constant disruption: LEE: (slams fist on table) Hey! Knock it off will ya’! I’m tryin’ to concentrate here. He does not feel that he is socially fit to live in a social community, as he says: LEE: This is the last time I try to live with people! (P. Austin, however, has very little to be jealous of in Lee. Both brothers realize that they each come from two different walks of life, but it is Austin who chooses to believe that his way of life is superior. Austin’s reaction to his brother is not the timid, patient person who we met in the first scene. 34) While these behavioral changes don’t necessarily mean that the brothers’ roles have switched, in scene seven, role changing is blatantly obvious. While Austin has, as Lee puts it, “…the wife and kiddies…the house, the car, the whole slam…(p. 38) And later, AUSTIN: I can take care a’ myself.
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