Preview

True West, Sam Shepard

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1819 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
True West, Sam Shepard
Seven Deadly Sins of Sons Brotherly love can be such a wonderful thing. As children, two brothers can always have a playmate to play Cowboys and Indians with, or an older brother to reach the cookies on the counter. Grown up, they would have someone to help start their car engine, or guide them into and out of relationships. However, a brother can also be the resident bully. The older can make the younger eat worms, or step into embarrassing situations for personal amusement. A brother can be the best of friends and/or the worst of enemies. Either philos adelphos or fratricide could result. Brothers have been seen throughout history in love/love, love/hate, and hate/hate relationships. Fortunately, all have been left with a set of moral guidelines—the Ten Commandments, the seven deadly sins, the seven holy virtues, etc.—these guidelines shape people whether they acknowledge it or not. Sam Shepard is a famous playwright who has captured this conflict within families, which projects the overall conflicts of society, through most of his plays. Shepard’s True West captures the struggle between brothers and what could happen when apathy consumes them. Ironically, each of the seven deadly sins—lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride—and the seven holy virtues—chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility—are either lived out or ignored in True West. These sins and virtues, when juxtaposed with the two brothers in the play, reveal an idea that Shepard tries to convey—denial of one’s moral responsibility and isolation of one’s self will lead to destruction and insanity. The play is set in, and only in, a kitchen of the mother of the two brothers. Lee, the older of the two, is roughly in his early forties, and is more of a nomadic alcoholic like their father. Austin is in his early thirties, and is an ivy-league graduate who writes screenplays. Austin is more temperate in the first half of the play; Lee is a partially to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In each generation, one of the Trask brothers is moral and good while the other brother behaves…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The world is full of good and evil, with people constantly battling between the two. The essence of these two qualities are present everywhere, including within ourselves. Some people are seen to be more villainous than others because of their actions, but this is not always the truth. In the novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck, many characters are misunderstood and recognized as evil. One of these characters is Caleb Trask. Cal may be seen as a cold and wicked character, but the reader is able to notice the good within him because of his longing for affection and his strive to be kind.…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Set in the small country town of Birendulee, Michael Wilding's, The Altar of The Family is a dismal illustration that narrates the tale of an isolated and rather innocent boy's passage to manhood. Constantly falling victim to his father's belittling, David Murray, the protagonist of the narrative is coerced into sacrificing his innocence for his rite to passage into manhood, in what seems to be 'the altar' of his 'family'. Through a third person point of view limited to David's thoughts and feelings , Wilding induces the reader to understand deeper themes such as that of social conformity and pride vs individuality and the difficulties faced by those who stand out in a society.…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As we were told when we were young children, too much of a good thing is not a good thing. The same phrase can apply to aspects in lives now. Literature shows how pride can be a good thing, but too much of it is not. In fact, the opposite of pride, humility, is an extremely important value. The Bible and Edith Hamilton’s Mythology both show how a lack of the value humility will result in consequence through characterization and plot.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In both plays, a Salesman and Fences, the masculinity concept undergoes a hard rethinking. The key characters show before us the men, who are not doing well with their feelings about “provide-family-with-everything-needed” as well about their true role in the lives of the close ones. Because of changed masculinity for the wrong, the family relations appeared to be mixed from down to up.…

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The story is introduced with a meeting with Paul and his teacher’s, who have a certain contempt for his arrogant nature. It becomes evident that Paul has a similar contempt for his teacher’s and repeatedly belittles and condescends them. He wants everyone to see him as superior, he appears “suave” and is always smiling, but his tattered clothes and nervous habits tell a different story. It becomes clear that his teacher’s take a sort of pity on him, and instead of seeing him as the respectful man Paul sees himself, one teacher comments, “The boy is not strong, for one thing. I happen to know that he was born in Colorado, only a few months before his mother died out there of a long illness. There is something wrong about the fellow." The irony of Paul’s situation is further emphasized in his view of Cordelia Street, the street on which his home resides. The author comments is “perfectly respectable”, but Paul sees it as wretched. His only solace is in the velvet carpets and the “cracked orchestra” of the theatre, “It was very much as though these were a great reception and Paul was the host”. Here, he experiences the rich life he was meant to live, but there is further irony in that he is simply a…

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The past few weeks I have been reading the play Blood Brothers written by Willy Russell. It is the story of twin brothers who are separated at birth. Wealthy Mrs Lyons, who is not able to have her own children, blackmails her maid, Mrs Johnstone into giving her one of her new born twins. Mrs Lyons says all Miss Johnston’s other children well benefit, as the Johnston’s have little money. The women agree that it should be their secret and no one else will ever know the truth. The play explores many themes, some being, superstition, friendship and social class. This essay will discuss the changes in the relationship between Edward and Mickey, while also looking at the conveyed themes.…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    CHILD PERSPECTIVE

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages

    With reference to two specific instances in the novel, how does Lee use the child’s perspective to make a social point?…

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A River Runs Through It

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The story traces the relationship between two brothers growing up in an emotionally constricted household headed by a Presbyterian minister. The scholarly Norman follows in the footsteps of his stern, stoic father, going to college, marrying and settling down. His older brother Paul, daring, handsome and athletic, chooses the more glamourous career of newspaper…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    "[W]hen thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth" counsels the Bible, thus setting the precedent for all well-meaning members of western society concerning their charitable intentions (Matt. 6.3). Humanity's motivation to aid others, regardless of the outcome, is oft times spotted by the subtle struggle between selflessness and selfishness. Flannery O'Connor captures this classic conflict between good and evil in Southern Grotesque fashion through her characters, the protagonist Sheppard and his foil, Rufus Johnson, in [comment2] "The Lame Shall Enter First".[comment3] Challenging the literal paradigm of light and darkness, O'Connor weaves together well crafted characterization, cryptic dialogue, and both biblical and literary allusion in this paradoxical plot and, by way of Sheppard and the antithetical Rufus, blends the black and white of Christian dogma into an ironic grey.…

    • 1035 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Davis, Todd F. and Kenneth Womack. " 'O my brothers ': Reading the Anti-Ethics of…

    • 1883 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    By doing so, Smollett explores an unfamiliar pairing of kind actions with undesirable actions. However, ultimately, Smollett is able to convey a theme of the social propriety of family defiance through the technique of ironical repetition in dialogue. As well as, the revolving theme of respect towards older and younger ages through the strategy of narrative pace. All in all, Smollett uses these literary devices to efficiently transmit the idea of appropriate social…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    'True West' portrays the downfall of the promised American dream; Sam Shepard demonstrates the binary oppositions between the characters of Austin and Lee - the domesticated American and the feral American. 'True West' exhibits the need for something "authentic" in a world that has forgotten its true meaning. The characters yearn for a sense of meaning to their lives as they struggle to achieve their dreams.…

    • 774 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This passage from the text is a perfectly illustrated example of the mindset of the Washington family. Since the birth of their fortune, they have placed all of their faith in money. In their own pride and arrogance, the Washington family believes that they are above religion, having replaced it with their wealth and status. By depicting the ruthless lifestyle and character of the Washington family, the author also intends to reveal the effects that this false sense of identity has on one’s morals and values. The incessant immoral behavior displayed throughout the story depicts the loss of values due to their selfish nature. The only values…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In comedy we often see society’s customs exposed as foolish, and thus corrupt. An example of this is the idea of inheritance. It is made obvious that Orlando is the more deserving brother to gain his father’s inheritance, as even Oliver admits he is “full of noble devise”. However Oliver, who unintentionally reflects himself as “an envious emulator of every man’s good parts” when attempting to describe Orlando to Charles, has dangerously inherited power despite this.…

    • 1653 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays