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True West Sam Shepard PAST: Austin and Lee haven't seen each other in five years. It's safe to say that even the last time they saw each other they weren't really a part of each other's lives. They have chosen very different paths and seem to have almost nothing in common. Of course, they share a past, and this past comes to dominate much of who they are. Their estranged father occupies a sizable portion of their discussion, and they deal with their mother in much the same way (neither wants to upset her, but neither really listens to her). Family bonds and that shared past have definitely shaped who they are. However, it is the past of the West that truly connects them. Lee has what Austin calls "fantasies of a long lost boyhood" (2.7.154), which take the form of Lee's romanticized view of the West. Austin does not believe that that West ever really existed, or if it did, it died long ago. But, this is Sam Shepard, and he's not just going to leave it at that, because that would just be kind of boring. Throughout the play, Lee's memory of the West (real or imagined) start to shape Austin's views of the West. Soon, he longs to discover the region's life that he himself said did not exist. Memory, even when tainted by emotion or self-delusion, is a powerful force. In the end, it shapes the future of both brothers. QUOTES: PAST/MEMORY Lee: Isn't that what they did? Candlelight burning into the night? Cabins and wilderness. (1.1.42) Lee's talking about how our forefathers must have worked. From the get go, Lee drops an image from the past that seems to be something out of a movie.

Lee: Antiques? Brought everything with her from the old place, huh. (1.2.9-10) Mom's connection to the past is not unlike Lee's. Her collection seems to tie into some romantic view she has of the past when her family was young. Lee also romanticizes the past, though his romances generally focus on the West.

Lee: Built up? Wiped out is more like it. I don't even hardly recognize it. (1.2.70) For Lee, whatever existed in the past (or whatever he pictures having existed in the past) will always be better than how things are in the present.

Saul: It has the ring of truth, Austin […]. Something about the real West. (2.6.104-107) Even Saul gets in on the romanticizing. He has no idea what the real West is or was, but he has a movie version of the past in his mind.

Austin: There's no such thing as the West anymore! (2.6.123)

Austin shoots down Saul's claim, but in that "anymore" Austin admits that he believes there was once a West like the one Lee (and even Saul) talks about.

Austin: Those are fantasies of a long lost boyhood. (2.7.154) Once again, Austin lays down some truth. With this simple line, he points out that there is no real past. With memory comes romanticizing and fantasy. Even the things Lee thinks he remembers cannot be trusted as ever having really existed.

Austin: And in one of those bars, in one of those bars up and down the highway, he left his doggie bag with his teeth laying in the Chop Suey. (2.7.236-238) Austin and Lee share a family and they share a past, but they don't share everything. By telling Lee this story, Austin extends his past to his brother. It's now something about their father that they can share in. It's also kind of a funny, horrible story, which is always good on stage. Father lost his connection to the past

QUOTES: TRANSFORMATION Lee: That's right. He's not gonna change but I will. I'll just turn myself right inside out. (1.4.206207) When we talk transformation, we're usually talking about Austin. This is an important moment for Lee, though. He's talking about really changing his life. He's also, for a rare moment, distancing himself from his father, who is the "He" in Lee's line.

Besides, I always wondered what it would be like to be you. (1.4.236-237) Each of these guys kind of just wants to be the other. This leads to a lot of the conflict between the two, but it also provides some of the only truly touching moments in the play.

Austin: He thinks we're the same person. (2.7.29) Some quotes just stand out more than others. This one keeps coming up, because it's huge. While Austin still clings to his "Austinness" at this point in the play, it's becoming clear that he has far more in common with Lee than he might lead on. This line eventually proves to be true as Austin morphs into a man just like Lee.

Lee: I'm a screenwriter now! I'm legitimate. (2.7.50) Here's another big line that keeps coming up. This is Lee's attempt at transformation, or at least an attempt to try to convince Austin and himself that he's transforming. It doesn't last all that long, so it's good to point this one out.

Austin: Yeah, well we all sound alike when we're sloshed. We just sorta' echo each other. (2.7.131-132) At this moment, Austin actually compares himself to his father. Remember, Austin has shown nothing but disdain for his father throughout the play, but now he is starting to see a connection with the old man.

Austin: I'd cash it all in in a second. That's the truth. (2.8.260) Once again, a hugely telling line. Austin lays out that he wants nothing more than to turn into a man like Lee. He'd cast off the yolk of family and job and money and all that stuff just to go hang out in the desert.

Austin: Yeah well don't tell me I can't kill him because I can. I can just twist. I can just keep twisting. (2.9.296-297) The transformation takes hold. Austin has reached a point now where he knows he can dominate Lee to the point where he can kill him. He's actually turned into a man who considers killing his brother. That's a pretty far cry from the mild-mannered writer he used to be.

ENDING We've talked about the idealized and mythologized West—the West that really only exists on movie screens and in some people's minds. This is the West that is untamed. It's a place where man can live free and get in touch with his primal nature. We've also talked about the new West; the land of suburbs and Hollywood and normal everyday life. With his final image, Shepard brings these two worlds together. The brothers, who have spent the entire time on stage within the confines of their mother's home, now "appear to be caught in a vast desert-like landscape." With this, the myth of the West has invaded the new West. The brothers are part of both of these worlds. However, with the last image, they seem to have crossed more into that untamed land than the land of gated communities and houseplants. Throughout the play, the sound of the coyotes has grown in volume, frenzy, and number. However, at the end, Shepard is clear to point out that there is only a single coyote. This is interesting, and it connects to Austin's transformation. By the end of the play, he has, for all intents and purposes, turned into Lee. Earlier, Austin says in disgust that Saul "thinks we're the same person" (2.7.28), and this last image actually proves Saul right. They are the same. They are both animals—the same animal. That is a whole lot to get from one last stage picture. However, this is no ordinary final moment. Shepard makes it clear in his production notes that he wants the design of the show to remain realistic. He states clearly, "If a stylistic concept is grafted on the set design it will only serve to confuse the evolution of the characters' situation" (Shepard, Seven Plays 3). The evolution of the characters leads to this final moment of the play, and this distinct image stands out more and has a far greater impact, because nothing like it has been seen in the rest of the play.

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What we come to realize through the brothers' views on the West—through the coyotes yapping just a little down the road from the suburbs, from Saul's notions of authenticity, and from the lives Austin and Lee have led—is that there is no true West. There is only the idealized vision of the West that has been mythologized in movies and in the minds of men who are unhappy with their lot in life. There is no true West to go to. In fact, no true West (in the way that it's portrayed) ever even existed. This theme runs throughout the play, but it affects Austin and Lee on a very personal level. Neither man is able to live in the true present. Both are caught in the illusion of world that doesn't actually exist. Even though Austin argues that the West no longer exists, it turns out that he really wants it to. He wants to escape to the desert like Lee did. Unfortunately for the brothers, this idea—this illusion of the West—simply proves that they will never be truly happy where they are. They're always looking to a fictionalized past and to a created version of the future. They can't go back to the West as they see it, because it never really existed, and they can't escape to the West as they see it now, because their version of it just isn't there. It's all a little tragic and sad for these boys, but they do manage to instill some of that Western spirit into the 'burbs. By the time they battle it out at the end, they're like two wild animals— untamed like the mythologized West itself—facing off in the kitchen of their mom's house. Of course, this type of behavior doesn't really go over well in decent society, so we're left with two men who are, in a way, caught between two worlds: the real world and their ideal world, their "true" West and the West that actually exists. SYMBOLS: THE BROTHERS Breaking down the way these two brothers approach the art of writing is the perfect way to view them as symbols of the id and ego. Austin studiously takes notes and creates outlines. He's concerned with structure and the realistic qualities of a story: Austin: It's not like real life! It's not enough like real life. Things don't happen like that. (1.4.7172) On the other side of the coin, Lee's approach to writing is to throw out ideas as they come to him. He knows the story he wants to tell, but for him it's mainly in the form of grand ideas. He struggles to engage in the actual writing process. He wants his story his way, regardless of what anyone else might think, but he needs someone else to actually get his story down on paper: LEE: You write me up this screenplay thing just like I tell ya'. I mean you can use all yer usual tricks and stuff […]. But ya' gotta write everything like I say. (2.8.276-279)

SYMBOLS: THE COYOTES The coyotes loom on the outside, like some impending message of doom. As the brothers transform and descend into chaos, the coyotes are there to show us that Austin and Lee are becoming more and more primal—more animal-like. The coyotes symbolize the animal in all of us. They are also a symbol of the West that once existed—the untamed land ruled by nature and violence. Toward the end of the play, Shepard starts to give the brothers more animal-like qualities. Lee "begins to circle AUSTIN in a slow, predatory way" (2.8.270-271). In the end, as the brothers stare each other down, waiting to see what happens next, "a single coyote" can be heard in the

distance. The Old West has invaded the New West. The brothers are truly animals now, and perhaps even more important, they are the same, single animal.

SYMBOLS: THE HOUSEPLANTS If the coyotes symbolize the raw, animal mayhem that takes over the play, the houseplants symbolize the normalcy that is destroyed. While at his mom's house to write, Austin is supposed to water the plants. There are quite a few plants, but it's not like this is a difficult task or anything. Of course, considering what they symbolize, we're sure it's no surprise that things are not going to end well for the houseplants. These plants, along with Mom's knickknacks and even the neighborhood she lives in, symbolize the normalcy of everyday suburban life. Sure there are still some coyotes out West, but they're not the norm in this new land. The West is just like any other place, filled with nice little houses and nice little houseplants. By the end of the play, this suburban image is shattered by Austin and Lee.

FAMILY DRAMA Austin and Lee spend a lot of their time talking about their father. We gather that he left them in the past, and that both have tried, in their way, to help him. However, we also see that while Lee wants the "old man" to be a part of the family, Austin has given up on that idea entirely: AUSTIN: He's not gonna' change. Let's leave the old man out of it. (1.4.204) We have the two brothers and at least a sense of who their father is. Then, at the very end, their mother shows up, and the family drama is complete. The nicely kept suburban house has led us to believe that their mother is just a regular suburban lady. This is another way in which Shepard completely subverts the family drama tradition. When Mom (she is only called "Mom" in the play) comes home, she should be the one to restore order. Instead, she babbles about meeting a dead artist; she belittles Austin—which leads in part to his final melt down—and she calmly watches and occasionally interjects as her sons almost kill each other....