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Essay Subject: (Sam Shepard). Two plays as expressions of the decay of the american dream. Characters, plots, themes.... More...

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Paper Abstract: (Sam Shepard). Two plays as expressions of the decay of the american dream. Characters, plots, themes. Paper Introduction: THE DECAY OF THE AMERICAN DREAM: A STUDY OF TWO PLAYS BY SAM SHEPARD Ever since America's forefathers came from European countries in order to forge a new way of life in the New World, even before America was formed, there has been the American Dream. The American Dream is a dream of power, a dream of control over one's own life; it is a dream of happiness carved out of the living off the land, living a life of family, of prosperity and of freedom. Settlers dreamed of a whole new continent where dreams could be forged and new lives made. But, inherent in the exploration of this vast land was also the freedom of the unknown, the great potential which can be likened to the potential of a small child. While still a child, not Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. He's dressed like aslob in a dirty t-shirt and clothes bought from the Salvation Army. They believedthat they deserved the American Dream as much as anyone else, and whycouldn't they find it? San Francisco, California:City Lights Books. So -- maybe it wasn't the great paradise after all.Maybe the location and the land of the free isn't everything it's beencracked up to be. That's what makes it a Dream and not reality. Buy him off with yer Hollywood blood money, but not me! But then, at some point, the Old Man was looking for theDream throughout his life, too; so can we believe even him? He ends upthrowing the typewriter around and breaking it. Austin: No I don't know -- He's a producer. But then, aren't we all? (1983). He's very gullible andbelieves everything that anybody says. Just wanting it that badly makes it impossible tohave and hold. Fool for love. May doesn't want to be close to Eddie because shenever knows if he is going to stay or go. Do ya'? Some say the Dream has been there (somewhere) in the past; hence,they mention the decay of the American Dream, as if it ever existed.Possibly these people are speaking of the decay of the Dream in the mindsof those who sought it. He is as elusive as the Dream. Austin can't believe this. It must be just over that ridge, or down in that valley, orup in the blue sky somewhere. And so, the stage is set. And Austin, who looked and searched through the halls of educationand learning for the Dream, and who went to the most glittery of cities tofind it, knew at some level that it wasn't there either. Sam Shepard: The life and work of anAmerican dreamer. And so it goes with the American Dream. She does not move, as she is depressed. May can't takeanymore. Austin says herefuses to write it. When things turn bad, it's only because the Dream iselusive; you must keep looking harder, not necessarily smarter. And,if they kept this up, no one would be going anywhere. And,even though they know the Dream is not in their lover or anybody else, theycan't stop looking. The countess (or, that's who we assume it is) comes by the motel in ablack limousine and shoots a rifle at the motel windows. That's the truth (Shepard, [no date], 59). . Lee, whostole and lived on the poverty level, may have in some respects enjoyedliving in the desert, and at least felt sympathy for people like the OldMan. That is reality. "May, look," he says. Markham, Ontario, Canada: New AmericanLibrary. The mystiqueand elusiveness of the Dream is that it is never found inside the personwho does notlook. In the play, True West by Sam Shepard, two brothers are both lookingfor the American Dream. May knew Eddiewell enough, and she knew the Dream well enough, to know that it wouldleave as soon as it showed its face one more time. She's all mine. Lee is beginning torealize he can't write this screenplay -- that maybe he's not going to beable to make it in Hollywood just the way he couldn't make it in thedesert. Martin just listens and says, "Oh." When May comes outof the bathroom, she starts telling the story. I'm not gone" (Shepard, 1983, 17). " (Oumano, 1986, 146). The brothers' mother comes home early. It'sabout the traps that unwitting people, people close to us, set, such as theOld Man who inadvertently fathered two children who fell in love. It seems that, in these two plays, the Dream can be said to besomething that anybody wants more than anything else, which is preciselywhy they can't have it. Okay?" (Shepard, 1983, 76). Eddie says it's no fantasy. I can git my own money my own way. Says May, "How many times have you done this to me? She misses, but May is angry. . It looks like no one is goingto get out of this house to go out into the desert, Hollywood, or anywhere. Lee says he's going out to the desert without Austin. As Lee slumps to the ground, Austin starts to go out the door. He says he thinks its a great story. Lee says, "Hey, do you actually think I chose to live out in the middle a' nowhere? Oumano, Ellen. Thesetwo brothers seem very different from each other, but are they really? Eddie,her longtime lover who has been gone from her for a long time, is by herside. Big money!" (Shepard, [no date], 11). When Lee and Austin start writing the screenplay, however, they beginto lose authenticity by trying to build it up to screen-proportionstandards. Like Ponce de Leon who looked for the Fountain ofYouth and found Florida instead, so do those who look for the AmericanDream in the West find the deserts, the small, poor towns, the heat and theviolence and turmoil. The Old Man says now thatit's even more distorted than it was. Lee says to Austinsarcastically, "Yeah, you were gonna' make somethin' up. May, an attractive woman in her 3 's, sits on the bed in an old motelroom out in the desert. And whenever he proclaims hislove for her and tells her how they are going to be together forever, andshe believes him, soon he is gone again, out of her life. And yer bitchin' to me about all yer success!" Austin: I'd cash it in in a second. Shepard, Sam. They start working on the script, but of course, theydon't have a typewriter. (1986). of course, he doesn't say thisis what he's going to do, but Austin knows. Leeannounces to Austin that Saul loved his idea and said it was the best ideahe'd seen in a long time. They start fighting, and Austin grabs the telephone cordand wraps it around Lee's neck, starting to choke him. Austin doesn't. This is an unansweredquestion. The Old Man looks up at the nonexistent picture of a woman on thewall and says, "That's the woman of my dreams. Eddie has been gone for a long time, supposedly having an affair withsome countess in Europe. Reality isdisappointment and anger interspersed with loving and sharing, being closeand being apart. It turns out that they would both make a lot of money, but Austinwill have none of it. Shepard, Sam. THE DECAY OF THE AMERICAN DREAM: A STUDY OF TWO PLAYS BY SAM SHEPARD Ever since America's forefathers came from European countries inorder to forge a new way of life in the New World, even before America wasformed, there has been the American Dream. Or maybe in another person. Austin is out in Palm Springs taking care of his mother's house whileshe is on vacation in Alaska. In theirdesperation, they turned upon each other, both angry at the other at therealization -- finally -- that perhaps they would not find the Dream atall. The minute she went toaccept it, as she had done when she and Eddie kissed, that was the momentthat it would evaporate into thin air. Hewould take off for years at a time, too, just like Eddie. But, how fully are they living life? Meaning, he was goingto do Lee's script and not Austin's. That's who that is. He wants Austin to write Lee'sscript, but if he won't, he'll have to get somebody else. He's been working at this foryears, and Lee just comes in and gets a big break in a day. May knows better,but she still can't let go. The only hint we have at what's true or not is the comments fromthe Old Man. She's going to go travelling again. But these realizations -- at least, in America -- seem hard to comeby. Austin just wants to get itover with, so they write it down. Austin doesn't know what to believe. Joseph Chaikin and Sam Shepard:Letters and texts, 1972-1984. The Old Man once had two families who knew nothing about each other,until finally he dragged Eddie over to the other family's house. Lee says he's going to call up a woman heknows in Bakersfield; maybe that will solve the aching inside him. They feel as if they werecheated out of something they should have had, something they greatlydesired, and something that if they lived without, their lives would not becomplete. See? She wants to go out and kill thecountess, but Eddie tells her no. Some give up on the Dream andcontinue to live their lives as they would have anyway. But,in a flash, Lee is there, blocking the exit. For those people who look elsewhere than inside themselves, theDream soon decays. . This something is the Dream: Bigger than life, happier thanhappiness, wealthier than wealth, freer than free. Do people ever learn? When May and Eddie kiss tenderly, headlights come across the stageagain and it is the countess. Why couldn't Austin see that the Dream was notin the desert? She has set Eddie's horse trailer on fireand the horses are loose. I mean I've been meeting with him for months but you never get to know a producer (Shepard, [no date], 17). May knows that Eddie's not comingback. When hecan't get her number, he rips the phone off the wall. Austin goes out and stealssome toasters just to show Lee he's as tough as he is. Lee asks Saul if he wants to play a round of golf tomorrowmorning, and he makes a date with Saul without really getting that much ofa go-ahead on Saul's part. May won't look at him, buteverytime he almost gives up and says he's leaving, she tells him not togo. Mom stays calm, but is worried that Austin is killing Lee. The brothers say goodby to Saul, and the producer leaves. Eddie went travelling, left May, came back, lefther again. What a blow to find thisout it must have been. In the evening, Lee decides that he has a great story for a movie --a Western -- and he wants Austin to help him write it up so that he canshow it to Saul in the morning. (1989). The problem is that Austin has a man from Hollywoodcoming out that afternoon so they can talk about his screenplay, and hewants Lee to leave. Austin gets drunk, notcaring anymore about anything. Austin also wants to go out to the desert to thinkfor a little bit, but Lee won't give him his keys back. In that fight they were so tuned to what the other one was doing it was a complicated, savage, violent dance" (Oumano 137). I'mright here. "He's gone," she tells Martin as she starts packing her clothes intoa suitcase. Austinsays he can't. But, inherent in theexploration of this vast land was also the freedom of the unknown, thegreat potential which can be likened to the potential of a small child.While still a child, not knowing what life will be, the child can dream tobe anything; but an old person who knows life well has much more limitedchoices. May kept hoping beyond hope that Eddie would save her: save herfrom herself and the desperation she felt with life. Martin doesn't have muchpersonality and he doesn't know what's going on. Saul has told Austin that he will find him abacker for his story idea. But it's more than that. In fact, it's hard to tell what Saul isthinking. Austin isincensed. But some, sadthough it may be, never give up on the Dream. Where is the Truth? She's been hurt too much. But anyway, Lee leaves with the car while Austin meets with Saul,the Hollywood producer. Unfortunately for Austin, who should show up at the house but Lee.Lee has just come back from seeing the "Old Man" (their father) somewhereout in the desert, and he derides Lee for not seeming to care enough aboutthe old Man. Austin saysokay, he'll do it. Maybe there are still deaths, births, poverty, loss oflove, injustices. Lee can'treally write, but he knows what he wants done. True west. We don't really know what's true,either. The Dream was never supposed to be like this; andso, who was cheated? He is supposed to water her plants and ingeneral make sure that everything is okay. Still, the Dream is there,whether one aches for it or not. While he's doing this, he isworking on a screenplay that he has been writing. Somethin'brilliant" (Shepard, [no date], 9). They each blamed the other for standing in the way of the Dream; butin actuality, the only one who stood in the way of Austin's Dream wasAustin, and the only one who stood in the way of Lee's Dream was Lee. Git him tanked up for a week! Lee wants Austin to help him write the outline, but he won't.Lee tries it, but he can't really write and it's hopeless. Austin humors him just to be polite, buthe tells him that parts of it are dumb and don't make sense. So, when they didn't find the Dream in each other, as they had hoped,they both went looking elsewhere, although May still looked more for it inEddie than he did in her. But asmore and more people explored the West, explored this "American Dream,"explored the vast Unknown and began to know it, limitations on the Dreaminvariably set in. One of the reasonsAustin came to this house is so that he could get some peace and quietwhile writing. Mom givesAustin the car keys so that he can leave; but first he has to let go ofLee. The American Dream is a dreamof power, a dream of control over one's own life; it is a dream ofhappiness carved out of the living off the land, living a life of family,of prosperity and of freedom. Finally, when Austin asks Lee to take him out in the desert with himso they can live there together, Lee says no, unless he helps him with hisscript and doesn't ask for any money for the finished product. Lee thinks this is a little strange and is trying to make sense outof it. Forever." In this play, Eddie kept looking for the woman of his dreams, and hewould keep looking for her forever, just as his father, the Old Man, hadlooked for his in two different women and couldn't decide between them. He is the one that thetwo main characters see and talk to, and believe that he is talking to onlythem. Or, at least, ifit were there, he wouldn't be the one to find it. In Shepard's next play, "Fool for Love," the participants look forthe Dream in other people and also in different territories. New York: Samuel French, Inc.----------------------- 1 As was stated byone observer of the play, "They were locked together and somehow feeling one another's rhythm. Andshe's mine. I'm not goin' anywhere. What a blow to the Dream of finding true love, offinding your salvation in another human being, of finding the ultimate ofsexual attractions to be taboo. When May goes into the bathroom, Eddie starts telling Martin thestory of their lives and how much they loved each other and how they met.The Old Man listens, chuckling sometimes, saying it's all distorted,raising his voice. It wasn't the oldwest that they had promised it to be. If salvation isn't here, then where? I'll just take a look at it and I'll comeright back. Eddie says he's going outside to take a look."I'm only gonna' be a second. There,inside the house, Eddie saw May, and they fell in love at first sight.They went to high school together; they were lovers from the beginning.What they didn't know back then was that they were also half-brother and-sister, and that the Old Man was their father. New York: St. But Eddie couldn'tsave her; he couldn't even save himself. He's been to college and studiedand did all the right things. When May's date, Martin, comes over,Eddie tells him to sit down, have a drink. They thinkthat if they take off somewhere else, the Dream will be found there. Lee saysthat Saul wants him to write up the script with Lee's idea -- they'll makehundreds of thousands of dollars -- and also that, "(Saul) said he wasgonna' drop that other one" (Shepard, [no date], 36). "Mom" says she's going toa motel as she can't stand the mess, but she doesn't leave until the end ofthe play. Ya' think it's some kinda' philosophical decision I took or somethin'? You want some kinda'medal?" (Shepard, [no date], 9). Works Cited Daniels, Barry, editor. Before the lands of Americawere truly conquered as they have been in the twentieth century, the wholeof the continent was open to anyone who had the guts and the desire toembrace the challenges that this freedom seemed to bring forth. And because both had decided that they couldn't find the Dream ineither of their respective locations, they made a decision: Not a decisionto give up on the Dream, but to search for it elsewhere -- more precisely,to search for it exactly where the other had been looking and could notfind it. Lee startstalking to Saul as if he's known him all his life, while Austin isembarrassed. And why couldn't Lee see that the Dream was not inHollywood? They eachview him separately, and only the audience and at various times the twolead characters can see the Old Man. Lee went outto the desert, didn't even attempt to make it in society, because he"couldn't." Lee felt that he could find the dream in the desert, in the oldwest, the "true west." The interesting thing about both brothers is that they found out atsome level that the Dream wasn't working for either one of them. She's surprised by the messthe place is in. If they both could see the Old Man together, perhaps they would makesome headway in meeting on a common ground; but they do not. Shepard's characters think that they were cheated. It'sthe tearing apart of family relations, the futile pursuit of a Dream. He doesn't trust Lee with hiscar, so he says no. Martin's Press. It always looks better on the other side. Leehas no higher education; in fact, he's lived out on the desert, out on theland for years because he doesn't feel he can make it in society. Whilethey are talking, Lee comes in with a stolen television set. His pride is hurt. Some people don't look for the Dream, such asMartin. This paper is aboutthose people who will not let go of the Dream. I'm livin' out there because I can't make it here! .Suckered me into some dumb little fantasy and then dropped me like a hotrock" (Shepard, 1983, 17). Maybe he isthe Dream: The Dream gone sour, the decay of the American Dream. It was just after that that Eddieleft, not to come back. Lee seems to have a chip on his shoulder about his educated brother.He feels he has to remind Austin that he belongs in their mother's house asmuch as he does, that he could have taken care of it just as well. Eddie, on the other hand, says he has finally tracked May down andhas travelled two thousand miles to come and get her and take her with him-- somewhere. Lee thinks that this is his "lastchance." Next morning, Lee comes back after playing golf with Saul. When Austin offers Lee money, possiblythinking that he can get rid of him that way, Lee grabs Austin and startsyelling, "You may be able to git away with that with the Old Man. He alsomakes digs at Austin's writing and his intelligence. But he knew that he hadn't found the Dream there. The plants are dead or dying. (no date). May? He thinks Lee is lying, and we don't knowwhat to believe either, but Saul comes over and says basically, that's thebreaks, and he has to go by his intuition. One critic surmised this play as "an excruciating 'can't live withyou/can't live without you' melee, full of heads banging on walls andslamming doors . . But, he hasn't made it in Hollywood yet.Lee is the older brother who is in his early forties. Settlers dreamed of a whole new continentwhere dreams could be forged and new lives made. In this play, Austin is looking for the American Dream in a placewhere many have looked for it before: Hollywood. When Austin says, "I was down there too, you know(visiting)." Lee replies, "What d'ya want, an award? They're both getting frustrated. Possibly no onereally knows. The two loversduck. Austin is the younger brother, a neatly-dressedscreenwriter looking for his big break. As Shepard states in the first draft ofanother play he wrote entitled, Zonques, "He was born in the middle of astory which he had nothing to do with" (Daniels 222). Lee says he will, and not come back until after 6: p.m., if he can borrow the car. Austin's got a wife andkids, but they're back home up in Northern California. Austin acquiesces, because he reallydoesn't want his brother around this Hollywood producer; Austin is ashamedof Lee. And if anyone looks for anything else, the American Dream, Utopia,Paradise, or even constancy in a stable environment where the Dream hasmade its mark, they're not going to find it. Lee wants to borrow Austin's car so that he can go out and stealtelevision sets, etc., from people's houses. Speaking of the producer, the two brothers converse: Austin: Look, it's going to be hard enough for me to face this character on my own without -- Lee: You don't know this guy? Being a part of thismedium is what Austin thinks will bring him prestige, money and happiness.But, Austin always has admired his brother in some respects. The Old Man in this play represents Truth. Possibly, they concluded, they were looking in thewrong place. 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