Beautiful Lies
Everyone knows the American Dream. But it is just a big lie. Everything cannot be easy-going and happy. Everyone that tries to achieve this goal is in for a sad reality. Sam Shepard saw this perfectly well. He proved the dark truth in his play, Buried Child. The play shows a family in their failure on a farm. The tragedy and disillusionment haunts three whole generations. Everything is just doom and gloom to the fullest. The images of the whole production show the ugly truth about American life. But how did everything go downhill so much? There are only three causes of this tragedy: shame, failure, and power struggles. All three drive the characters into the miserable Hell that they cannot escape from.
Shame is the core theme in Buried Child. Everyone is coated in it. The characters are all ashamed of something. Dodge is ashamed of his failure to keep his family functional and to support with the crops. Hallie is ashamed of the fact that she had a child by her older son. Tilden is ashamed that he son/brother was murdered by his father to prevent scandal in the already doomed family. Bradley is ashamed of his false leg. Father Dewis is ashamed of the affair that he is having with Hallie. The only ones that do not have any shame are Vince and Shelley. But, what can one do with all of that shame that they are holding in their souls? Dodge turns to alcohol to cope with his shame. Hallie pines over her dead son/grandson. Bradley turns to aggression to cope with his baggage. But no matter how hard they try, the shame is forever going to be with them until they confront it themselves.
Failure is about powerful theme in this play. The way that the characters look in the pictures reflects on their failure. Everyone looks like they really need a bath. It is not really surprising to tell the truth. Only the rich could afford to stay clean in the 70’s. Dodge has not planted anything in the fields and the house is falling down all around them. He thinks that it is too late for him to turn around the damage, so he turns to drink to cope with his losses. But he has not only failed as a farmer, he has failed as a father. His wife nags him and has played around on him with her son and the local minister. The family is just falling to pieces around him. But, it is not just Dodge who has the failure. His and Hallie’s sons are failures as well. They cannot support themselves and they still live with their families. Their parents wanted their kids to be better than they were. But instead, Tilden and Bradley have let them down. Hallie has also failed in correcting her past mistakes. By her husband killing her child of incest, she will never get the chance to bring him up right unlike her other two sons. Failure just keeps haunting all of the characters.
Power struggles are the final element in Buried Child. Even though he has failed his family and the farm, Dodge still manages to keep his power in the house. His hat, couch, alcohol, and blanket are all proof of this. However, he does not keep his power for too long or that often. When he falls asleep, his sons steal hat and whiskey. This little mischief proves that Dodge lets his guard down so easily. When Shelley tries to take Dodge’s hat, she is caught. This proves that some can steal the power, but others cannot. Power struggles seem to hinder everyone’s chances to make their lives better. The sons are so caught up in overthrowing their father that Vince ends up taking everything in the end when Dodge dies. This proves that trying to take power for one’s self leads to an outsider seizing the power for themselves in the long run.
Buried Child reveals the hideous truth to its audience. Most people would be shocked by this sad sight of a drama. I, on the other hand, adore it. It makes me happy that art still tells the truth, no matter how ugly it is. Life cannot always be happy beautiful.
