Play Buried Child Written by Sam Shepard - Term Paper Example

21 November Review of the play- Buried Child: This paper is primarily based on presenting a well contemplated, though-provoking, and insightful review of the globally acclaimed play Buried Child written by Sam Shepard. This play is centered on presenting a dazzling portrayal of the high-profile 1970s economic downturn in America in addition to portraying the breakdown of traditional family structures and norms as they got replaced by more modern and open-minded societal values. In this phenomenal play, Shepard offers the readers an insightful look into the kind of life which existed back in 1970s while providing information based on intimate facts regarding the nature of components which formed then societal infrastructure. The play explicitly reveals how different family values and the concept of an American family were a few decades back from how they are perceived today by the American nation in general. The concept of the American Dream is also kept highly obvious throughout the play as different portions from the play can be easily connected by the readers or viewers to construct the message conveyed by the author, which identifies how the youth remains incapable of carrying out the American Dream either due to physical or emotional reasons. Disappointment and disillusionment displayed by all the main characters in the play due to the basic requirements of the American Dream not getting fulfilled also forms a major part of this celebrated play. It is easy to judge from the play that Shepard has tried to convey the apparently boring information about myriad actual frustrations and problems faced by the American nation a few decades back while taking care to present that grave and sensitive information in a highly engaging and entertaining way. The author of the play Buried Child, Sam Shepard happens to be one of the mainstream American playwrights, actors, and film directors. Being closely associated with the entertainment media and having maintained his first-class status almost through out his active years makes Shepard a highly distinguished and wildly talented artist which is the reason why he also got awarded for writing the play under discussion in this critical review. In addition to advancing his myriad talented ideas in the field of drama and production, he also served as a learned teacher for quite many years busily teaching the naïve students crucially important tactics of acting and writing which explains why many of his literary works bagged worldwide critical acclaim. He is recognized as a truly shrewd and keen playwright who is ingeniously accustomed to all aspects of theatre, while striving relentlessly to enhance each aspect of theatre as well. His decision that the vision he means to deliver to the general public through his plays can be best done if all the plays get directed by himself and no one else proved to be quite beneficial and resulted in better conveying of important messages contained in his plays to the general community. The play Buried Child is just one good example among the many plays written by Shepard which is essentially considered to be a family drama based on the framework of realism. Employing many essential postmodern elements in the play by the author can be seen as a gesture meant to form the bedrock of the play’s main style which hits the viewers throughout the play. This remains an undeniable reality that the play Buried Child is a family drama with special reference to then societal norms and the changing societal approach. The frustrations of American people due to various reasons as displayed in the play are meant to be delivered by the author in a very engaging and riveting manner which makes the play all the more attractive yet hugely insightful since it reflects many personal facts about then everyday life. The play is centered on an American farming family and interestingly describes various gross problems facing them which force one to look at the societal values and how they got badly marred by some unethical actions taken by the family members who play main roles in the play. The play is presented in such a fashion that along with appreciating the universal frustrations of American people, the viewers are enabled to build colorful and thriving images in their imaginations. A terribly dark secret associated with the American farming family is seen playing a major role throughout the play and can be called the major element influencing it as well. Tilden happens to be the eldest of the three sons born to Halie and Dodge and who also commits the terrible act of incest with his mother as a result of which Halie becomes pregnant and delivers a baby boy who soon after his birth, gets buried by his grandfather Dodge behind their house in the fields so as to escape the societal criticism and overwhelming storm of shame and fear. This act breaks down the entire structure of the family due to which every main character is seen overwhelmed by many gross troubles in the play. Dodge is seen quitting all his professional interests due to which he stops looking after his fields and engages in a hedonistic lifestyle. This is clear from Dodge’s behavior as in the opening scene of the play, he abstains from answering his wife’s repeated questions, focuses on drinking alone, and orders his wife to not come down when she says so (Jacobus 1343). Halie, on the other hand, turns to religion in order to escape the feelings of shame and guilty which shows how people reacted towards many problems facing them in different ways and how the fear of people and society at large, influenced and incapacitated them. The play shows how Halie develops a romantic relationship with a priest named Dewis in the church and how it further distances her from her family. At one point during the play when Halie accuses Dough about abusing Bradley and fights with him for spending all his day lying around uselessly, smelling up the whole house with his decomposed body, and thinking evil things about his own family, Dough retaliates by saying that his flesh and blood is buried in the backyard (Jacobus 1347). Tilden also goes nearly insane with guilt and ends up serving time in jail. At one point in the play when Tilden returns to his home after serving time in jail, he asks his father if he ever got worried about his sudden disappearance to which Dough replies that he never got worried about him in any moment (Jacobus 1345). This shows that the feelings of hatred towards Tilden were rooted deep in Dough’s heart. After a long time when Tilden decides to return to his family, the secret also gets exposed somehow ultimately when Vince, Tilden’s son, also arrives at the farm along with his girlfriend Shelly. To Tilden’s and Shelly’s immense disappointment, everyone back at home appears to be mentally incapacitated as a result of the sin buried in silence years ago. Not one person recognizes Tilden due to which in one scene, he bursts with emotional grief and shouts at his girlfriend about how in the hell can they not recognize him when he’s their son! (Jacobus 1355). The play Buried Child presents many epic and monumental themes related to human sufferings like incest, shame, fear of society, rebirth, and murder and all of which heavily influence the lives of the frightening American farming family on which the play is centered basically. Almost all the reviews done by many literary critics related to this play are mainly commendable and congratulatory. The humorous element is also kept obvious amidst the dark situation created by the main characters in the play which makes it quite distinguished and the critics got compelled to assure the general public that the play actually happens to be a literary masterpiece. In words of the great literary critic Harold Clurman, “What strikes the ear and eye is comic, occasionally hilarious behavior and speech at which one laughs while remaining slightly puzzled and dismayed (if not resentful), and perhaps indefinably saddened” (cited in PRWeb). The poisonous effects of a long-kept family secret are meant to remain obvious to the public throughout the play by the author. Another distinguished feature of the play Buried Child is that both elements of hopelessness and hopefulness can be seen because while hopelessness erupts in response to the act of incest, there is also hope at the other side of the tunnel which gets all the more obvious and penetrating as the dark secret gets exposed. This expression of hope remains obvious in the words said by Halie near the end of the play, who bore the child as a result of incest. According to Halie’s dialogue near the end of the play, this message is clearly conveyed to the public that when such a secret ultimately leaks out, it is strong enough to make things even and a positive miracle occurs bringing hope ((Theatre Database). The critic Clurman also reviewed the play by saying the same thing that while there is so much fear and hopelessness associated with the disastrous act of incest, there also is hope on the other side associated with exposure of the secret (Clurman). According to other critics who reviewed this play, Buried Child is not about portraying horrific consequences and influences related to just one low-class American farming family, rather it reflects the behavior of every family that buries its sins and gets exposed to tragic consequences as a result of such sinful acts. “Brilliance of Mr. Shepards Pulitzer Prize-winning play, though, is that the extremes are very familiar: comedy and horror dance together, just as they do in what is called real life” (Stevens). Concluding, this much remains clear from the above discussion that the play remains successful in conveying the message to the public like how some sins buried in silence resulted in a broken America dream and a once-solid but later-disintegrated family structure. This message is delivered in a very smart way due to which the play is largely considered to be a comical yet insightful presentation of the broken American dream. The play is not all about influencing the public and gaining attention by displaying a heavily dark atmosphere created by the main characters, rather the author strives to keep the element of humor alive too. The plot of the play Buried Child is not ordinary and direct, rather it unfolds in a quite unsettling and complex manner which manages in keeping the people engaged and prevents them from getting bored because of a very simple and cliché plot. Works cited: Clurman, Harold. “Buried Child.” The Nation. 02 Dec. 1978. Print. Jacobus, Lee A. THE BEDFORD INTRODUCTION TO DRAMA. 6th ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. Print. PRWeb. “Actors Theatre of San Francisco Presents Pulitzer Prize Winning American Classic: Buried Child, by Sam Shepard.” 13 May. 2008. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. < http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/05/prweb934074.htm> Stevens, Andrea. “A Norman Rockwell Touch for a Farm Family in Trouble.” The New York Times. 01 Feb. 2006. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. < http://theater.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/theater/reviews/01chil.html> Theatre Database. “BURIED CHILD.” n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. < http://www.theatredatabase.com/20th_century/buried_child.html> Read More