Quotes and my reaction to the play

Quotes and my reaction to the play

 

“You think just because people propagate that they have to love their offspring?”— said by Dodge

>> This is said by Dodge about the abomination that Halie gave birth to after she had an affair with her son. It shows the dysfunction of the family.  

"I had no idea in the world that Tilden would be so much trouble.  Who would’ve dreamed.  Tilden was an AllAmerican, don’t forget.  Don’t forget that.  Fullback.  Or quarterback.  I forget which." - said by Halie


>>> This quote said by Halie shows one of the themes of the play. It is from Act I and the theme I'm talking about is the failure of the American dream. Tilden [the oldest son] used to be a football star but he is no longer playing and that's one of the signs of not fulfilled American dream.


"Well that’s good. That’s good. It’s much better not to know anything. Much, much better" - said by Dodge


>>> This is quote from Act II, when Vince arrives back home after he's been away for 6 years. No one in the family seems to recognize Vince. They are so withdrawn and so closed up after everything that happened to them. This quote also shows that are keeping some things a secret. 


"Go ahead! Take over the house! Take over the whole goddamn house! You can have it! It’s yours! 
It’s been a pain in the neck ever since the very first mortgage. I’m gonna die any second now. " - said by Dodge


>>> This is a quote from Act III, it is at the very ending of the story. Dodge is about to die soon so he talks to Tilden about some heritage stuff. Ever since Tilden had an affair with his mother [Halie] Dodge treated him differently. Well, no wonder he did that.

Movie

Is there a movie which has a plot strongly based upon this play??

No, I don't think so. I've searched the internet and I wasn't able to find not a single one. Although, I had found some movies that have a story which resembles the story in Buried Child. I also found some movies that have at least one of the themes shown in Buried Child. So, let me tell you which movies.

Girl, Interrupted

- this movie is seriously good. Well, it does not have the exact same content as Buried Child, but it contains one of the themes that were depicted in Buried Child. The theme is incest. In this movie [Girl, Interrupted] is a girl who has some mental problem so they take her to mental facility. Once she's there she gets to know many different girls with different problems. One of the girl is being released from the facility. Later on, they find out that the girl [Britany Murphy] who left the institution is having an incestuous affair with her father and that she actually enjoys it. This movie also has two actresses that I like >> Angelina Jolie, Britany Murphy. Like I said, it is not based on the play Buried Child. There is just one thing that these two works have in common and it's the theme incest. But I really like this movie and I remembered it, so I wanted to write about it.

Buried Child Act 2, scene 1

This is also critical scene from the play. It begins with Vince [Tilden's son] returning back home. The family haven't seen him for 6 years and now he comes back along with his girlfriend. None of them recognize Vince. They are withdrawn from the outside life.

Buried Child Act 1, scene 1

This is the very beginning of the play. It starts with a rainfall - this is one of many symbols in the play. It means cleansing >> it is supposed to wash away the filth in the family.

Author - Sam Shepard's biography

Sam Shepard’s biography

Samuel Shepard Rogers was born on the 5th of November 1943 in Fort Sheridan, IL, USA. 
Since his dad was an army officer, and a Second World War bomber, he spent his childhood moving from base to base, until they have settled down on a farm in Duarte, CA.  After finishing the high school, Sam attended a college, he wanted to become an agricultural engineer, but he abandoned the school very soon. He abandoned the school because he fell in love with the book ‘Waiting for Godot’ and decided to become an actor.  So he joined a travelling theatre instead. Later on he also worked as a rock band drummer, stable hand, herdsman, orange picker, sheep shearer, bus boy and writer before becoming a playwright in New York in 1964.

Together with his band Holy Modal Rounders he recorded four discs of country-rock music in the end of the sixties. One of their songs was a part of the Easy Rider movie. The author is very accomplished person; in 1978 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Buried Child.

His acting career was pretty interesting as well. He took his first big role, Chuck the farmer,  in Days of Heaven. Although this was his first big role he was nominated for an Oscar Prize for it in 1983. In 2007 he acted in a movie called The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford together with Brad Pitt. While filming Frances, Sam fell in love with the protagonist Jessica Lange, who became his wife and they have two kids now.

Major themes

Major themes

Dear followers of my blog, today I would like to share the themes of the book with you. I think, Shepard is encouraging the reader to create their own meaning but I do think there are certain things that he purposefully included such as American dream and the disappointment about it, economic slowdown in 1970’s and the breakdown/failure of the traditional family structure.

The failure of the American dream

At first I’d like to say that this theme, or subtext, is more than typical for the author, you can find it in almost all his plays. In the beginning of the book the author introduces the reader to a typical American family. Nevertheless, later on we find out that the family is not perfect at all. As the parents live on a farm, they are hoping to have children who would take over their farm and take care of them when they get old. However when the kids, Tilden and Bradley, are born, they find out both of them are mentally disable, which causes that the whole American dream fails. Secondly, the character Halie buries a child, but keeps dreaming he would grow up to be a star. This reflects the helplessness of people.   The reader is certain of how, according to the author, an ideal family should look like thanks to Shelly, a character telling the audience.

1970’s economic slowdown

The situation of the family and the farm points out how poor the farms are. The author also mentions that the house is breaking down and that there are no money to plant the soil, therefore they don’t grow anything.

The failure of a traditional family structure

The incest is the most important part of this theme and it is also the critical moment of the story – the book is basically named after this. The mother and her son have a child, but it is murdered under weird circumstances. This, in my opinion, is the worst thing that can happen in a family. Another sign of a family breakdown is Dodge’s position in the family – instead of being the leading one he’s the bullied one.

Criticism

Chicago critics

vs. my thoughts

Each and every one of you might have a different opinion on this play. Some people can say that it was brutal, pointless and boring. Others view it as a perfect depiction of a family disruption and a life in general. Let me tell you what the critics from Chicago think of this play and later on I will share my thoughts as well.

According to Chicago critics, it was brutal, revolting and repugnant. I found on the internet an article about Buried Child. Some writer of a local newspapers trashed this play a big time. However, he was very opened with  no barriers and I have found some comments saying that he was right and blunt. Well, I cannot agree with them but we will get to that later. Apart from this "Chicago guy critics" I found another, more pleasant, information about the play. It was written by another writer from Chicago, but unlike this one, he had a point and he highly recommended the play. He was among the people who think of this play as a perfect depiction of a family disruption and a life in general. He explained how the author bluntly displayed what happens when you do a really bad think and you keep it a secret. Moreover, he even praised the author for making it so real, mysterious and for being able to cover the farm depression at the same time as well.

I must agree with the other guy who thought that it perfectly depicted family disturbance. You know it just happens and it is not uncommon nowadays either. So, I think that it is a good example of how not to live your life and how to learn from your mistakes.