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Conflict Analysis Of San Shephard

’s True West Essay, Research Paper


In the play True West, by Sam Shepard, the conflict which occurs between Austin


and Lee is most interesting when in regard to business. As stated in the assignment sheet


?the essence of dramatic action is conflict,? I find the most enthralling action sequences


in this play to be those spurred by a conflict based on business matters.


In the beginning of True West the apparent differences between the two main


characters, brothers Austin and Lee, are their degrees of success and professional


standing. Austin is a distinguished screenwriter and an Ivy League Alumni. He has the


family, ?The house, the car, the whole slam,?(True West I.i.). At the other end of the


spectrum is Lee, he?s a burglar, he has lived in the desert for the last three months, he


hasn?t a family, a house, or even a car. A prominent conflict scene attributed to the


brother?s lines of work is when Lee mentions that the length of his stay ?Depends mostly


on houses?(True West, I.i.i.). Austin attempts to dissuade Lee from burgling the


neighborhood, but makes a momentous mistake trying to resolve the rising conflict by


offering Lee money. Lee turns the argument into a physical scuffle and states that he


doesn?t want Austin?s ?Hollywood blood money,? and adds ?I can git my own money my


own way. Big money!? Austin, initially playing the part of the protagonist, backing down


and letting Lee spout off about how he can fend for himself. Another conflict that


heightens the dramatic action is when Lee sells his screenplay idea to Saul. Austin had


been working on a project with Saul for months. When it finally came time to seal the


deal, Saul reassures Austin that everything is final, all they have to so is sell the idea by


?getting a major star,? (True West, I.i.i.i.) A

ll Lee has to do is go golf and come home


with a new set of golf clubs and everything is set in stone. Austin is frustrated to realize


that Saul is merely a ?hustler,? and that in the business world, a set of golf clubs


overrules the artistic and educational being of a typewriter.


The reversal of the main character?s roles happen once Lee has ?sold? his script


and Austin has been carelessly discarded. Austin, the upright citizen, begins question his


skills. If Lee could write a script, he could certainly steal a toaster. A reversal of roles is


fueled by the brother?s overwrought competitive drives. Austin says, ?Well, maybe I


oughta? go out and try my hand at your trade. Since you?re doing so good at mine.?(True


West I.I.7.) With the use of the word ?oughta?? one can also see Austin?s speech pattern


changing from that of a very educated and proper person to one of a less educated person.


Lee thus sets out to out-write his brother. Lee begins the play with a bit of subtle criticism


directed toward Austin?s ?artistic? methods, yet by Act 2, scene 7, he is banging away at


the typewriter, prepared to prove he can write better than his brother, Ausin.


The entire premise of the competition in True West is somewhat exhausting to


follow. Despite the scene, the act, the event, or the situation, the brothers, Austin and Lee


are struggling to be the ?best.? The business transactions and professional stations only


add to the conflict that is constantly building. The role reversals are ingenious. By


attempting to be success? in eachothers fields, Austin and Lee realize the talents they


posses make them who they are. Thus they overcome the conflicts they had struggled


with throughout the play and let their business finesse be a state of reality, and not a state


of being.

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