Melissa Wong
March 11, 2015
Andrew Forrester
DISC 1313
Escaping Heartland America
Pawhuska, Oklahoma, a town of a little less than four thousand people, is where Tracy Lett’s play turned movie August: Osage County is set. Beverly Weston, the patriarch and a heavy alcoholic, has disappeared and eventually commits suicide, leaving behind his psychotic wife, Violet, in the care of a newly hired caretaker, a Native American named Johnna. After their father’s disappearance, Beverly’s adult children; Barbara,Ivy, and Karen, along with several other family members, return home to offer their company to Violet. Violet, mixed with the effects of her medicine and her bitterness towards her children for moving away, is emphatically unpleasant and
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Beverly is aware of this cycle he has been trapped in as this scene foreshadows his suicide. Looking into TS Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” as a whole the poem acts as a representation of the small town midwest. In the poem, when Eliot writes “We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry glass” the hollow men represent all the people stuck living in Pawhuska and other small rural towns across America. Without the confidence and desire to move away, these midwesterners are unable to articulate and form their own views, as their heads are filled with “straw.” Living in rural areas makes it difficult to receive the latest news and shape opinions, so many rely on gossip for a source of entertainment, and base their views on what their peers think. Apprehensive small town folk’s voices are hushed and un-influential. The last lines of “The Hollow Men” are “This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a whimper.” Citizens of small towns often have un-impactful lives, and when they end they are forgotten over the years unless by immediate …show more content…
In several scenes, “Lay Down Sally” by Eric Clapton, an upbeat song, is played in juxtaposition to the tense scenes featuring Violet. Violet is bitter that only one of her girls stayed close to home when she bickers with Barbara and says “And your father, you broke his heart when you moved away” and praises her daughter Ivy for not moving too far away by saying “ I’m so glad one of my girls stayed close to home. In my day, family stuck together.” Violet sees nothing wrong with Pawhuska, and is oblivious to the lack of job opportunities, people, and entertainment. The opening lyrics of “Lay Down Sally,” “There is nothing that is wrong In wanting you to stay here with me. I know you’ve got somewhere to go, But won’t you make yourself at home and stay with me? And don’t you ever leave” capture Violet’s entire nature towards her daughters, she is unable to see why they would ever have any reason to leave Pawhuska, and she mainly guilts Barbara for leaving to Colorado. Violet seizes this view of small towns being the convention, and the lack of willingness to leave the simple comfort zone of small town living. Though Violet may be content with the drone of her life, her one way views of Pawhuska have left negative impacts on her daughters Barbara,
Beverly is aware of this cycle he has been trapped in as this scene foreshadows his suicide. Looking into TS Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” as a whole the poem acts as a representation of the small town midwest. In the poem, when Eliot writes “We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry glass” the hollow men represent all the people stuck living in Pawhuska and other small rural towns across America. Without the confidence and desire to move away, these midwesterners are unable to articulate and form their own views, as their heads are filled with “straw.” Living in rural areas makes it difficult to receive the latest news and shape opinions, so many rely on gossip for a source of entertainment, and base their views on what their peers think. Apprehensive small town folk’s voices are hushed and un-influential. The last lines of “The Hollow Men” are “This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a whimper.” Citizens of small towns often have un-impactful lives, and when they end they are forgotten over the years unless by immediate …show more content…
In several scenes, “Lay Down Sally” by Eric Clapton, an upbeat song, is played in juxtaposition to the tense scenes featuring Violet. Violet is bitter that only one of her girls stayed close to home when she bickers with Barbara and says “And your father, you broke his heart when you moved away” and praises her daughter Ivy for not moving too far away by saying “ I’m so glad one of my girls stayed close to home. In my day, family stuck together.” Violet sees nothing wrong with Pawhuska, and is oblivious to the lack of job opportunities, people, and entertainment. The opening lyrics of “Lay Down Sally,” “There is nothing that is wrong In wanting you to stay here with me. I know you’ve got somewhere to go, But won’t you make yourself at home and stay with me? And don’t you ever leave” capture Violet’s entire nature towards her daughters, she is unable to see why they would ever have any reason to leave Pawhuska, and she mainly guilts Barbara for leaving to Colorado. Violet seizes this view of small towns being the convention, and the lack of willingness to leave the simple comfort zone of small town living. Though Violet may be content with the drone of her life, her one way views of Pawhuska have left negative impacts on her daughters Barbara,