In True West, Sam Shepard offers a different idea to the traditional American Dream that is taught in so much of our life and literature. It is a piece that features a great deal of symbolism to figuratively give meaning to its production. Examples of symbolism are discovered all over the play and one great example of symbolism could be seen in Austin, Lee’s younger brother. We see Austin wearing a “light blue sports shirt” with “clean blue jeans” and “white tennis shoes.” Clothes say a great deal about who a person is and how he socially deals with things. Austin’s clothes symbolize how organized and well-mannered his lifestyle was, he prefers wore clothes that matched and did care about his looks even when he had the “whole place to” himself. This relatively explains why Austin has “…got the wife and kiddies (..) The house, the car, the whole slam.”
The “toast” is another great example of symbolism. “Toast” symbolizes salvation and a beginning. After eating the “toast” one can sober up and be forgiven for his past sins; in addition, when Austin steals the toasters from the neighborhood, he mentions that, “I guess it’s best not to even think of the victims.” This means that since the neighbors won’t have any toasters to make toast, they would be deprived of having a new beginning. The “victims” would be “bewildered” …show more content…
Since Sam Shepheard tries to capture the ideology of western culture in the brothers he uses alcohol to symbolize the scenario. Drinking too much alcohol in the Old West was a year-round sporting event and, of course, had its own slang (BELL). Alcohol also symbolizes how depressed and miserable the characters were in the play. The excessive drinking by Austin towards the end of the play represents death and destruction. Austin even quotes, “This isn’t champagne anymore,” which means he isn’t drinking for festivity or celebration, but in order to symbolize how sad and lonely he
The “toast” is another great example of symbolism. “Toast” symbolizes salvation and a beginning. After eating the “toast” one can sober up and be forgiven for his past sins; in addition, when Austin steals the toasters from the neighborhood, he mentions that, “I guess it’s best not to even think of the victims.” This means that since the neighbors won’t have any toasters to make toast, they would be deprived of having a new beginning. The “victims” would be “bewildered” …show more content…
Since Sam Shepheard tries to capture the ideology of western culture in the brothers he uses alcohol to symbolize the scenario. Drinking too much alcohol in the Old West was a year-round sporting event and, of course, had its own slang (BELL). Alcohol also symbolizes how depressed and miserable the characters were in the play. The excessive drinking by Austin towards the end of the play represents death and destruction. Austin even quotes, “This isn’t champagne anymore,” which means he isn’t drinking for festivity or celebration, but in order to symbolize how sad and lonely he