THE AMERICAN VALUES IN THE LATE 1970S AS REFLECTED THROUGH LEE AND AUSTIN’S CHARACTERISTICS SEEN IN SAM SHEPARD’S TRUE WEST
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
Tetty Florentina Simbolon Student Number: 054214051
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2009 THE AMERICAN VALUES IN THE LATE 1970S AS REFLECTED THROUGH LEE AND AUSTIN’S CHARACTERISTICS SEEN IN SAM SHEPARD’S TRUE WEST
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
Tetty Florentina Simbolon Student Number: 054214051
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2009
i
ii
iii
“ O THE DEPTH OF THE RICHES BOTH OF THE WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE OF GOD ! HOW UNSEARCHABLE ARE HIS JUDGEMENTS, AND HIS WAYS PAST FINDING OUT!”
( ROMANS 11: 33)
iv
This Undergraduate thesis is dedicated to
Rewaller Simbolon and Sauria Sirait
for their love, supports, and prayers.
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In accomplishing this thesis, I would like to express my biggest gratitude to
Jesus Christ, my Lord and the savior of my soul. How unsearchable are Thy judgements and Thy ways past finding out!
My enormous gratitude also goes to my advisor, Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd, M.Hum and my former advisor Dra. Theresia Enny Anggraini, M.A. for the advice so far, assistance, and guidance during accomplishing of my undergraduate thesis. I would like to thank my co-advisor, Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S. M.Hum., for the correction and suggestion in revising my thesis to be better.
I also appreciate my beloved parents and all family for support, spirit, prayers and trust that is given to me in all these years to study in Sanata Dharma, Yogyakarta.
I always try to give the best of me for all.
My deepest gratitude goes to my friends in my boardinghouse: Novi for the hot
Milo and Anod for printer, my classmates in 2005 (Nani, Priska, Weny, Putri, Estu, and others) for our happiness and togetherness, Yusi for the encouraging sms and for our great adventures, my family in LBUSD (Richard, Risang, Dea, Mbak Dian, Mbak
Tika, mbak Novi, and others) for the suggestion, sharing and discussion.
Last but not least, I also would like to thank my sisters & brothers of Parna
Jogja, my brothers in Jantis, K Evi and Diana for the cheerfulness in my tiring days, and to all my friends who cannot be mentioned one by one.
Tetty Florentina Simbolon
vi
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PULIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan dibawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Tetty Florentina Simbolon NIM : 054214051
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul
THE AMERICAN VALUES IN THE LATE 1970S AS REFLECTED THROUGH LEE AND AUSTIN’S CHARACTERISTICS SEEN IN SAM SHEPARD’S TRUE WEST
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan ini saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk lain, mengelola dalam bentuk pangkalan data. Mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempulikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun royalitas kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini, saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Yogyakarta, 13 Desember 2009
Yang menyatakan
Tetty Florentina Simbolon
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ...... i APPROVAL PAGE ...... ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE…………………………………………………………. iii MOTTO PAGE ...... iv DEDICATION PAGE ...... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... vii ABSTRACT ...... ix ABSTRAK ...... x
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study ...... 1 B. Problem Formulation ...... 3 C. Objectives of the Study ...... 4 D. Definition of Terms ...... 4
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies ...... 6 B. Review of Related Theories Character and Characterization ...... 8 C. Review on the Social Condition of Southern California in the Late 1970s ...... 11 D. Review on Values 1. Theory of values ...... 13 2. American Values in the Late 1970s ...... 14 E. Theoretical Framework ...... 17
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study ...... 18 B. Approach of the Study ...... 19 C. Method of the Study ...... 20
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS
A. Lee and Austin’s Characteristics 1. Characteristics of Lee a. Self-Reliant ...... 23 b. Violent ...... 25
viii
c. Envious ...... 27 2. Characteristics of Austin a. Money Oriented ...... 30 b. Envious ...... 31 c. Optimistic ...... 33 B. The American Values in the Late 1970s as Reflected through Lee and Austin’s Characteristics 1. Individual Freedom ...... 37 2. Materialism ...... 39 3. Competition ...... 42 4. Optimism ...... 45
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...... 49
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 53
APPENDIX ...... 55
ix
ABSTRACT
TETTY FLORENTINA SIMBOLON. The American Values in the Late 1970s as Reflected through Lee and Austin’s Characteristics Seen in Sam Shepard’s True West. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2009. Lee and Austin’s characteristics in True West that is written by Sam Shepard become a portrait of American society in Southern California in the late 1970s. Therefore, the writer tries to find out the American values in the late 1970s, which are reflected through the characteristics of Lee and Austin. This thesis consists of two problems to be answered. The first one is to find out what the characteristics of the main characters, Lee and Austin, in the play are. The second one is how the American values in the late 1970s are reflected through Lee and Austin’s characteristics. To answer the two problems, the library research method is conducted. It is conducted by studying some reference books for related theory of characters and characterization, theory of values, and studying the play itself. Some additional information are also gained by internet. The most appropriate approach for this thesis is sociocultural-historical approach. Since this thesis deals with the social condition and historical aspects, this approach will be helpful to find out the American values in the late 1970s in the play that are reflected in Lee and Austin’s characteristics. Based on the analysis, two conclusions have been gained. First, the characteristics of Lee and Austin are quite different in the beginning but complete each other in the end. Since Lee lives in the desert for so long and separated from his family, the characteristics that are created are self-reliant, violent, and envious meanwhile as a writer who lives in a middle-class society in suburb, Austin’s characteristics are money oriented, envious, and optimistic. The second, the characteristics of Lee and Austin reflect the American values of the materialism society at that time. Those values are individual freedom, materialism, competition, and optimism.
x
ABSTRAK
TETTY FLORENTINA SIMBOLON. The American Values in the Late 1970s as Reflected through Lee and Austin’s Characteristics Seen in Sam Shepard’s True West. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2009.
Karakteristik-karakteristik Lee dan Austin dalam drama True West yang ditulis oleh Sam Shepard menjadi gambaran masyarakat California Selatan pada akhir tahun 1970an. Oleh karena itu, penulis mencoba untuk mencari nilai-nilai masyarakat Amerika yang ada pada akhir tahun 1970an yang direfleksikan melalui karakteristik- karakteristik Lee dan Austin. Skripsi ini terdiri dari dua rumusan masalah yang dijawab. Masalah yang pertama adalah mencari apa saja karakteristik-karakteristik dari Lee dan Austin, karakter-karakter utama di dalam drama. Masalah yang kedua adalah bagaimana nilai- nilai masyarakat Amerika yang ada pada akhir tahun 1970an yang direfleksikan melalui karakteristik-karakteristik Lee dan Austin. Untuk menjawab dua pertanyaan tersebut studi pustaka dilakukan. Studi pustaka ini dilakukan dengan mempelajari beberapa buku referensi untuk hubungan teori karakter dan karakterisasi, teori nilai, dan mempelajari drama itu sendiri. Beberapa informasi tambahan juga didapat dari internet. Pendekatan yang paling sesuai untuk skripsi ini adalah pendekatan sosiokultural-historikal. Karena pendekatan ini berhubungan dengan kondisi sosial dan aspek-aspek historis, maka pendekatan ini akan membantu untuk menemukan nilai-nilai masyarakat Amerika di akhir tahun 1970an yang direfleksikan melalui karakteristik-karakteristik Lee dan Austin. Berdasarkan analisis, ada dua hal yang dapat disimpulkan. Yang pertama, karakteristik-karakteristik Lee dan Austin cukup berbeda di awal drama tetapi saling melengkapi di akhir drama. Karena Lee sudah lama tinggal di gurun dan berpisah dari keluarga, karakteristik-karakteristik yang terbentuk adalah mandiri, kasar, iri dengki sedangkan sebagai seorang penulis yang tinggal didalam masyarakat materialistis di pinggiran kota, karakteristik-karakteristik Austin adalah berorientasi uang, iri dengki, dan optimis. Kesimpulan yang kedua adalah karakteristik-karakteristik Lee dan Austin merefleksikan nilai-nilai masyarakat Amerika yang materialistis pada waktu itu. Nilai- nilai itu adalah kebebasan individu, materialisme, kompetisi, dan optimisme.
xi
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Literature is a reflection of human life. Studying literature means not only studying a work of literature itself but also studying the social issues in human life. Sylvan Barnet, Morton Berman, and William Burto in their book An
Introduction to Literature stated that
An author may share her or his feeling toward the social condition, life experience and views of the issues which appear around her or him through work of literature. Therefore, it can be said that literature portrays the reality of life (1963: 3-5).
This quotation means that a literature may reflect the social condition, life experience and views of the issues that appear around the author. Therefore, literature becomes a reflection of reality, which affects the society who uses it.
Furthermore, it is intended for the people so that they enjoy and study it, as they know that literature is interesting for them.
Literature consists of many products such as novels, poetries, plays, and short stories. To study literature, there are many elements could be analyzed.
Those are theme, plot, setting, message, character, point of view, title, tone, and so on. One of the works of literature, which is very interesting to study, is a play.
It is very challenging to read and analyze the play that is actually designed to be performed because the reader should interpret the life of the character(s), social condition and issues occur on the play based on the dialogue of the characters, or the stage directions that are provided. Therefore, characters become
1 2
one of the important elements in the play. The characters can also lead the reader
to the background of the author, the setting, and the plot of the story to help the
reader to analyze the play.
The play that will be analyzed in this undergraduate thesis is True West
written by Sam Shepard. The play takes place in a Southern California suburb in
the late 1970s. This is a contemporary American play about sibling’s conflict, Lee
and Austin, when they do house-sitting of their mother’s house while she takes her
vacation to Alaska. The conflict begin when Lee competes with Austin for getting
a job as a screenwriter. This competition reveals the characteristics of them.
However, some of their characteristics lead to the American values that persist in
California at that time.
The story of True West represents the social condition in West America, a
Southern California suburb in the late 1970s. Since the end of the Second World
War in 1945, there were many changes in industry. Factories moved to the South
where there had been but few before. Liebman and Young in their book, The
Growth of America says that
During the war there had been very few things produced for people, so few that after the war the demand for goods was great. The people wanted new clothes, furniture, and automobiles. They needed toasters, irons, clocks— all of which had not been made during the war (1966: 404).
Many industries have grown as well as the media electronic in Southern California
in the late 1970s. Many people had used television and the motion picture had
always been the people’s art as Blum, Mcfeely, Morgan, Schlesinger, Stampp, and
Woodward say in their book, The National Experience; A History of the United
States that “More Americans had television sets in 1980 than had modern 3
plumbing, and their sets were turned on an average of seven hours a day” (1985:
910). In this book, they also said that the television gave some influences to the
social condition at that time. “Defenders of the new medium argued that television
extended people’s horizon, told them more about current affairs than their local
newspaper, and prepared them for a world of danger and violence” (1985: 910).
These social conditions give influence in shaping the characteristics of Lee and
Austin.
Lee and Austin’s characteristics in the play become a portrait of American
society in Southern California in the late 1970s. Moreover, by reading this literary
work the reader can see that there are some values of American society in the late
1970s are reflected by the characteristics of the main characters in the play.
Therefore, True West is an appropriate literary work to analyze since it deals with
the characteristics of American society in which the American values are reflected
by the characteristics of the main characters. For the analysis, the writer will find
out and studies the characteristics of the main characters, then find out the
American values through the characters in the play.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background of the study, there are two problems that are
formulated in this thesis as follows:
1. What are the characteristics of Lee and Austin in the play?
2. How are the American values in the late 1970s reflected through Lee and
Austin’s characteristics?
4
C. Objectives of the Study
There are two objectives of this thesis. The first objective is to find out the
characteristics of the main characters in True West, Lee and Austin. The
characteristics of Lee and Austin will be identified from their way of thinking,
their action, their dialogue, opinion of other characters, and so on in the play. The
second objective is to identify the American values in the late 1970s, which are
reflected through the characteristics of the main characters. It means that the
American values in the late 1970s can be reflected by the characteristics of the
main characters in the play.
D. Definition of Terms
To avoid misunderstanding and misinterpreting this thesis, it is necessary
to clarify some terms used. Abrams in his book, A Glossary of Literary Terms,
defines the character as follows.
Character is the person in a dramatic or narrative work endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say in the dialogue and what they do from the action (1981: 21).
In other words, a character can be analyzed by the action, the way she/he talk in
the dialogue, the thought, and the opinion of others characters. Then, it is also
important to include the definition of characterization which is defined by Guth
and Rico as follows.
The way in which the author portrays a character for the reader. Characterization can occur through author exposition about a character as well as through the character’s actions, speech, and thought (1997: 1827). In other words, characterization is the way the author exposed the characters
through what the characters do, think, and talk about in the play. 5
Another term that needs to be clarified is American values. According to
Zanden in his book Social Psychology, Value is an ethical principle to which
people feel a strong emotional commitment and which they employ in judging
behavior (1984: 318). Therefore, the writer concludes that American Values in the
late 1970s is an ethical principle, which becomes a strong commitment to
American community, which is reflected on the play in the late 1970s to judge
their behavior in society.
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
This section will discuss the studies and some opinions about Sam
Shepard’s play, True West. Sam Shepard is known as a famous American playwright. Shepard develops a realism of American domestic tragedy which exposes the American identity. He tries to show the influence of the past image of
American towards the reality of an American identity todays. This idea is also represented in the dissertation abstract of Paul Seamus Madachi, Phd., titled as
The Nightmare Of The Nation: Sam Shepard and The Paradox of American
Identity as quoted in the following.
Shepard’s plays and writings expose this american identity—represented by the strong, hardy figure of the farmer/pioner/cowboy—as an illussion and suggests that any succesful notion of identity must acknowledged the character-shaping influence of the past as well as admit to the reality of an American identity that is inherently violent and inaccessible to most Americans (Madachi, 2003: i). Here, Paul stated that most of Shepard’s plays and writings explore the American identity which is represented as a strong figure. Furthermore, this image of
American is just created by the character—shaping influence of the past that must be admitted as well as the reality of an American. It can be seen in the characteristics of Lee in True West which represent the image of old West. Then, the second, he says that we can see the image of old west in other Shepard’s play, entitled Super Cowboy Man.
6 7
In Shepard’s work, American character is most often represented by the
figure of cowboy. This character is inherited by the character of the old west in the
past who represented a strong figure man with a gun. Shepard’s Super Cowboy
Man reveals two important elements that he perceives to be an American image: a
strong connection to the land and the belief in an individual’s self-sufficiency and
ability to make his own way. This idea can also be found on Paul Madachi’s
dissertation as quoted in the following.
Shepard in his Super Cowboy Man is depicting lineage that seemingly embodies America: a strong tie to the land and indomitable belief in the self-sufficiency and capability of American character (2003: 22). The Super Cowboy Man also displays a strong, inevitable tendency toward
violence. ‘Montana’ opens with this ultimate cowboy placing hundred-dollars bills
on the corpse of a woman he has just killed. Here, Shepard shows the embracing
ideal of American identity by exhibiting such violent behaviour. In this play, he
demonstrates his association of national character with violance and aggresion
which are inherited by the American frontier in the past.
Dalt Wonk, in his article in Gambit Weekly, entitled True Fiction, has
opinion as the follows.
In True West, Shepard's method is a kind of "allegorical realism." It is as though we have entered a nightmare distortion of the familiar and the mundane. The things and events of normal life are galvanized with new, mysterious and often frightening intimations, and symbolic dramas arise from unconscious hopes and fears. What Austin fears is not Lee, but his ownsubmerged, self-destructive impulses. He lives out the paranoid nightmare being supplanted by his brother and of giving in to that dark side of himself that is ruled over by “the father”. (http/www.gambit weekly.org/Art&LeisureTruefiction,html) Moreover, the article also says that it is a good boy vs. bad boy sibling rivalry.
Austin graduated from college, got married, had a family “up north” to whom he 8
will return soon. He is dicipline and ambitious meanwhile Lee is uneducated,
violent, drunkard and envious.
Those above studies more or less talk about realism of American identity
which is represented as strong figure. In different point of view of those studies,
this study will go further to find out how the American values in the late 1970s can
be reflected through Lee and Austin’s characteristics in the play.
B. Review of Related Theories
Theory of Character and Characterization
The theory that will be used to analyze the problem in this thesis is the
theory of character and characterization since these theories will help the writer to
find out the characteristics of the main characters. Moreover, character is one of
the intrinsic elements in the literary work. In fiction the characters are made by
author’s imagination. Abrams in his book, A Glosarry of Literary Terms, defines
character as follows.
Character is the person in dramatic or narrative work endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expresed in what they say in the dialogue and what they do from the action (1981: 21). Therefore, based on Abrams’ theory, the characteristics of the major character,
Lee and Austin, in True West can be drawn by their action and what they have said
in the text. According to Stanton, the use of term “character” refers to two
different usages. It designates the individual who appears in the story and the
mixture of attitudes: desires, emotions, and moral principles that these individuals
have (1965: 17). 9
The character appears in the play as the actor who perform an important
role so that the success of the play lies on the performance of the characters . This
idea is also stated by Rohrberger and Woods in the following.
Characters have an important role in a story since they help readers to participate vicariously in the experience on the story by sharing imaginatively the feelings or the activities of the characters in the story (1971: 19). Moreover, the process of creating the character in literary work is called
characterization. Rohrberger and Woods in their book, Reading and Writing About
Literature, defines the word characterization as “ the process of which an author
creates character, the devices by which he makes us believe a character is the
particular type of person is” (1971: 20).
Characterization can be done directly or indirectly. It is stated in the
following quotation as quoted from Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense by
Perrine Laurence.
An author may present his characters either directly or indirectly. In direct presentation he tells us straight out, by exposition or analysis, what a character is like, or has someone else in the story tell us what he is like. In indirect presentation the author shows us the character in action; we infer what he is like from what he thinks or says or does (1974: 68). In other words, an author can present his character directly by his exposition about
the character or by what other characters have said in the play. Meanwhile, in
indirect presentation, the author just shows the action of the character and then the
readers try to get what the character is like.
Baldick (1990: 78) defines the term of characterization as “ one of the
literature elements which represent a person or figure, especially in narrative and
dramatic works”. Holman and Harmon say other defintion that characterization is
the creation of imaginary persons (1986: 21). 10
According to M.J. Murphy (1972: 161- 173) in Understanding Unseen,
there are nine ways in which author attempts to make his characters
understandable and alive for the readers. Those ways are stated in the following.
a. Personal description. The author can describe a character’s appearance like his
or her face, body, and clothes. The personal description is very important
because it can give clues about his or her character.
b. Character as seen by another. Instead of describing a character directly the
author can depict him through the eyes and opinions of another.
c. Speech. The author can give some clues or insight to the character through
what a person says. Whenever he is in a conversation with another and
whenever he speaks and puts forward an opinion, he is giving us some clues to
his character.
d. Past life. By permitting the readers learn something about people past life, the
author can give us some clues to the events that have helped to shape a person
character.
e. Conversation of others. The author can also give the reader some clues to
person’s character through the conversation of other people and the thing they
say about him.
f. Reaction. The author can also give the reader some clues to a person’s
character by permitting us to know how that person reacts to various situations
and events.
g. Direct comment. The author can give the readers direct knowledge of what the
person’s thinks and feels. 11
h. Thought. The author gives the readers direct knowledge of what a person is
thinking about.
i. Mannerism. The author can depict a person’s mannerism, habits, or
idiosyncrasies, which may also tell us something about his character.
C. Review on the Social Condition of Southern California in the Late 1970s
Since the Second World War ended in 1945, there were many changes in
industry, which influenced the American society at that time. According to Paul S.
Boyer et al in The Enduring Vision: A History Of The American People said “The
material aspects of American dream had seemingly come true. Between 1950 and
1970, the real GNP, which becomes a factor of inflation and reveals the actual
amount of goods and services produced, steadily increased” (1990: 1017- 1018).
During the great depression and the Second World War, American people satisfied
their desires for all goods and services that they had longed for. Many of them
prefer to purchase electric lawn mowers, air conditioners, and television set to
spend their income on basic necessities. A consumerist culture dominated
American life at that time (1990: 1022).
Television is a part of American life at that time. Producing television
shows required the talent of writers, actors, and set designers. According to
Richard C. Brown in The American Achievement, “Television commercials
stimulated the sale of a great many products. Considering all these effect, one can
easily see that new television industry had a considerable impact on the American
economy” (1996: 798). Besides, the prosperity of the postwar era also depends on
and supported the rapid growth of education system. According to Paul S. Boyer, 12
“By 1960 more than 30 million students attended primary school. California
opened a new school an average of every seven days throughout the decade and
still faced a classroom shortage” (1990: 1027).
Furthermore, population had been growing faster as the growing of
industry in 1960. It is stated by Richard C. Brown et al in The American
Achievement as follows.
Nearly 30 million moved from the country in which they had previously lived. More than three million people moved from other states into California between 1950 and 1960. Through geographic mobility they achieved social mobility; that is, they took the opportunity to move upward in the social scale (1966: 802).
During the 1960s, the growing university population of upper- middle-
class white youth formed the core of participants in what become known as the
“counter culture”. These young people, joined by some of their elders, rejected
prevailing cultural norms. By the 1970s, the most exaggerated forms of the
counter-culture movement decreased. They have been to be special product of an
unusually large population of young people; the high prosperity of the 1960s,
which released young people from pressing material concerns; the inhumanity of
the Vietnam War and the threat of the draft. During 1970s in which the end of the
Vietnam War, the return of economic depression, the decline in fertility rate,
family size, and the relative number of young people, and the growing tolerance of
the adult population stemmed the cultural excesses of the 1960s (1976: 395).
In the later 1970s, there were inflation, energy worries, and hostages that
make the society become frustrated. When the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) increased the oil prices, the economy felt to inflation,
unemployment, and recession. On the international scene, post Vietnam America 13
groped for a new role in a world where the old Cold War formulas appeared
increasingly irrelevant. According to Paul S. Boyer in The Enduring Vision: A
History of The American People, “prices increased by 10 percent in 1978 and by
more than 13 percent in both 1979 and 1980. As before, the primary blame lay
with staggering energy cost (1990: 1124).
In the late 1970, as in 1976, voters to a presidential candidate who
represented a sharp break with the recent past, the former actor and former
California governor Ronald Reagan. Several ideological and social trends underlay
Reagan’s victory in 1980. A belief in self- help and private enterprise had
remained firmly entrenched in American thought despite the New Deal-Great
society ideology of governmental activism. The sexual revolution, the rising rates
of abortion and divorce, the more open expression of homosexuality, pornography
on the newsstands, sex and violence in the mass media, and secular humanism in
school textbooks—all gravely upset million of Americans who responded with a
call for a restoration of morality and traditional values (1966: 1126).
D. Review on Values
1. Theory of Values
Gary Althen in his book American Ways: a Guide for Foreigner in the
United States, states that values are “Ideas about what is right and wrong,
desirable and undesirable, normal and abnormal, proper and improper” (1988: 3).
In other words, values is the role of the society. Values are the ideal ways to
behave which describe the quality of someone in society. Milton Rokeach in his 14
book Understanding Human Values, states that values are the conceptions within
every individual and society as stated in the following.
Conception of the desirable within every individual and society. They serve as standards or criteria to guide action but also judgment, choice, attitude, evaluation, argument, exhortation, and rationalization (1972: 2).
Besides, in his book American Culture, furthermore Graham notes about values as
follows.
Values are preferences for certain lines of action, involve an intellectual element, and are reinforced by emotional attachments.They are not the individual goals or individual activities which are undertaken by a people. Rather they are the rules by which goals are selected and activities chosen. Values are the highest level of culture. They are the tops, directing what individual goals shall be sought in a society. At a lesser level are the norm of activity, which are directed with the accomplishments of these goals. Finally, there are the activity themselves. Values are not necessarily mutually consistent. A good many values, which contradict one another, may exist in a society, the means of following its dictates may not (1957: 124-125).
It means that values are the part of the culture as a norm, which consists of action,
intellectual element, and emotional attachment that direct to society’s goal. Values
are also not consistent and may contradict one another in the society.
2. American Values in the Late 1970s
Historically, the United States has been viewed as the land of opportunity
that attracts many people to come and pursue their happiness. The opportunities
they believed, they would find in America and the experiences they actually had
when they arrived, nurtured some set of values. According to Graham in his book,
American Culture: An Analysis of It’s Development and Present Characteristics,
the values which began to define the American character are freedom,
individualism, equality, competition, progress of group, hard work, materialism,
and the rational approach (1957: 132). Individualism is so vital to understand 15
American society and culture because it is the basic of American’s characteristics,
therefore it receives more attention than the others.
In the late 1970s, American middle class experienced inflation, energy
worries, and hostages that make society become frustrated. Everyone tries to get a
better life. Based on this social condition, there are some values that can be
perceived at that time. Those values are individual freedom, materialism,
competition, and optimism. As Joan Crandall in his book, The American Ways,
stated that, the historic decision made by those first settlers has had a profound
effect on the shaping American character. By limiting the power of the
government and the churches and eliminating a formal aristocracy, they created a
climate of freedom where the emphasis was on the individual. The United States
come to be associated in their minds with the concept of individual freedom
(1997: 23).
Individual freedom places a great value of self- reliance, on privacy, and
on mutual respect. Therefore, individuals must learn to rely on themselves or risk
losing freedom. According to Crandall in his book, The American Ways, most
Americans believe that they must be self-reliant in order to keep their freedom. If
they rely too much on the support of their families or the government or any
organization, they may lose some of their freedom to do what they want.
The second value is materialism. According to Crandall, placing a high
value on material possession is called materialism (1997: 27). Americans tend to
measure a person’s success in life by referring the amount of money that person
has achieved. In other words, they believe that the material wealth is important to
measure of worth. Americans have paid a price for their material wealth, namely 16
hard work. Only by hard work, the natural resources in some places in American
continent are converted into material possession, allowing a more comfortable
standard of living. Therefore, Americans come to see material possession as the
natural reward for their hard work.
The third value is competition. Competition means that each individual
will be able to compete with others. Crandall said that Americans see much of life
as a race for success. Therefore, a person must run the race in order to succeed by
competition and regards others as the rival. If every person has an equal chance to
succeed in the United States, then it is every person’s duty to try. Americans
match their energy and intelligence against that of others in a competitive contest
for success. People who like to compete and are more successful than others are
honored by being called winners. On the other hand, those who do not like to
compete and are not successful when they try are often dishonored by being called
losers (1997: 26)
The fourth value is called optimism. The need for self-reliance encourages
the Americans to the spirit of inventiveness. The early settlers provide most of
their daily essentials by themselves. They often face new problems and situations
that demanded new solution. Therefore, they learn to experiment with new ways
of doing things. The willingness to experiment and invent lead to another
American trait, a can- do spirit, a sense of optimism that every problem has a
solution. This can- do spirit has given Americans a sense of optimism (1997: 69).
17
E. Theoretical Framework
Some theories which are explained above support the writer to develop the
analysis. The theory of character and characterization by Abrams, Stanton and
Rohrberger and Woods help the writer to answer about the characteristics of Lee
and Austin described in True West and how to reveal their characteristics by
analyze the social condition in the play. Perrine’s opinion that says characters can
be presented in two ways, direct and indirect presentation, help the writer in finding
Lee and Austin’s character which presented in indirect one in which “the author,
shows us the character in action; we infer what he is like from what he thinks or
says or does”(1974: 68).
Besides, the writer also uses the theory of values by Gary Althen and
Graham which are included in the review on values. The theory of american values
will find out the values which persist in Southern California in the late 1970s so
that it will be so helpful to answer the second question of the problem which had
been formulated. The review on the social condition of Southern California in the
late 1970s is also important to represent the society at that time so that it influences
the values of the society.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The literary work that will be analyzed in this undergraduate thesis is the play by Sam Shepard entitled True West. The play is compiled in the book entitled
Types of Drama which is written by Gerald Robin, Sylvan Barnet, William Burto, and Lesley Ferris. The book is the 8th edition and was published by Longman publisher, New York in 2001. The play True West consist of 22 pages from page
1225- 1247, 2 acts, and 9 scenes. True West itself was published in 1980 and was first performed in July of 1980 at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco directed by
Robert Woodruff. It is the third of Shepard’s domestic trilogy after Curse of the
Starving Class (1977) and Buried Child (1978). Sam Shepard earned Obie award for True West in 1985.
True West tells about sibling’s conflict between Lee and his brother,
Austin, who lived in Southern California. Actually, Austin is the representative of the order created by suburban new west while Lee is the representative of the desert old west. In the beginning of the play, their characteristics seem contradictory. Austin appeared as a calm man with his normal life as a screen writer and Lee appeared as a violent man with his hard life in the desert, but in the end of the play their characteristics complete and influence each other. Their characteristics represent the portrait of the society in California in the late 1970s.
Some of Lee and Austin’s characteristics reflect the American characteristics,
18 19
which lead the society to the values, or role of the society to behave then
furthermore become the American values at that time.
B. Approach of the Study The approach which is appropriate to be used in analyzing this play is
sociocultural-historical approach since it deals with society related to the history
occured in the past. Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods in their book Reading
and Writing about Literature explain that the way to locate the real work is in
reference to the civilization that produced it. It is quoted as follows.
Critics whose major interest is the sociocultural-historical approach insist that the only way to locate the real work is in reference to the civilization that produced it (1979: 9).
It means that Critics believe that to analyze the literary work, it is
necessary to evaluate the attitudes and actions of society that create it. Rohrberger
also states that the critics point out that literature takes these attitudes and actions
as its subject matter. They said that it is necessary to investigate the social milieu
in which a work was created and which it necessary reflects (1971: 9).
However, Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods also state that literature
is not created in a vacuum, and literature embodies ideas significant to the culture
that produced it. It means that the literature which created by the author is
influenced by the society and the literature itself gives influence to the society.
Based on the explanation of the approach above, the writer thinks that this
approach will help the writer to analyze True West from the sociocultural-
historical point of view since it deals with social, cultural, and historical aspect
through the attitudes and actions of the characters in the play. The writer thinks 20
that this approach appropriate to investigate the society in the play and to figure
out the characteristics of the characters which reflect the American values in the
late 1970s.
C. Method of Study
Library research is held to support this study and some steps had been
arranged for answering the problem. The writer divided the sources into two types.
The first was the primary source and the second were the secondary sources. The
play, True West written by Sam Shepard, is used as the primary data source to find
out the characteristics of Lee and Austin in the story. The characteristics of Lee
and Austin can be found by what they had said in the dialogue and the actions they
had done. The secondary sources were some books and sites from the internet. The
writer used those sources to find out the historical, social, and cultural facts that
might occur on the play and influenced the characteristic of Lee and Austin.
The steps in analyzing the play were as follows: First, the writer read the
play and collected data to answer the first problem. The writer tries to understand
the theory of character and characterization that are used. Then analyzed the data
by using the theory of character and characterization.
Second, the writer collected data for answering the second problem. The
writer collected the additional sources from essays, articles, and journals from the
internet. These sources were used to complete the information about social
condition in the play to support the answer of the second problem. 21
Third, the writer also used the theory of values to analyze the reflection of
American values through the characteristics of Lee and Austin. Then, the writer
tried to find out the American values that are reflected through the characters in
the play. The last step was drawing the conclusion of the analysis, relates all the
data in the analysis and explaining all briefly in the general statement. CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter will be divided into two parts based on the problems that are formulated before. First, the writer will find out the characteristics of the sibling’s brother who become the main characters in True West, Lee and Austin. After finding out their characteristics, the writer tries to find out the American values in the late 1970s that are reflected through Lee and Austin’s characteristics.
A. Lee and Austin’s Characteristics
Lee and Austin are the main characters in True West. They are siblings.
Austin is house sitting his mother’s house when his brother, Lee, arrives from the desert. They did not ever see each other for five months. It makes their conversation does not go well especially when they talk about their father who lives in the desert. Lee is a robber who suddenly visits his mother’s house with intention to break the neighbor’s house meanwhile his brother, Austin is a devoted husband and son who works as a scriptwriter. In the beginning their characteristics seem contradictory each other but in the end, their characteristics complete each other.
1. The Characteristics of Lee Based on the theory of characterization, Shepard presents his characters in
True West in indirect presentation. He presents Lee’s characteristics from what
Lee thinks, says or does. Lee is already in his forties. As his father, he lives in the desert. In True West, Lee’s characteristics is presented as a self-reliant, violent,
22 23
and envious. He lives far away in desert which is violent and has many dangerous
things. The place he lives at more or less gives some influences to his behavior
and characteristics as follows.
a. Self-Reliant
The first characteristic of Lee is self-reliant. Lee decides to leave his home
in suburb and lives in a desert for some years to follow his father who already had
lived in a desert for a long time. The place where he lived gives some influences to
create the characteristics of Lee. He lives alone in the desert so that it drove him
to be accustomed to survive without anyone’s help. He uses everything in nature
to survive. He relies on himself. This characteristic leads him to dislike being
cooperative or having interpersonal relations with people. It can be seen in his
conversation with his brother, Austin. He laughs at Austin’s question whether Lee
missed the people when he lived in desert or not.
AUSTIN. You live in Mojave for three months? LEE. Yeah. What’sa’ matter with that? AUSTIN. By yourself? LEE. Mostly. Had a couple a’ visitors. Had that dog for a while. AUSTIN. Didn’t you miss people? LEE (laughs). People? (2001: 1229)
Here, it can be seen that Lee does not really like to have a relationship with others.
He prefers to live by himself. He also regards himself as the free agent who can
rely on himself without any help from others, even his brother. He pays relatively
little attention to groups he belongs to. Therefore, he ignores Austin’s attention to
him though Austin is his brother.
LEE. Yer not gonna’ have to worry about me! I’ve been doin’ all right without you. I haven’t been anywhere near you for five years! Now isn’t that true? AUSTIN. Yeah
24
LEE. So you don’t have to worry about me. I’m a free agent.
From the dialogue above, it can be seen that Austin tries to take care of Lee, but
Lee refuses to be cared by Austin. It can be assumed that Lee is used to be alone
for a long time and he is used to be without Austin for five years so that he
believes that he can do anything by himself. He always ignores and tends to reject
Austin’s kindness as insults. It is shown by Lee’s dialogue with Austin when
Austin offers Lee if he wants breakfast.
AUSTIN. You want some breakfast or something? LEE. Breakfast? AUSTIN. Yeah. Don’t you eat breakfast? LEE. Look, don’t worry about me pal. I can take care a’ myself. You just go ahead as though I wasn’t even here, allright? (2001: 1228)
` By the dialogue above, it is obvious that Lee tries to reject Austin’s help. He tries
to ignore Austin’s care toward him. Moreover, Lee successfully takes Austin’s
job as a screenwriter and request Lee to help him writing the script. However, Lee
feels so upset when Austin disagree with his story about two men are chasing each
other through Tornado Country. According to Austin, Lee’s story is not a true-to-
life story. Austin does not want to write down such a story, which he regards as
not the real life. It makes Lee decide to go and do the writing by himself. It shows
that he does not want to be depended on his brother, Austin. He is sure that he is
able to write the screenplay even without any help from Austin.
LEE. Never mind where I’m goin’! That’s got nothin’ to do with you. I just gotta get this done. I’m not like you. Hangin’ around bein’ a parasite offa’ other fools. I gotta do this thing and get out. (2001: 1232)
Here, Lee wants to show his independence in taking decision. He also does not
want to be interfered by other’s life. For Lee, everyone has his or her own life,
25
stands alone, and makes his own decisions. It shows his independence to do his
own thing and have it in his own way.
LEE. Nah, you got yer own work to do. I don’t wanna’ interfere with yer life (2001: 1233)
The statement above shows how independent Lee is. He had lived his life in the
desert for a few years so that it creates his characteristics to be self-reliant He
never plans to build a family like his brother, Austin. He regards himself as an
individual who does not need anyone to be relied on. In addition, he just wants a
woman to be a temporary not a permanent partner, because he thinks that he needs
no one to be relied on. He shows it in his following dialogue.
AUSTIN. A woman isn’t the answer. Never was. LEE. I’m not talking about permanent. I’m talkin’ about temporary (2001: 1241).
From the illustration above, Lee shows that he needs a woman but not for a deep
relationship. He seems satisfied with relationships, which are superficial and short-
term. He prefers to be alone rather than to have someone as his companion.
b. Violent
The third characteristic of Lee is violent. Lee has no sense in art because
he lives for so long in the desert, which makes him an uneducated man who
housebreaking neighbor’s houses. This crime leads Lee to have such a violent
manner. He does some violence when Austin, at first, does not want to lend him
the car. Lee feels that his brother insults him by offering him some money instead
of loaning him the car for housebreaking the neighbors’ house. This situation leads
him to do some violence.
AUSTIN. Look, I can give you some money if you need money.
26
( Lee sudenly lunges at Austin, grabs him violently by the shirt and shakes him with tremendous power) LEE. Don’t say that to me! Don’t you ever say that to me! (just as suddenly he turns him loose, pushes him away and backs off). You may be able to git away with that with the Old man. Git him tanked up for a week! Buy him off with yer Hollywood blood money, but not me! I can git my own money my own way. Big money!(p.1227) By looking at the stage direction above, it can be seen that Lee does some violence
to Austin. He becomes so angry and very irritated when Austin tries to offer him
some money. Lee regards Austin’s offer as the insult. Lee does not want to be
depended on Austin. He feels he can stand by himself to get the bigger money. His
violence also emerges when Austin disturbs him when writing the script.
LEE. I’m gonna’ just kick yer ass out in a minute. AUSTIN. Oh, so now you’re gonna kick me out! Now, I’m the intruder. I’m the one who’s invading your precious privacy. LEE. I’m trying to do some screenwriting here!! (Lee stands, pick up the typewriter, slams it down hard on table, pause, silents, except for crickets)
That situation above happens when Lee successfully convinces the producer, Saul
Kimmer, to cook up his Western story and drops his brother’s script. His violence
is not only influenced by his hard life in the desert but also influenced by his habit
of drinking alcohol. Lee is also a terrible drunkard. Therefore, he often loses his
mind and does some violence easily to his brother.
(Morning. Austin is watering plants with a vaporizer. Lee sits at glass table in alcove drinking beer) (2001: 1228) (Night. Coyotes in distance, fade, sound of typewriter in dark, crickets, candlelight in alcove, dim light in kitchen, light reveal Austin at glass table typing, Lee sits across from him, foot on table, drinking beer and whiskey….) (2001: 1231) LEE (sitting up). No, see this one a’ crucial parts. Right here.(taps paper with beer can). We can’t rush through this. He’s not right at the border...... (2001: 1232)
27
There are always some stage directions in every scene describe that Lee always
does something with the beer in his hand. By consuming the alcohol all the time,
Lee shows that he is a drunkard. Therefore, his habit to drink alcohol more or less
gives influence in his behavior to do violence. In addition, he also loves the wild
match of violent fighting dog, which supports his characteristic of violent. Living
in a desert for so long makes him become so primitive and rude. He likes the Pit
bull in the desert, the small but extremely fighting dog.
LEE. I tell ya’ what I’d do if I still had that dog. Ya’ wanna’ know whad I’d do? AUSTIN. What? LEE. Head out to Ventura. Cook up a little match. God that little dog could bear down. Lota’ money in dog fighting’. Big money (2001: 1234).
The dialogue above shows that Lee loves the wild match he has in the desert. He
earns the money by doing the rude and violent job such as being a housebreaker
and cooking up a little match of pit bull. However, he prefers living in the desert
like his father to living in the city. He loves desert because he loves the hard life
that nature provides for him. For Lee, though he lives alone in desert, he feels so
free to do anything. He has no limitation in the desert such as the rules that society
has in the city.
c. Envious
The fourth characteristic of Lee is envious. In the beginning of the play,
Lee appears with his sarcastic way of talking. His sarcastic way of talking shows
that he actually envies his brother’s life. He disconcerts Austin and refuses to
answer Austin’s question clearly. He interrogates Austin as if a child who could
not fulfill his dream. There is an overwhelming sense of sadness or longing in his
conversation.
28
LEE. She gonna’ be up there for a long time? AUSTIN. I don’t know. LEE. Kinda’ nice for you, huh? Whole place to yourself AUSTIN. Yeah, it’s great. LEE. Ya’ got crickets anyway. Tons a’ crickets out there. (looks around kitchen). Ya got groceries? Coffee? AUSTIN (looking up from writing). What? LEE. You got coffee? AUSTIN. Yeah. LEE. At’s good. (short pause) Real coffee? From the bean? AUSTIN. Yeah. You want some? LEE. Naw. I brought some uh—(motions to beer) (2001: 1224)
From the dialogue above, it is obvious that Lee actually envies what Austin got
from their mother. Because of his envy, he interrogates Austin in sarcastic ways
and enjoys disconcerting Austin.
Moreover, when Austin invites him to spend a couple of days with him and
his family up north, he attempts to ridicule Austin, but his words sound rather
embittered and full of resentment.
AUSTIN. You could come up north with me, you know. LEE. What’s up there? AUSTIN. My family. LEE. Oh, that’s right, you got the wife and kiddies now don’t ya’. The house, the car, the whole slam. That’s right. AUSTIN. You could spend a couple days. See how you like it. I’ve got an extra room. LEE. Too cold up there (2001: 1228)
The illustration above wants to show that actually Lee envies Austin who has good
life with his family. The way Lee interrogating Austin sarcastically shows his
envy. Lee admits that he has dissatisfied life. He seems to resent his brother’s Ivy
League Diploma and suburban paradise. When Lee returns homes from a little
tour around the neighborhood, he tells Austin about his potential victims.
AUSTIN. See any houses? (pause)
29
LEE. Couple. Couple a’ real nice ones. One of them didn’t even have a dog. Walked right up and stuck my head in the window. Not a peep. Just a sweet kinda’ suburban silence. AUSTIN. What kind of place was it? LEE. Like a paradise. Kinda’ place that sorta’ kills ya’ inside. Warm yellow lights. Mexican tile all around. Copper pots hangin’ over the stove. Ya’ know like they got in the magazines. Blonde people movin’ in and outa’ the rooms, talkin’ to each other. (pause) Kinda’ place you wish you sorta’grew up in, ya’ know? (2001: 1229).
From Lee’s dialogue above, it seems that Lee yearns for the suburban paradise
Austin has and views his script as an opportunity to change his life around, make
some money and buy a house. Lee says he always wondered what it would be like
to be Austin. Lee’s curiosity here also support the fact that Lee envies Austin’s
suburban middle-class life.
LEE. Maybe so. No harm in tryin’ I guess. You think’ it’s such a hot idea. Besides, I always wondered what’d be like to be you. AUSTIN. You did? LEE. Yeah, sure. I used to picture you walkin’ around some campus with yer arms fulla’ books. Blondes chasin’ after ya’ (2001: 1234).
Austin is drawn to help Lee further in writing the script after telling his confession
that he envies Austin’s comfortable middle-class life. Although Lee successfully
overturns Austin’s life, edging him out with Saul Kimmer by getting his script to
replace Austin’s, Lee feels no less discontent with the life he leads. Therefore, his
envy to have a life like Austin makes him become so sarcastic to Austin then.
2. The Characteristics of Austin
Austin, Lee’s youngest brother, is an educated man who works as a
scriptwriter. He is house sitting their mother suburban bungalow while their
mother takes a vacation trip to Alaska. He appears to help his brother with money
and place in his home. He helps Lee typing his script, and when Lee confesses that
30
he envies Austin’s comfortable middle-class life, Austin is drawn to help Lee
further. Moreover, Austin is intrigued by as much as fearful of his older brother, as
evidenced by his attempts to become more like him by drinking and stealing.
Austin characteristics that are presented in True West are money oriented, envious,
and optimistic as follows.
a. Money Oriented
The second characteristic of Austin is money oriented. As a screenwriter,
he has a project with a Hollywood producer named Saul Kimmer. He offers the
story to the producer and tries to convince him that it is a worthwhile story. Austin
yearns to make his story commercially. For Austin, screenplay for that time is so
precious. It can sell a lot of money if it can be turned into a movie. It can be seen
when Austin is asked by Lee to help him write the outline for Lee’s story. Austin
convinces Lee to get through the story when Lee feels hopeless in writing his
story.
LEE (laughs). A ranch? I could get a ranch? AUSTIN. ‘Course you could. You know what a screenplay sell for these days? LEE. No. What’s it sell for? AUSTIN. A lot. A whole lot of money. LEE. Thousands? AUSTIN. Yeah. Thousands (2001: 1233).
From Austin’s statement above, it can be seen that Austin is obsessed to get much
money from the screenplay he will write. He relies his life on this project. He does
a favor for Lee for the sake of money.
Unfortunately, the producer drops Austin’s story and does Lee’s instead. It
makes Austin disappointed and leads his behavior to be violent. His behavior
changes drastically and his intellect is easily overruled by the pursuits of money.
31
This behavior obviously shows that one of Austin’s characteristics is money
oriented. At first, he does not want to write Lee’s story but both of them make a
deal: Austin will write the script down for Lee as he narrates his story about the
two men that chasing each other across Tornado Country, and Lee, in turn, will
take him to the desert.
AUSTIN. He’s been camped out on the desert for three months. Talking to cactus. What’s he know about what people wanna’ see on the screen! I drive on the freeway ever day. I swallow the smog. I watch the news in color. I shop in the Safeway. I’m the one who’s in touch! Not him! (2001: 1237) Austin’s statement above shows how disappointed he is when losing the money
that he expected for so long. He feels insecure because his eldest brother, Lee,
threatens his financial and well-being livelihood.
His insecurity of his life leads him to behave like Lee, eventually breaking
into the neighbors’ houses, proves to Lee that he can also live in desert, and does
stealing household appliances as Lee had done. He shows that he can produce
money by himself.
AUSTIN. I’ve got hundreds of dollars worth of household appliances here. You may not realize that. (2001: 1240) It shows that Austin loses his intellect and thought easily to pursue wealth.
Money successfully drives Austin to do a criminal thing as his brother, Lee, had
done.
b. Envious
Actually, Austin and Lee envy each other. They seem dissatisfied with
their life. Their mutual jealousy can be seen when both of them admit their
discontented life. Lee admits that he is dissatisfied with his life, and furthermore,
32
he is not immune to the things his brother represents. Lee yearns for the suburban
paradise Austin has and views his script as an opportunity to change his life
around, makes some money and buys a house. After all, Lee says he always
wondered what it would be like to be Austin. Austin, on the contrary, envies
Lee’s drifting way of life. He is attracted to Lee’s independent life and
involvement with the land.
AUSTIN. You lived on the Mojave for three months? LEE. Yeah. What’sa matter with that? AUSTIN. By yourself? LEE. Mostly. Had a couple a’ visitors. Had that dog for a while. AUSTIN. Didn’t you miss people? LEE (laughs). People? AUSTIN. Yeah. I mean I go crazy if I have to spend three nights in a motel by myself (2001: 1229).
By looking at the conversation above, it is obvious that Austin is interested in
Lee’s independence and Lee’s freedom. There is some curiosity in the way
Austin interrogates Lee. Austin thinks that he cannot do such a thing so that it
attracts him.
AUSTIN. Because I always used to picture you somewhere. LEE. Where’d you picture me? AUSTIN. Oh, I don’t know. Different places. Adventures. You were always on some adventure. LEE. Yeah. AUSTIN. And I used to say to myself, “Lee’s got the right idea. He’s out there in the world and here I am. What am I doing?” (2001: 1234).
By that dialogue above, it also proves that Austin often imagines that he can be
like Lee, his brother, who lives freely out there in the desert. Austin used to
longing the adventure that Lee undergoes in his life as well. While Austin is
driven by his desire to abandon everything and escape to the desert, he becomes
violent and surprisingly irrational. He gets drunk and tries to disturb Lee who is
33
trying to write the script by himself. Therefore, Lee offers him to call his wife in
purpose to help him so that he does not intrude Lee’s concentration.
AUSTIN (struggles to stand again). She’s five hundred miles away. North. North of here. Up in the North country where things are calm. I don’t need any help. I’m gonna’ go outside and I’m gonna’ steal a toaster. I’m gonna steal some other stuff too. I might even commit bigger crimes. Bigger than you ever dreamed of. Crimes beyond the imagination! (2001: 1239).
By Austin’s statement above, it can be concluded that Austin tries to imitate Lee.
It shows how Austin also envies Lee’s life in the desert. He wants to be like his
brother who lives without anyone’s help and can do the crime, even bigger crime
than Lee ever dreams of. Austin’s envy appears obviously at that statement.
c. Optimistic
The third characteristic of Austin is optimism. Austin is the ambitious
scriptwriter. Actually, he already prepares for so long to have a project with a
Hollywood producer. He tries hard to convince him to turn his story to a movie but
he failed because Lee’s true- to- life story seems more interesting for the producer.
However, when confronted with stress, insecurity, and obligation, Austin tries to
survive. Positive experiences, such as Lee’s congratulatory praise and promotion
of ideas—rather than objects, reinforce Austin to contribute optimism. Austin’s
ambition can be seen when he tries to convince Lee that writing a script can
produce much money and can turn Lee’s life around. This ambition creates the
characteristic of optimistic of Austin.
AUSTIN. No, really, look, I’ll write it out for you. I think it’s a great idea. LEE. Nah, you got yer own work to do. I don’t wanna’ interfere with yer life.
34
AUSTIN. I mean it’d be really fantastic if you could sell this. Turn it into a movie. I mean it. (pause) LEE. Ya’ think so huh? AUSTIN. Absolutely. You could really turn your life around, you know. Change things (2001: 1233).
Austin’s dialogue above shows clearly his ambition to attain wealth by writing
the script. He convinces Lee to get through his story because it will get good
benefit within it. It shows that although Austin loses his opportunity to turn his
script into movie, he is still optimistic to support his brother to continue his
ambition. However, Austin cannot control himself from his unsecured and
threatened life. When his ambition cannot be fulfilled, he becomes violent and
irrational, disturbing Lee who tries to write.
LEE. I’m a screenwriter now! I’m legitimate. AUSTIN (laughing). A screenwriter! LEE. That’s right. I’m on salary. That’s more’n I can say for you. I got an advance coming. AUSTIN. This is true. This is very true. An advance. (pause) Well, maybe I oughta’ go out and try my hand at your trade. Since you’re doing so good at mine (2001: 1238).
There is some bitterness in Austin’s answer but he tries to be optimistic. His
statement above shows his optimism to live his life as well as his brother. He
believes that he can also produce some advances at Lee’s field as well as Lee
does so good at his field. His optimism also appears when Lee is in a panic
situation. Austin responds Lee in very calm way like everything goes to be all
right and every problem has its solution.
LEE. Just never mind what’s in Bakersfield! You think there’s enough goddamn gas in the car! AUSTIN. Sure. LEE. Sure. You could care less, right. Let me run outa’ gas on the Grapevine. You could give a shit.
35
AUSTIN. I’d say there was enough gas to get you just about anywhere, Lee. With your determination and guts (2001: 1241).
Austin’s answer above shows his confident and optimism. He tries to be calm
when Lee is going to be panic. Lee is in rush to go to Bakersfield in purpose to
find out the beautiful woman that Lee wants to talk with. He suddenly needs a
woman in his desperate situation but he has to get there before morning. Finally,
he fails to find out the woman because nothing seems to support his desire.
LEE. Yeah. (looks at windows) It’s dawn? AUSTIN. Let’s just have some toast and-- LEE. What is this bullshit with the toast anyway! You make it sound like salvation or something. I don’t want any damn toast! How many times I gotta’ tell ya’! (Lee gets up, crosses upstage to windows in alcove, looks out, Austin butter toast) AUSTIN. Well it is like salvation sort of. I mean the smell. I love the smell of toast. And the sun’s coming up. It makes me feel like anything’s possible. Ya’ know? (2001: 1242).
From Austin’s statement above, it can be seen that Austin feels pleasure to have
Lee still with him. He considers it as the new beginning in their life. He hopes
Lee will take him out to the desert and gets a new life. It shows Austin optimism
toward his life.
However, the differences between Lee and Austin become blurred as they
each try to take on characteristics of the other, provoked by envy for the each life
sees the other as leading, and in search of their own missing egos. Austin is
drawn to the romantic possibilities of his brother’s independent life out in the
desert, just as Lee wonders what life would be like as a member of the steady
middle class, making a living by the less dangerous process of writing about life
rather than living it.
36
B. The Reflection of American Values in the Late 1970s through Lee and
Austin’s Characteristics
The second part of the analysis will study the American values in the late
1970s that are reflected through Lee and Austin’s characteristics in Sam
Shepard’s True West. The theory of value is used to help the writer to analyze
what kind of values emerge in the characteristics of both siblings. Besides, the
writer also uses the sociocultural-historical approach to see what happened in
West America at that time which created those values in the society. As stated by
Milton Rokeach in his book, Understanding of Human Values, values are the
conception of the desirable within every individual and society that serve as
standards or criteria to guide action but also judgment, choice, attitude,
evaluation, argument, exhortation, and rationalization (1972: 2). It means the
American values become the guidance for American to act in the society.
American values are values that become the standards of Americans to
guide their action in the society. Those values also define what the American
character is in the great diversity of the United States. Joan Crandall et al in their
book, The American Ways, stated that from the beginning of the history of the
United States, there has been diversity—Native Americans throughout the North
American continent, Spanish settlers in the Southwest and in Florida, French
missionaries and fur traders along the Mississippi River, black slaves brought
from African countries, Dutch settlers in New York, Germans in Pennsylvania,
and, of course, the British colonists, whose culture eventually provided the
language and the foundation for the political and economic systems that
developed in the United States (1997: 22).
37
Based on that pluralism, most American recognized the values, which
emerge in the society. Those values are individual freedom, equality, materialism,
competitiveness, optimism, and hard work. However, in this analysis, the writer
will just focus on the values in the late 1970s that are reflected through the major
characters, namely, individual freedom, materialism, competitiveness, and
optimism. Because of the fact that occurred in American society in the late 1970s,
the writer believes those values existed in the society and influence the author to
create the play True West. The reflection of those values through the
characteristics of Lee and Austin can be seen as follows.
1. Individual Freedom
The first value is individual freedom, which becomes the cornerstone of
American values. Scholars and outside observers often call this value
individualism, but many Americans use the word freedom. Therefore, the United
States came to be associated in their minds with the concept of individual
freedom. There is, however, a price to be paid for this individual freedom is self-
reliance. Individuals must learn to rely on themselves or risk losing freedom.
Crandal et al in their book, The American Ways, stated that most Americans
believe that they must be self-reliant in order to keep their freedom. If they rely
too much on the support of their families or the government or any organization,
they may lose some of their freedom to do what they want (1997: 24).
Based on the explanation above, the writer found that this value of
individual freedom is reflected through the characteristics of Lee. It is reflected in
38
how Lee regards his brother’s help. He always rejects any help and offer from his
brother. It can be seen when Austin offers him some money as follows.
AUSTIN. Look, I can give you some money if you need money. (Lee suddenly lunges at Austin, grabs him violently by the shirt and shakes him with tremendous power) LEE. Don’t you say that to me! Don’t you ever say that to me! (just as suddenly he turns him loose, pushes him away and backs off) You may be able to git away with that with the Old Man. Git him tanked up for a week! Buy him off with yer Hollywood blood money, but not me! I can git my own money my own way. Big money! AUSTIN. I was just making an offer. LEE. Yeah, keep it to yourself! (2001: 1227)
From the illustration above it can be seen that there is a value of individual
freedom in Lee’s characteristics. Lee wants no money from Austin because he
considers himself as a free agent who can do anything he likes without anyone’s
help. It can be seen in the following statement.
LEE. Yer not gonna’ have to worry about me! I’ve been doin’ all right without you. I haven’t been anywhere near you for five years! Now isn’t that true? AUSTIN. Yeah LEE. So you don’t have to worry about me. I’m a free agent (2001: 1227).
The dialogue above describes the reflection of individual freedom through Lee’s
self-reliance. Americans assume this value become the basic value in their society
in the late 1970s so that the people must resent being in situations where they are
not “free to make up their own minds”. It is also reflected when Lee resents his
brother when the brother rejects to help him writing the script of his story because
his brother considers it as a dumb and irrational story. According to Lee he is free
to imagine and create such as story because he feels that he is a free agent with an
opportunity to do his own thing and in his own way.
LEE. I been tellin’ ya’! He said he liked the story a whole lot. It was the first authentic Western to come along in a decade.
39
AUSTIN. He liked that story! Your story? LEE. Yeah! What so surprisin’ about that? AUSTIN. It’s stupid! It’s the dumbest story I ever heard in my life. LEE. Hey, hold on! That’s my story yer takin’ about! (2001: 1235)
Individual freedom in the late 1970s is also influenced by the events occur at that
time. In the late 1970s, during the end of the Vietnam War era there were
inflation, energy worries, and hostages that make the society became frustrated.
When the OPEC increased the oil prices, the economy felt into inflation,
unemployment, and recession. Therefore, several ideological and social trends
underlay in Reagen’s victory in 1980. One of the ideologies is a belief of self-
help or self-reliant, which now remains as the American value namely individual
freedom.
2. Materialism
The second value found in True West is materialism. According to Joann
Crandall et al in their book, The American Ways, placing a high value on material
possession is called materialism (1997: 27). Graham notes that materialism is a
value held by the Americans who believe that material wealth is a measure of
material worth. The success of somebody is also judged by this material wealth.
Therefore, the Americans value a man whether he succeeds or not by his material
wealth that he can make up (1997: 141-142). This value is also reflected through
Lee and Austin’s characteristics.
As a screenplay writer, Austin expects more money from his writing. He is
obsessed of getting much money from his project with the Hollywood producer,
Saul Kimmer. Therefore, Austin supports his brother to get through the story
40
when his brother feels hopeless in writing the story. Austin convinces Lee that
writing the screenplay script will produce much of money. It shows that the value
of materialism is reflected through Austin’s characteristics, namely money
oriented, as seen in the dialogue as follows.
LEE (laughs). A ranch? I could get a ranch? AUSTIN. ‘Course you could. You know what a screenplay sell for these days? LEE. No. what’s it sell for? AUSTIN. A lot. A whole lot of money. LEE. Thousands? AUSTIN. Yeah. Thousands (2001: 1233).
The dialogue above shows how Austin is obsessed of getting a lot of money by
writing the screenplay script. Unfortunately, the producer drops Austin’s story
and does Lee’s instead. It makes Austin feel desperate and insecure with his life.
His disillusionment leads him to be irrational and violent. It proves that material
wealth can easily overrule his intelligence.
AUSTIN. You really don’t think I could steal a crumby toaster? How much you wanna’ bet I can’t steal a toaster! How much? Go ahead! You’re a gambler aren’t you? Tell me how much yer willing to put on the line. Some part of your big advance? Oh, you haven’t got that yet have you. I forgot (2001: 1238).
Austin’s statement above shows his bitterness and disillusionment because the
producer drops his story and does Lee’s instead. It shows that Austin has high
orientation to get money by his writing. Therefore, materialism is reflected
through Austin’s characteristic of his being money oriented.
In True West, the author reflects the material-driven society in the late
1970s so that it influences the author in creating the characters. The impression of
prosperity attained through material wealth in the late 1970s, disgracing one’s
intellect and sickening one’s heart. This idea found in Ashley Holt’s review in his
41
article titled Reciprocal Determinism and Bidirectional Exchange in Sam
Shepard’s “True West”.
In the late 1970s, television is a part of American life. Producing television
shows required the talent of writers, actors, and set designers. Television industry,
especially for motion picture, had a considerable impact on the American
economy at that time (Brown, 1996: 798). By looking at this fact, the writer tries
to relate Austin’s characteristic of being money oriented to the American value of
materialism. Austin as a writer perceived his talent of writing as an opportunity to
get a lot of money at that time. That is why he feels insecure and desperate when
Lee takeover his position as a writer. His life is threatened because he regards a
high value on material position as a measure of someone’s succeed. This attitude
reflects the idea of materialism that placing a high value on material possession
(Graham, 1997: 27). Besides, Lee’s characteristics also reflect the materialism.
When he lived in the desert, he also tries to attain prosperity by doing wild match.
He earns money as much as he can by cooking up a match for his pit bull.
LEE. I tell ya’ what I’d do if I still had that dog. Ya’ wanna’ know what I’d do? AUSTIN. What? LEE. Head out to Ventura. Cook up a little match. God that little dog could bear down. Lota’ money in dog fightin’. Big money (2001: 1234).
From the illustration above, the American value, namely materialism emerges
through Lee’s effort to get big money from the match. Besides, from the match,
Lee also tries to get big money by housebreaking neighbors’ stuff. He often
makes a little tour of the neighbors’ houses every night to see their electric
devices and he enjoys it as if the neighbors do not need that stuff.
AUSTIN. After you break into people’s houses and take their televisions?
42
LEE. They don’t need their television! I’m doin’ them a service (2001: 1233).
Based on the illustration above, it can be seen that materialism appears in Lee’s
characteristics and makes him irrational and primitive. In pursuit the material
wealth, Lee and Austin will do anything. They do not care anymore about art,
religion, and moral goodness, to attain the prosperity because the individual’s
material possession becomes an accepted measure of success and social status at
that time.
3. Competition
The third value found in True West is competition. There is a belief in the
United States that everyone has an equal chance to succeed there. Americans see
much of life as a race for success. If much of life is seen as a race, then a person
must run the race in order to succeed. Therefore, a person must be able to
compete with others. As Graham in his book, American Culture: An Analysis of
It’s Development and Present Characteristics, states that competition means that
each individual shall be able to compete with others. By competition, in other
words, American regards others as their rival (1997: 136).
Competition is reflected through Lee and Austin’s characteristics. This
value can be seen from their own envy to one another. Lee envies Austin’s
middle-class life meanwhile Austin envies Lee’s freedom living in the desert.
Their envy can be seen by their dialogue as follows.
LEE. Maybe so. No harm in tryin’ I guess. You think’ it’s such a hot idea. Besides, I always wondered what’d be like to be you. AUSTIN. You did?
43
LEE. Yeah, sure. I used to picture you walkin’ around some campus with yer arms fulla’ books. Blondes chasin’ after ya’ AUSTIN. Blondes? That’s funny. LEE. What’s funny about it? AUSTIN. Because I always used to picture you somewhere. LEE. Where’d you picture me? AUSTIN. Oh, I don’t know. Different places. Adventures. You were always on some adventure (2001: 1234)
From their dialogue above, it is obvious that they envy each other. Their envies
leads them to the competition when Saul Kimmer, the Hollywood producer has a
movie project. Both of them offer the story that will be turned into a movie. They
regard each other as the rival.
LEE. What’s yer idea? AUSTIN. It’s just a simple love story. LEE. What kinda’ love story? AUSTIN (stands, crosses into kitchen). I’m not telling you! LEE. Ha! ‘Fraid I’ll steal it, huh? Competition’s getting’ kinda’ close to home isn’t it? (2001: 1236). From their dialog above, it can be seen that the competition begins between Lee
and Austin. They try to convince Saul Kimmer, the Hollywood producer that they
have their own great story. However, Saul decides to cook up Lee’s story because
Lee’s story seems so Western. Then, Saul drops Austin’s story but he still
requests Austin as the writer because Lee cannot put his story down on paper.
Knowing Lee’s story becomes the “winner”, Austin does not want to help Lee
writing the story. It reflects the value of competition in Austin’s characteristics.
SAUL. But I want to continue with your project too, Austin. It’s not as though we can’t do both. We’re big enough for that aren’t we? AUSTIN. “We”? I can’t do both! I don’t know about “we”. LEE (to Saul). See, what’d I tell ya’. He’s totally unsympathetic. SAUL. Austin, there’s no point in our going to another screenwriter for this. It just doesn’t make sense. You’re brothers. You know each other. There’s a familiarity with the material that just wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
44
AUSTIN. There’s no familiarity with the material! None! I don’t know what a “goosenecks” is. And I don’t want to know! (pointing to Lee) He’s a hustler! He’s a big hustler than you are! If you can’t see that, then-- (2001: 1236)
Based on their dialogue above, it can be seen that Austin does not treat Lee as his
brother but his rival. According to Austin, there is no familiarity in their material.
it shows that competition is reflected in this siblings. Each of them competes to
be the writer of the screenplay; however, Lee who is uneducated and has no
background of writing is considered as the ‘winner’ of this competition.
Actually, this competition not only happens in writing the screenplay but also in
their home. Lee and Austin compete to be good son for their mother. When
Austin is asked by their mother to keep their house during her vacation, Lee
interrogates Austin.
AUSTIN. You going to be down here very long, Lee? LEE. Might be. Depends on a few things. AUSTIN. You got some friends down here? LEE (laughs). I know a few people. Yeah. AUSTIN. Well, you can stay here as long as I’m here. LEE. I don’t need your permission do I? AUSTIN. No LEE. I mean she’s my mother too, right? AUSTIN. Right. LEE. She might’ve just as easily asked me to care of her place as you. AUSTIN. That’s right. LEE. I mean I know how to water plants (2001: 1227).
From the dialogue above, there is a hidden competition between Lee and Austin.
They compete to be a lovely son that is trusted by their mother in housekeeping
their home during her vacation in Alaska. Lee actually has curiosity why Austin
is asked to keep her mother’s bungalow instead of him.
In the late 1970s, American middle class society experienced inflation,
unemployment, and recession that made the society became frustrated. Everyone
45
tries to get a better life at that time. This condition makes the value of
competition occur at that time. People treats everyone else as the rival even his or
her siblings. The following dialogue also supports this fact.
AUSTIN. You’re my brother. LEE. That don’t mean a thing. You go down to the L.A. Police Department there and ask them what kinda’ people kill each other the most. What do you think they’d say? AUSTIN. Who said anything about killing? LEE. Family people. Brothers. Brothers-in-law. Cousins. Real-American- type people. They kill each other in the heat mostly. In the Smog- Alerts. In the Brush Fire Season. Right about this time a’ year. AUSTIN. This isn’t the same. LEE. Oh no? What makes it different? AUSTIN. We’re not insane. We’re not driven to acts of violence like that. Not over a dumb movie script. Now sit down (2001: 1233). The dialogue above shows the characteristics of competition of Lee over Austin.
He believes that there is no familiarity in material. He treats his sibling as his
rival. Based on this fact, the writer relates this American value of competition in
the late 1970s to the value of competition that is reflected through Lee and
Austin’s characteristics in True West.
4. Optimism
The last value that is reflected through the sibling’s characteristics is
optimism. According to Joan Crandall et al in their book, The American Ways,
the need of self reliance to have an individual freedom encourages Americans to
have a spirit of inventiveness. The willingness to experiment and invent leads to
another American trait, a can-do spirit, namely optimism (1997: 69). For
Americans, they believe that every problem can be solved. This value is reflected
through Austin’s characteristics.
46
Austin is the ambitious scripwriter. He works hard for his script and tries to
convince the producer that he has a good and commercial story. He already
prepares the story for so long but his dream failed because of Lee’s story. Lee’s
story seems more interesting for the producer. However, when confronted with
stress, insecurity, and obligation, Austin tries to survive. Positive experience,
such as Lee’s congratulatory praise and promotion of ideas, reinforces Austin to
contribute optimism. Austin still tries to convince Lee that writing the script can
produce much money and can turn Lee’s life around. This optimism persists in
Austin’s characteristic.
AUSTIN. No, really, look, I’ll write it for you. I think it’s great idea. LEE. Nah, you got yer own work to do. I don’t wanna’ interfere with yer life. AUSTIN. I mean it’d be really fantastic if you could sell this. Turn it into a movie. I mean it. (pause) LEE. Ya’ think so huh? AUSTIN. Absolutely. You could really turn your life around, you know. Change things (2001: 1233).
From the dialogue above, Austin’s optimism can be seen obviously. He still has
an ambition to attain the money and to cook up his story. His optimism is also
reflected when Lee finally writes the story. Austin disturbs Lee in order to hide
his disillusionment. He tries to be optimistic by saying that he may try at Lee’s
trade.
LEE. I’m a screenwriter now! I’m legitimate. AUSTIN (laughs). A screenwriter! LEE. That’s right. I’m on salary. That’s more’n I can say for you. I got an advance coming. AUSTIN. This is true. This is very true. An advance. (pause) Well, maybe I oughta’ go out and try my hand at your trade. Since you’re doing so good at mine (2001: 1238).
47
Austin’s statement above shows his optimism toward his life. He believes that he
can do as best as his brother can. Austin also considers that every problem must
have its solution. Because of his optimistic behavior, he responds Lee’s panicity
very calmly. He behaves as if everything is going to be all right.
LEE. Yeah. (looks at windows) It’s dawn? AUSTIN. Let’s just have some toast and-- LEE. What is this bullshit with the toast anyway! You make it sound like salvation or something. I don’t want any damn toast! How many times I gotta’ tell ya’! (Lee gets up, crosses upstage to windows in alcove, looks out, Austin butter toast) AUSTIN. Well it is like salvation sort of. I mean the smell. I love the smell of toast. And the sun’s coming up. It makes me feel like anything’s possible. Ya’ know? (2001: 1242).
From the dialogue above it is shown that Austin hopes a new beginning in their
life. He wants to start their life from the beginning. Therefore, when Lee is in
rush to go to Bakersfield to find out a woman, Austin just responds Lee’s panicity
calmly.
Moreover, the American society in the late 1970s tries to arise from their
depression. According to Paul S. Boyer, “ by 1960 more than 30 millions student
attended primary school. California opened a new school an average of every
seven days throughout the decade and still faced a classroom shortage” (1990:
1027). In addition, Richard C. Brown in his book, The American Achievement,
said that nearly 30 million people moved from the country in which they had
lived previously lived (1966: 802). It means there is optimism of American at that
time to get the better life. So that, based on this fact, the writer relates this
American value of optimism to Lee and Austin’s characteristic of optimistic in
True West.
48
Overall, the writer believe that the American values in the late 1970s,
namely individual freedom, materialism, competition, and optimism are reflected
in the Sam Shepard’s play, True West, especially on the characteristics of the
main characters, Austin and Lee. In other words, the writer finds that some of Lee
and Austin’s characteristics, which are self- reliant, money oriented, envious, and
optimistic, similar to the American values in 1970s.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
Sam Shepard’s True West leads the writer to formulate two problems to be analyzed. The first problem shows what the characteristics of Lee and Austin in the play and the second shows how the American values in the late 1970s reflected through Lee and Austin’s characteristics . The first character of Lee is self-reliant.
He lives alone in a desert for a long time. Therefore, it drive him to be accustomed to survive without anyone’s help. He relies on himself. He prefers to live by himself so that he rejects Austin’s helps and offers. He regards himself as a free agent who is free to do anything he likes on his own way. He pays relatively little attention to groups he belongs to. Therefore, he ignores Austin’s attention to him though Austin is his brother.
The second characteristic of Lee is violent. His job as a robber leads him to have such a violent manner. For instance, he does some violence toward Austin because Austin refuses to lend him a car. Besides, Lee often does some violence when Austin tries to offer him some money. He regards Austin’s offers as an insult. His violence is not only influenced by his hard life in the desert but also his habit of drinking alcohol. So, he becomes so easily violent when he is drunk. His violence is also seen by his hobby to join Pit bull match in desert.
The third characteristic of Lee is envious. Lee often talks to Austin in sarcastic ways. His sarcastic ways of talking show that he actually envies his brother’s life. He also admits that honestly he wants to have a family like Austin.
Lee envies Austin suburban middle-class life. Lee confesses that he feels no less
49 50
discontent with the life he leads. Meanwhile, Austin, Lee’s younger brother works
as a screenwriter and has some characteristics. The first characteristic is money
oriented. As a screenwriter, he has a project with Hollywood producer named Saul
Kimmer. For Austin, screenplay is so precious because it earns much money if it
can be turned into a movie. He relies his life on this project. It shows how he is
obsessed to get a lot of money. Therefore, he becomes so frustrated when the
producer drops his story and does Lee’s story instead. Suddenly, his
disappointment changes him to be so violent. His insecurity of his life leads him to
behave like Lee and become a robber of toasters. His behavior and his intellectual
are easily overruled by the pursuit of money. This behavior shows obviously that
one of Austin’s characteristics is money oriented. Money successfully drives
Austin to do such a crime.
The second characteristic of Austin is envious. Austin seems dissatisfied
with his life. He envies Lee’s independence and involvement with the land. Austin
admits that he often imagines that he can be like his brother, Lee, who lives freely
out there in the desert. Austin used to longing the adventure that Lee undergoes in
his life. While Austin is driven by his desire to abandon everything and escape to
the desert, he becomes violent and surprisingly irrational. Austin’s behavior shows
his envy toward Lee.
The third characteristic of Austin is optimistic. Because of his ambition to
write the screenplay, Austin tries to convince the Hollywood producer, Saul
Kimmer, to consider his story. This ambition creates the characteristic of
optimistic of Austin. Unfortunately, the producer drops Austin’s story. However,
he still supports Austin to write the story by saying that it will attain much money.
51
His optimism is also shown when Lee is in panic situation. Austin makes Lee to be
calm like everything goes to be all right and every problem has its solution.
By looking at the review on social condition of American in the late 1970s,
in which the economy felt to inflation, unemployment, and recession, there are
some American values emerged in the late 1970s. Some of those values are
reflected in Lee and Austin’s characteristics. Those values are individual freedom,
materialism, competition, and optimism. The first value is individual freedom,
which becomes the cornerstone of American value. The price to be paid for the
individual freedom is self-reliance. Therefore, it can be seen that individual
freedom is reflected through Lee’s self-reliance. It is shown by how Lee rejects
Austin’s help. Lee refuses Austin’s money because he considers himself as a free
agent who can do anything he likes without anyone’s help.
The second value is materialism. Materialism is a value held by the
Americans who believe that material wealth is a measure of success. This value is
reflected through Austin’s characteristic, which is money oriented, and Lee’s
characteristic of violent. Austin is obsessed to get much money by writing the
screenplay meanwhile Lee tries to get much money by doing housebreaking and
dog fighting. It shows how they pursue the material wealth. Lee and Austin will
do anything because the individual’s material possession becomes an accepted
measure of success and social status at that time.
The third value is competition. Americans believe that everyone has an
equal chance to succeed there. Therefore, a person must be able to compete and
regard others as the rival. Competition is reflected through Lee and Austin’s
characteristics, which is envious. Lee envies Austin’s middle-class life meanwhile
52
Austin envies Lee’s freedom living in the desert. The competition is also seen
when the Hollywood producer decides to cook up Lee’s story, suddenly Austin
regards his brother as his rival.
The fourth value is optimism. The need of self-reliance to have an
individual freedom encourages Americans to have a spirit of inventiveness. The
willingness to experiment and invents leads to another American trait, a can-do
spirit, namely optimism. Americans believe that every problem has its solution.
This value is reflected obviously through Austin’s characteristic, namely
optimistic. Austin’s optimistim can be seen when Austin still tries to survive
although the producer drops his story. He tries to be optimistic by saying that he
may try at Lee’s trade since Lee is good at Austin’s. Austin believes that he can do
as best as his brother can. However, Austin considers that every problem must
have its solution.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms 3 rd ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc., 1981.
Althen, Gary. American Ways: A Guide For Foreigners in the United States. Maine: Intercultural Press Inc., 1988.
Baldick, Chris. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Barnet, Sylvan., Morton Berman, and William Burto. An Introduction to Literature. Boston: Little, Brown,and Co, 1963.
Blum, John. M., Arthur M.S,Jr., William S Mcfeely, Kenneth M. Stampp, Edmun S. Morgan, and C. Vann Woodward. The National Experience. A history of the united states.sixth edition. California: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.,1985.
Boyer, Paul S., Clifford E. Clark Jr., Joseph F. Kett, Neal Salisbury, Harvard S., and Nancy Woloch. The Enduring Vision: A History Of The American People. Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1990.
Brown, Richard C, William C. Lang, and Mary A.Wheeler. The American Achievement. Morristown: Silver Burdett Company, 1996.
Crandall, Joann, Maryanne Kearny D., and Edward N. Kearny. The American Ways.second edition. Upper Sadle River: Prentice Hall Regents, 1997.
Graham, Saxon. American Culture: An Analysis of Its Development and Present Characteristic. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1957.
Guth, Hans P.and Gabrielle L. Rico. Discovering Literature, Stories, Poems, Plays. Second edition. Englewood Cliffs: A Blair Press Book Prentice Hall Inc., 1997.
Holman, Hugh and Harmon William. A Handbook to Literature. New York: McMillan Publishing Company, 1966.
Holt, Ashley. Reciprocal Determinism and Bidirectional Exchange in Sam Shepard’s “True West”The Bedford Introduction to Drama. 4th edition. Boston: Bedford, 2001.
53
Liebman, R. Rebekah, and Gertrude A. Young. The Growth of America. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1966.
Murphy, M.J. Understanding Unseen. London: George Allen and Unwin Inc., 1988.
Perrine, Laurence. Literature: Sound and Sense. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich Inc., 1974. Madachi, Paul Seamus. The Nightmare of The Nation: Sam Shepard and The Paradox of American Identity.Dissertation. Maryland: University of Maryland. 2003. < https://drum.umd.edu/dspace/bitstream/1903/323/1/dissertation.pdf >. (March 8th 2008) . Rohrberger, Mary and Samuel H.Woods. Reading and Writing About Literature. New York: Random House, Inc., 1971.
Rokeach, Milton. Understanding Human Values: Individual and Societal. New York: Harper and Row, 1979.
Stanton, Robert. An Introduction to Fiction. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc., 1965.
Wonk, Dalt. “True Fiction”. Art and Leisure; Gambit Weekly( March 2nd 1995).
Zanden, James. W. Vander. Social Psychology. New York: Random House, Inc., 1984.
Robin, Gerald, Sylvan Barnet, William Burto, and Lesley Ferris. Types of Drama. New York: Longman Publisher, 2001.
54
APPENDIX
The Summary of True West
Lee and Austin are brothers. Lee is a housebreaker who lives for three
months in desert. Meanwhile, his younger brother, Austin is an early thirty,
middle-class man who works as a screenwriter. One day, Austin is asked by
mother to keep her house while she takes her vacation to Alaska. Lee who lives in
desert is also there, not for housesitting but for stealing. Not having seen each
other for five years makes their conversation become uncomfortable. Tension
occurs when discussing their father. Lee becomes increasingly threatening,
mocking Austin’s scriptwriting, talking about housebreaking their neighbors, and
acting insulted to Austin’s offer to help. Later, Saul Kimmer, the Hollywood
producer visits Austin to discuss his screenplay but at that time Lee comes home
bringing his stolen television set. Lee talks about golf game to Saul and
successfully convince him that he has an interesting true- to-life story.
The next day, after the golf game, Lee comes home happily because the
producer has agreed to produce Lee’s script and drop Austin’s. Austin feels
disappointed and feels insulted when the producer asks him to write the screenplay
for Lee’s ridiculous western story. Lee also asks Austin to help him write the
script after telling his envious of Austin’s life. Austin rejects Lee’s request. He
feels insecure and it provokes him to drink, steal, and behave like Lee. Even,
Austin asks Lee to take him into the desert, which Lee agrees to do if Austin will
help him to finish the script.
55
Suddenly, their mother come back home earlier from her vacation. When
they talk about the reason the mother come home earlier, Austin declares that the
brothers want to go live in desert. Lee directly says that they will not go together.
Lee tries to go but suddenly Austin chokes Lee with phone cord. Their mother
asks Austin to stop choking his brother but Austin did not listen. The mother
cannot stand it any longer. She decides to leave home and stay in a motel. When
Austin thinks that he has killed Lee, he begins to go but Lee instantly is on
Austin’s feet and moves toward exit, blocking Austin’s escape.
56