Sam Shepard Challenges the Validity of the American Dream...

In the days when the Puritans first settled in the New World, the American Dream motivated the displacement of the original owners of the land for European settlers and a feeling of entitlement to the land from â€Å"sea to shining sea.† In his work, Buried Child, Sam Shepard challenges the validity of the American Dream, both in its original form of entitlement to the land and its resources, and in its modern form as the search for prosperity and family. Perhaps, Shepard asserts, the American Dream stands inherently unstable due to its beginnings in religion, which he portrays as helpless and empty. As its foundation in religion is made of sand, the house of the American Dream crumbles before the storm of reality. Father Dewis represents the†¦show more content†¦When she awakes him, he glares at her and plies Vince to get him more whisky. He is unable to fulfill his role as the provider his family, due to his immobility and alcoholism, yet still acts as patriarch. On the other hand, the mother figure of the American Dream cares for each member of the family, and keeps the family a strong unit. However, when Vince and Shelly arrive, Halie is absent, out with Father Dewis instead of caring for her own family. In terms of the strong American family, neither Dodge nor Tilden remembers Vince. Through the perversion of the typical American roles and the eyes of an outsider, Shepard quickly reveals the American Dream is a faà §ade. Dodge’s failure as a farmer, yet Tilden’s success as a harvester, challenges the American Dream’s claim to the fruits of the land as God-given gifts as absurd. Dodge lives in the very fertile Midwest, where growing crops should not be difficult, however the Dream is impossible to achieve, as nothing has grown since 1935. Tilden, however, who does not harvest food for means of achieving his own prosperity, turns up with a bumper crop. For seemingly no reason, the yard is very fertile for Tilden, who did not work for his harvest. To emphasize the ludicrousness of this idea, the food Tilden brings symbolizes death and suspicion, rather than sustenance and family ties. Dodge very suspiciously demands to know where Tilden got the corn, and will not believe that he got it in he backyard, representingShow MoreRelatedMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 PagesEDITOR George Hoffman Lise Johnson Carissa Doshi Dorothy Sinclair Matt Winslow Amy Scholz Carly DeCandia Alana Filipovich Jeof Vita Arthur Medina Allison Morris This book was set in 10/12 New Caledonia by Aptara ®, Inc. and printed and bound by Courier/Westford. The cover was printed by Courier/Westford. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright  © 2009, 2006, 2004, 2001, 1998, 1995, 1992, 1989, 1986, 1981, 1976 John Wiley Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication