顧文

【Abstract】?In?True?West?which?takes?family?as?its?basis，?the?image?of?the?desert?plays?an?irreplaceable?role?in?revealing?the?plot?as?well?as?the?contradiction?among?the?characters?and?the?ambivalence?of?their?psychological?activities.?The?two?opposite?concepts?that?the?desert?stands?for?hang?together?with?the?two?patterns?of?the?family?at?the?authors?time.

【Key?words】?desert family ?ambivalence ?revelation

【中圖分類號(hào)】I207.25???????????【文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識(shí)碼】A??????????????????【文章編號(hào)】2095-3089（2015）17-0002-01

1.?Introduction

True?West?was?written?by?the?noted?American?dramatist?and?actor?Sam?Shepard.?Being?his?final?masterpiece?of?the?family?trilogy，?it?is?inspired?and?created?based?on?the?vivid?life?pictures?and?American?popular?cultures?at?the?authors?time.?Thus?in?the?meantime，?it?succeeds?in?catering?for?the?literary?trend?at?that?time，?as?Arthur?Miller?remarked?in?an?interview?in?1976，?“The?family?is?still?the?central?matrix?of?the?entire?civilization.”?（Martin?&?Meyer，?1976：397-404）?It?narrates?the?conflicts?between?two?estranged?brothers，?Austin，?a?decent-dressed?Hollywood?screenwriter?and?Lee，?a?vagrant?from?the?west.?All?the?scenes?occur?in?the?same?place—the?house?of?their?mothers，?which?implies?that?family?is?the?keynote.?However，?throughout?this?play，?“desert”?is?a?frequently?appearing?image?that?literally?seems?to?be?in?sharp?contrast?with?this?keynote.?This?paper?aims?to?make?an?analysis?on?the?image?of?desert?so?as?to?reveal?its?subtle?relationship?with?the?theme?as?well?as?the?contradictions?that?permeate?the?whole?play.

2.?Family?Members?in?Connection?with?the?Desert

In?True?West，?a?family?which?has?ceased?to?exist?except?in?name?is?presented?in?front?of?the?readers.?In?this?sense，?“desert”?is?in?appropriate?accordance?with?this?family，?as?the?former?is?naturally?associated?with?the?concept?of?“bareness，?sterility，?desolation?and?toughness”.?By?comparison，?the?family?in?this?play?is?more?or?less?similar：?on?the?one?hand，?the?four?members?are?directly?or?indirectly?connected?with?the?desert.?The?father，?though?is?an?invisible?character?off?stage，?can?be?on?the?whole?acquainted?with?through?conversations?by?the?characters?on?the?stage.?It?is?towards?the?end?of?the?play?that?the?fathers?whereabouts?is?distinctly?exposed：

In?view?of?the?conversation?above，?their?father?has?left?the?family?for?his?adventure?in?the?desert?long?before.?The?mother，?as?the?author?makes?clear?from?the?very?beginning?of?the?play，?has?taken?off?for?Alaska，?a?well-known?glacial?“desert”.?As?for?the?two?brothers?respectively，?Lee，?a?wanderer，?has?just?returned?from?the?desert?in?the?west;?Austin，?although?seems?to?have?nothing?to?do?with?the?desert，?finally?expresses?his?extreme?eagerness?to?seek?freedom?and?relief?in?the?west.?On?the?other?hand，?indifference?and?alienation?among?family?members?make?the?house?as?desolate?as?a?desert.?As?mentioned?above，?the?father?has?cut?off?from?the?family?for?a?long?time，?thus?a?large?gap?must?have?been?existing?between?him?and?the?other?three.?When?the?two?brothers?talk?about?their?father，?“the?old?man”?is?the?only?name?that?come?out?unfeelingly?from?their?mouths.

3.?Implications?of?the?Desert

Nevertheless，?apart?from?the?sterility?and?indifference?that?the?desert?originally?stands?for，?it?is?bestowed?more?complicated?meanings?by?the?author.?For?the?men?of?this?family，?as?well?as?a?large?number?of?the?nations?residents?who?seek?to?find?release?out?of?the?tough?living?conditions?at?that?time，?the?desert?is?all?the?more?a?wonderland?of?myth，?hope?and?freedom?than?a?barren?place.?In?a?way，?the?desert?sends?forth?irresistible?charm?and?temptation，?as?Frederick?Jackson?Turners?frontier?theory?indicates，?“free?land?is?put?in?overt?opposition?to?the?city.

Here，?one?factor?that?impels?them?to?make?the?deeds—the?American?Dream，?can?not?avoid?being?mentioned.?Since?the?nations?independence，?American?Dream?has?been?regarded?as?a?divine?creed?that?inspires?millions?of?Americans?to?strive?for?their?fullest?development?and?bright?future.?While?in?1960s?and?1970s?when?social?turbulence?had?brought?the?whole?nation?into?an?abysm?of?restlessness?and?aimlessness，?people?tended?to?rely?on?the?American?Dream?to?confront?the?challenges?brought?about?by?the?reality.?As?a?result，?they?never?gave?up?the?hope?to?find?a?more?decent?place?for?release?and?rebirth.

4.?Images?of?Desert?and?Family

On?the?whole，?the?desert?in?this?play?is?a?contradictory?combination?of?sterility?and?hope，?affliction?and?release，?as?well?as?paralysis?and?rebirth.?This?seeming?paradox?yet?is?worth?being?turned?over?in?our?mind?again?and?again.?Further?speaking，?the?ambivalence?which?exists?in?the?image?of?the?desert?is?more?or?less?the?same?as?what?lies?in?the?family.?As?the?Ameican?society?is?confronted?with?the?profound?social?transition?shifting?from?the?agrarian?mode?to?the?capitalist?and?industrial?mode，?peoples?value?of?family?has?to?be?developed?at?the?same?pace?so?as?to?resist?the?potential?assault?on?family?integrity.

Back?to?True?west，?the?protagonist?Austin?is?puzzled?by?the?inner?conflicts?as?well.?The?image?of?“family”?for?him，?on?the?one?hand，?is?“the?family?of?security”，?under?the?protection?of?which?he?has?lived?since?childhood.?Not?only?is?he?connected?with?his?parents?and?brother，?but?he?also?has?his?wife?and?children.?That?is?to?say，?apparently，?sufficient?evidence?is?provided?to?prove?that?by?the?family?attachment，?there?is?no?need?for?him?to?be?got?caught?up?into?the?ambivalence?of?“protection”?and?“freedom”.?Everything?seems?to?be?in?the?right?order?until?his?brothers?intrusion.

5.?Conclusion

Through?the?image?of?the?desert，?Sam?Shepard?skillfully?merge?the?varied?scenes?into?an?organic?whole.?In?the?meantime，?by?the?analysis?of?this?seemingly?simple?image，?the?contradictions?and?struggles?both?among?the?characters?and?within?each?of?them?are?exposed?to?the?readers?step?by?step.?The?ambivalence?that?the?desert?shows?is?interlinked?with?that?of?the?family.?Apart?from?this，?the?social?background?is?reflected?and?then?naturally?taken?into?consideration?to?explore?the?conflicts?among?the?characters?and?more?importantly，?the?psychological?ambivalence?of?the?individual.

References：

[1]?Carol?Rosen，?“?‘Emotional?Territory：?An?Interview?with?Sam?Shepard，”?Modern?Drama?（1993）

[2]?J.?Chris?Westgate，?“Negotiating?the?American?West?in?Sam?Shepards?Family?Plays”，?Modern?Drama?（2005）

[3]李維屏.?英美現(xiàn)代主義文學(xué)概觀[M].上海：上海外語教育出版社，?1998.