Prompt 8: Buried Child

Buried Child, by Sam Shepard, portrays a seemingly realistic world at first glance. Although the story he tells us is disturbing and far from ideal, it is, for the most part, believable. We see a few days in the life of a broken, highly dysfunctional, family of farmers full of hidden motives, secrets, and shocking discoveries and events. It is easy for us to believe a family such as this one exists, regardless of how unsettling, a drunk, an amputee, an absent father, and a deceased son can all be viewed as realistic aspects of the world of this play. However, there are several key elements, most of them in repetition, that emulate an unrealistic plot. In some cases, these instances made me question whether or not the story would turn out to be a dream as they placed an "imaginary" vibe onto the planet of Buried Child. For example, the over abundance of corn that was never planted, yet somehow appeared on the farm, the fact that Tilden doesn't recognize his own son, the common thread of denial within Halie, Dodge, Bradley, and Tilden that justifies the awful way they treat one another, and their ability to have gone this long without discussing and solving the conflicts that have them bound to a life of misery. These questions are never answered, and continually present themselves throughout the story. Shelly seems to be the only sane character, by viewing the world of the play from her perspective, the audience is able to notice the surplus of irony, ambiguity, and complexity that defines the realistic world of this play to be unrealistic. Reading Buried Child  is an interesting experience, leaving you confused and deeply conflicted.