Analysis Of 'The Old Man'

Submitted By matalyn
Words: 3194
Pages: 13
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Evan Meyers
1102 TH 3:30 PM
Essay 3

Topic 1
a) Listing
Austin-
Symbol
Idea/Reason
Nice clothes, dressed clean
Book smart, a clean person
Wanting to eat breakfast
Sense of new beginning
Toaster oven
Steals neighbors toaster ovens to prove to Lee he can be bad
Plants
His responsibility to take care of the plants, shows mom’s structure and order New West
The Old Man
Austin is scared to become like him
Mom
Austin may become like mom

Lee
Symbol
Idea/Reason
Plates
Wants to bring with him to desert
Ring
To try to prove to Saul his screenplay could be successful
Outfit
Rough, hard life, True West
Alcohol
To help with emotions, shows his craziness
Car Keys to escape
Desert
Represents the myth of a chance of a new beginning at life and a new beginning at forming a new identity
House
Lee doesn’t like houses at first

Saul-
Symbol
Idea/Reason
Suit- dress attire
Businessman, good money
Sal himself
True beginning of big conflict

b)
When the play begins, Austin is working on writing a screenplay. The play takes place in Austin’s mother’s house. Austin told his mother he would watch the house for her while she was gone. Austin lives in a house, has a car, family and is dressed nice and looks clean which all symbolize the smart side of Austin and show he is a clean person. Austin lives with his wife, who was also gone for the weekend. His mother left him with the responsibility of taking care of the house. Austin’s mom has many plants inside her house, which she asked Austin to water regularly and to watch out for. The mom suddenly walks in the house. Austin was confused why she came home so early, but she quickly says “I just started missing my plants,” but as she says it she looks and sees that her plants are dead. Austin shows his mom that he doesn’t have any responsibility and wasn’t able to do one thing his mom asked him to do. The plant also symbolizes the structure and shows how clean his mom tries keeping everything. Austin grew up just like his mom and was always responsible, but the dead plants symbolize that Austin is turning into a irresponsible person like Lee. After Austin and Lee’s long night of drinking and arguing about the play, Austin went out of his way to make sure him and Lee sat down and ate breakfast together. This symbolizes the sense of wanting a new beginning for Austin. At this time in the play, Austin realizes that his life has been a waist and wants to start over. The old man is said to be like Lee. The old man lives in a desert just like Lee does, and the old man can symbolize what Austin can become if he follows Lee to the desert and stays with him. The old man felt the need to escape the traps he faced in modern day life. Austin begins to feel the need to escape everything, saying that he had nothing here for him anymore and almost killed Lee, which showed how important it really was for him to move to the desert. The mom represents someone who Austin resembles. In the last scene, the mom walks into her kitchen to see a huge mess. She sees her two sons arguing and fighting but does nothing to help the situation. The mom is a great symbol for Austin because throughout the entire play, Lee acts as if he is Austin’s leader and demander, but just stands there and lets Lee do whatever he wants to him. Austin and his mom both show a major lack of control. These are all examples of different symbols throughout the play that can relate to Austin.
Lee is the crazy one of the two brothers. When he arrives at Austin’s house, he is dressed in a dirty cut up shirt, has a lot of facial hair and looks like he hasn’t showered in years, which all symbolize the rough, hard life Lee lives. Lee lives in a desert, which symbolizes the myth of the chance of a new beginning. The old man went to the desert for a chance at a new beginning and Lee followed his old man’s steps. The desert could also symbolize the meaning of True West. Lee didn’t have access to a car and was never able to eat a good lunch. Lee had to catch
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