Austin

Character Analysis

Little Brother Done Good

At the top of the play, Austin seems to have everything going for him. He's a relatively young man in his early 30s, he's got a family in Northern California, he's working for good money as a writer, and he's on the brink of getting his next project into the hands of a producer. Even his upbringing sounds like it was solid. At the very least, we find out that he attended an Ivy League school, and they don't let just anyone into those places.

Looks Can be Decieving

As normal as Austin appears, the mere presence of Lee leads the audience to believe that maybe his past wasn't as run-of-the-mill as they might think. After all, we find out pretty quickly that Lee steals things for a living and spends time out in the desert. More important (at least for Austin), we discover that part of Austin has always envied his brother's life:

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 […]. 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?" (1.4.243-249)

This exchange proves to be one of the most important in the play. Not only does it foreshadow the transformation that Austin undergoes, it also hints at the fact that Austin might not necessarily be happy with the life he has chosen.

Whenever Austin talks about Lee's life or how he imagined it, he always focuses on things like adventure and freedom. This could lead one to believe that Austin sees his own relatively normal life as one that is constrained and without the chance to go and find excitement wherever it may lie.

Couple this with the information that his father is estranged and basically lives out in the desert himself, and you start to get the feeling that Austin is the true outcast of the family. His "normalcy" doesn't fit with the other men in his family.

His envy of Lee's life, along with the fact that Lee essentially steals a piece of his own life when Lee and Saul strike up their deal, leads Austin to, in a very real way, pursue life as Lee. He starts with a simple task of stealing toasters:

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? (2.7.69-70)

On one level, this moment can be seen as the beginning of Austin's descent into madness and depravity. However, if you shake things up a little, you could argue that this is the moment that Austin starts living the life he truly wants to live.

He's successful, seemingly happy, and doing the things that most people are expected to do in life (get a good job, start a family, etc.), but he's really just a little brother who is still envious of his big brother, even though Big Brother's life would look like a complete and utter mess to an outsider.

When Lee starts working on his screenplay for Saul, Austin basically takes it as a challenge. If Lee can live Austin's life, then Austin can live Lee's life. Soon after Lee turns into a "writer," Austin heads out into the night and starts ripping off toasters from the locals. Yeah, that'll show 'em. Silly as it is, this is a major step in Austin's transformation, and things never get back to normal after he takes that step.

Austin Unleashed

Austin's transformation into the man he might have always dreamed of being comes when he attacks Lee. He's already begun to picture himself living with his brother out in the desert, he's already turned himself into a thief, and now he proves himself to be the physical equal to his older brother. In the end, the two stare at each other, each waiting to see what happens next. For all intents and purposes, they're equals now.

This isn't what you would think a successful screenwriter with a wife and kids would want out of life, but it's possible that this is the moment Austin has searched for his entire life. Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this.