Shepard delves into the idea of freedom almost immediately in the play. At their mother's house, it's clear that Lee feels confined. Everyday life and all of the sights, sounds, and smells that come with it just don't suit him. "Those are the most monotonous f***in' crickets I ever heard in my life" (1.1.148-149) makes it very clear early on that Lee is not at home here. He finds his freedom in the desert, where he's not bound to anyone or anything.
While this life is confining for Lee, Austin finds freedom in it (at least at the start of the play). This life has afforded him a good income, the ability to spend his time writing, and a chance to, more or less, make his own schedule and go where he wants to go. Thinking that everyone must want the kind of freedom he has, he offers Lee money to help him out.
Austin: Look, I can give you some money if you need money.
(LEE lunges at AUSTIN[…])
Lee: Don't you say that to me! Don't you ever say that to me! (1.1.136-139)
At this point in the play, the brothers' view of what makes a man free and what confines a man are very different. Throughout the play, though, Austin's view of the world will fall more in line with Lee's, and he will come to discover that he feels trapped by the life he has chosen. The only solution, as he sees it, is to leave it all behind and flee to the desert with Lee.
Questions About Freedom and Confinement
- What aspects of the desert attract Lee and Austin?
- Are the brothers confined by their surroundings or are they confined by their past?
- How does Shepard clue the reader/audience into the brothers' differing ideas about freedom early in the play?
- Can anyone truly be free? (Boom! It just got existential up in here.)
Chew on This
Regardless of where they go or what they do, the brothers will never truly be free, because they are unable to shake their past and their family.
Shepard spends so much time having the brothers argue over the car keys because ultimately the car is the only means of escape for both of them.