Darwinian Literary Analysis of Sam Shepard’s Buried Child

Andrew Stutts

Sam Shepard’s Buried Child is a tragic play about one family’s distorted life.  The drama is a morbid look at an American Midwestern family with a dark, awful secret: Years ago, Tilden, the eldest of three sons belonging to Dodge and Halie, committed an act of incest with his mother.  She bore his child, a baby boy, which Dodge drowned and buried in the field behind their farmhouse.  The act of incest and the resultant murder in this play could be seen as a social commentary on a breakdown in the ethical steadfastness and moral fabric which embodies the typical American family.  The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon and analyze this dreadful tale from a Darwinian and evolutionary psychological perspective.

One potential explanation for Dodge killing the baby is something in evolutionary psychology called the “Cinderella Effect”, obviously taking its name from the fairy tale character.  According to the “Cinderella Effect” it is purported that higher incidents of different forms of child-abuse and mistreatment are perpetrated in families by stepparents than by biological parents.  In fact “the Cinderella effect is well substantiated in crime data.  Children growing up in step families are about 40 times as likely to be abused and 140 times as likely to be murdered as children growing up with both natural parents (murder still being a low probability)” (Barber) . Evolutionary psychologists describe the effect as a remnant of an adaptive reproductive strategy among primates where males frequently kill the offspring of other males in order to bring their mothers into estrus, and give the male a chance to fertilize her himself. 

Although the child was Dodge’s own grandson, the “Cinderella Effect” is a very plausible motivation for its murder.  Due to the bizarre circumstances behind the child’s conception Dodge did not perceive the child as his own or a part of his family.  It must be remembered that he and his wife were sleeping apart for six years and did not have relations for a long time.   This is not to say that Dodge did not know about or suspect an incestuous relationship between Tilden and his mother.  However, Dodge’s psychological perception and reaction were the same if the baby’s father was a stranger. When Tilden fathered a child with Dodge’s wife, Halie, he became no longer a son but a rival, even if that was not his intention. Therefore, he reacted to this child in a manner consistent with the Cinderella Effect mentioned earlier.

Tilden incestuous act emasculated his father in numerous ways, causing Dodge to become an ineffectual patriarch.  As the family patriarch, Dodge is meant to be the breadwinner and ethical guardian of the family; however, he took on the role of a derisive alcoholic who is bullied and browbeaten by his wife and children.  Their actions and treatment only served to further disempower him. His character reflects failed patriarchs in America who have failed to create the family environments idealized in the American Dream.  He has no love left for his family as noted in the following quote: “You think just because people propagate they have to love their offspring? You never seen a bitch eat her puppies?” (Sheppard, 90).    

This undermining of the family patriarch sparked a power struggle within the family.  It was not clear initially which family member would take the mantle of patriarchal leader.  At first it would appear that the one legged bully Bradley would usurp Dodge as the head of the family.    Bradley was responsible for Dodge’s appearance and the ugly haircuts he purposely administered to his father.  Bradley’s disrespect of his father demonstrated that he was more than prepared to remove Dodge from his “throne” and thus the sofa often became the target of his aggression.

However, this son had a wooden leg and not a modern, light prosthetic one.   This may have served the purpose symbolically to emphasize his parents’ indifference to his needs and comfort or it may have represented and confirmed their poverty.  Regardless, Bradley’s disability was viewed as a burden upon the family.   Furthermore, once the veneer of his intimidating demeanor was overcome, as in the instance where Vince girlfriend, Shelly, took his leg, he was revealed as weak and unfit to lead the family.   This reflects nature where eventually only the physically and mentally strong prevail.

Although he is the oldest son, Tilden makes no real attempt to claim patriarchy. He

places corn in Dodge’s lap, later he covers him with a blanket, and finally places the husks of

corn on him.  This could be viewed as his ultimate submission to his father or seen as literally burying him, as was done to Tilden’s own baby. However, he does not further pursue his rights to inherit the farm and become the head of the family. Instead he chooses to only remain a victim of his own actions.  In nature, victims never prevail much less lead a family.

The character of Father Dewis although not a direct contender for the position of family patriarch, due to his being outside the family, does not help with the disempowering of Dodge.  In fact, his apathy is as much a contribution to Dodge’s emasculation as any of the family member’s conduct.  He is adulterous and fails to fulfill the role of moral guardian assigned to him by society, thus reflecting the breakdown of morality and ethics within America.

The family’s secret destroyed them to such a degree that it could be considered a curse. Dodge stopped planting crops in his fields and took to smoking, drinking, and watching television from a worn out old couch.  Halie, evidently looking for some sort redemption, feverously turned to religion. She espoused Christian virtues while at the same time fooled around with the hypocritical Father Dewis.  Tilden who went mad with guilt and remorse, spent time in jail in New Mexico and just recently returned to the farm.  His motivation for coming home could have been an attempt to set everything right. The family’s secret was drawn out into the light of day, with the arrival of Vince, Tilden's estranged son, and his girlfriend, Shelly.

Finally, when the time had come to transfer the realms of patriarchy to his heir, in his living will, Dodge left the farm to Vince.  There was some hope that Vince will be the one to restore the family’s legacy without the curse.  Tilden was allowed to get the tools only if he stayed on the farm, and Bradley was not even mentioned in the will at all. Now that the new family patriarch was in power, Dodge could disappear, and he was actually doing so by dying soundlessly and unnoticeably. He left behind the barren legacy of a cursed patriarch and crippled offspring.  He was not only a murderer but also a victim and a victimizer.  Despite the hope that was seen in Vince this family is not a success story under the scrutiny of Darwinism but how successful can a family be with a drunken patriarch, an aberrant matriarch, a demented and confused son, and another one-legged son who terrorized the family?

Works Cited

Appleman, Philip. Darwin, texts, commentary. 3rd. New York, NY: W W Norton & Co Inc, 2001. Print.

Barber, Nigel. "Do Parens Favor Natura Children." Human Beast. (200): n. page. Web. 21 May. 2013. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/200906/do-parents-favor-natural-children-over-adopted-ones>.

Mitani, John. Evolution of Primate Societies. 2012. eBook.

Shepard, Sam. Buried Child. New York: Vintage Books, 1979. eBook.

Wagner, Tsipi. Secular Understanding and Shattering the Myth of the American Dream: A Chronological Analysis of Changing Attitudes and Depictions of Murder within the Twentieth-Century