Curse of the Starving Class (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Sam Shepard
- First Published: 1976
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Mythic
- Time of Work: The 1970’s
- Setting: California
- Genres: Realism, Social realism, Drama, Psychological drama, Mythological literature
- Subjects: Values, 1970’s, Family or family life, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Tradition, Alienation, California, West, U.S., Alcoholism or alcoholics, Substance abuse, Assassins, hit men, or contract killers, Loneliness, Real estate
- Locales: California
Characters Discussed
Wesley Tate, the young son of a lower- middle-class, rural California family. Feeling strong ties to his family and to the land, Wesley maintains the farm after the others have given up. He sees the sale of the land to real estate developers as having significance far greater than the loss of a mere house. At times, Wesley loses patience with his family members, as evidenced by his lack of sympathy for his sister’s ruined 4-H project, to which he responds by urinating on her charts and suggesting that his sister do something truly useful. He is also...
[The entire page is 923 words long]
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