tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post115517053500123940..comments2024-02-27T16:59:54.089-05:00Comments on (The New) Theatre Ideas: Buried ChildUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16876687.post-1156983735305657032006-08-30T20:22:00.000-04:002006-08-30T20:22:00.000-04:00Okay, so Tilden seems a bit mentally deranged to m...Okay, so Tilden seems a bit mentally deranged to me, so I can buy that he really did not recognize his son. Dodge, though, has a strong memory and sizes up Shelly quite quickly. So I think that Dodge's not recognizing Vince might be a lie. Either he wants to torment Vince by refusing to acknowledge, or, as he alludes to, perhaps he thinks because he is so old (anyone who would remember him as a young man is dead) that it really doesn't matter and so he decides to deny Vince. The fact that Halie immediately recognizes Vince seems to support the idea that Dodge recognizes him. I think the lack of recognition is symbolic of how life goes on, how we hold tight to dreams, but for real people, to a great extent, "Out of sight out of mind." Vince is afraid to strike out on his own, and afraid of the realization that he will be forgotten, and so he chooses pain over anonymity and stays in the house of horrors. Only by sticking around, by being part of the everyday squabbles, can he be part of a family, so he doesn't care that his family is incredibly screwed up. While audience members are not meant to know Dodge's or Tilden's mind enough to answer this question (why do they not recognize their kin?) I think the aforementioned is most likely. Vince's identity is buried somewhere in a painful past that the family either can't or won't acknowledge. In the end, Vince forces them to acknowledge him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com