CHARLES G. WHITING
SIm SbcpMI's BMrinlCltild raises intriguing questions. There arca numberof
i8coDsiSICDCies in the play. How 10resolveIhcm? WIw is the significance of
die iDI:at of Katie
her SOD Tilden? And whar 10 make of the powerful
fiMIe? Does it
JIIa' a new beginning. as some have believed. or does it
sipify • CODIi'lUdon wilbout chqc? Shepard'. intentionsin Ihese matteB
... iD III8IlY 0Ibct
of the play CUI be iUuminarcd andclarifiedby an
aaIysis of the maousc:ripC. Euminatioll reveals Ibar it contains ttJee differenl
tasioas 01 BIIriaI Chilli which precedeIhc fourth anddefinitiveone. I The fU'S1
line versa. IlpflaI' 10 bave been wriacn ar about the same lime. while the
founb is 1CJW.-cIfrom dieGIbers by seven months.2 By closelyfollowing the
eYCIuIioa of the play from IlaIC 10 Slate. we can see how Shepard's mind was
wortiD&. lind perbaps arrive al a k.eeocr apprecialion of 81Ui~ Child in its
dd"1IIitiw: form.
Comparison ollbc oriJina1 swe of Ihc maDuscl'ipt withits revisions confinns
the iI..,...1CC ~.Jive:;to "performance" in all his playsas analternanve
to raIisIic diaIopIc. 11 is sipiflCaDtlhaI he addedIhc enliresectionof Vince:' s
..,.,. trids.. to matorc:e !hecoafronlalion which Occurs whenVincerclUms
after. m,ear 8bIaIc:e 10 !befamilyfarm(1'1'.95-6). In this striking sequence.
ViIIl:e JIDCS tIuouab hi. adoJcsecot rcpcrtDiR in a vain effort to make himself
I'f'!!'lIInizabie to bod! his fIIher add his grandfalher. bendinghis dlumbbehind
bis buctIcs. dnamning onbi. teeIh witb his finlCf11llils. and manipulating the
i1aIt OIl eiIba side ofbis bellybuaon 10make it looklikea mouthtalking . 11's a
IborouPIY visual acl wlUcb calChes Ihe aaeat.ion of the audience. bul il is nol
thae ~Iy co 1IIIU5C. 11uoup lhese tricks Shepard revives a past now lon~
. . ud briop beck before our eyes a siXIeeIJ-year-old Vincedying 10 gel
.......ioa frombis ddrn. Theyarcactionswhichmike Ihc lwenty-lwo-year-old
Vmce Ippear all the morepdIdie in his efforts to be recognized. Al the same
CU:nc.1be fallUNolDodpandTildcn to remembcrhimcould noc bemorevivid.
*""""
CHAaLES G. WHITING
Digging up Buried Child
where life is absent and death triumphant, has the significance or an American
Whee Shepard decided on the third version, where the victimis DOl a baby but
the child Ansel, this dialogue becameas it is in !he definitiveplay Cpp. 77-8),
with the references to a " baby" and Tilden's allusion to the "first ODe" crossed
OUI. Later, in the second act, in all versionsTilden refersrepeatedly to a baby,
even to a "tiDybaby," wben he tells tbe story to Shelly (pp. 103-4), but Shepard
made DO corrections there for version 3, where this detail can only be auributed
to Tilden's confused mental condition.
TheD in the second act, SbelJy and Vince arrive at !be homestead but oeither
Dodge nor Tilden is able to recognize him, fmally provoking Shelly to ask
Tilden if V~ really is his son. Tilden stares at Vince and we have Ibis
exchange in all versions of the play:
SS')
m)1b.
1be defmitive venion of me myth is lbat Dodge killed Hajie's last (and
iJ.IeIitimaU:) baby. In vM5io!'s I and 2 , however, Dodge murdered their
flfSl-bom infant, ,.,Me in version 3 everything is radically changed. Here the
cbild Bradley killed his broIbcr Ansel by crushing his head .....hen Ansel wa~ al
least fOOl" or five years old, Within the fp.rni!y, Dodge covered upfor Bradley by
c!aimiDg 10 have dJoWDed the child himself. Furthermore, An~l was not the
first-born SOIl. AU versions of the play have Halie's long first act monologues
" 'bere she states that she had hoped that Tilden. as the oldest child, would lake
responsibiliry for tbecrippled Bradley, bUI then Tilden got into 50 much trouble
that they bad lei nun to Ansel. She goes on to describe a grown-up Ansel who
was a soldier and bas.i:etbiU player whodied on his honeymoon (pp. 72-4) .3 In
versioD 3, all Ibis talk about Ansel can be nothingbut wishfuldreams, reflecting
Halie's desperate need for a son who cculd make her proud. Shepardapparently
felt be could keep these monologues, even if they wen: so detailed and
con"iDclDg, because the murder of Anselas small child wasnOI revealed until
lale lD the dlird act, and also because the audience, in me course of the play,
becomes used to seeing Halie as a creator of fantasies, right to \he end of her
a
very last speech,
Returning DOW to the earliest versions of the play. I and 2, with Dodge a\
mUJdererof his first-bom, the imnal reference 10 the crime OCCun when Dodge
says 10 Halie : "!dy flesh and blood's buried in the back yard!" (p. 77) This
speech occurs in all versions of the pia)', although in the definitive one where
Lodge is certainly not the father of the murdered child, it takes on a special
meaning. There it has to be seen as a firslobscure reference to the incest. In the
fmal version. Dodge is the grandfarher of the murdered child, bUI this
iDformation is suggested, and then only discreetly, late in the Ibm:! act.
Retummg oeee again to the firsl two versions of the play. almost
ImmedJateI~' after Dodge's remark about his tlesh and blood buried in the back
rard. Hahe leaves the bouse for a lunch WI!h Farber Dewis . TIlden It/en
furtl~ key mformanon about Ihe mfanucide:
n~~
You VM:lu1dn"\ a :old beT that
r nan,,~ QI T.V , '~iha()
TILDE!" Wiw you told beT You blO1' . Aboul the baby
DODGE ""'hat do )'ou kno\lo aboct the bab~ '
TILDES ~ It.'Wv. I
all about II We all koo...
DOOC·E So whal ddference doe~ It make' EveT}bod~ kno ...\. e\erybod~ '~ forgunen.
nLD£" She hasn"1 f;)fgonm
DODGE She !JlooJld·\·e forgotten
TIU)£" l(~ different fIJI' a "'Ornall. I iue\~ E.\PCClalJ~ •... hen J1 '~ your fi'"
DODGE
ma...
one
TILDEN I
SSI
bad a SOD once bul we bwied him.
(DODGE qwiclcJy loots al TILDEN . SHELLY loots 10 VINCE.)
You shut up about thal ~ You don't know anythiD~ about thai!
vrxca Dad. I lhoughl you were in New Mexico . We were going 10drive down tbere
IDd see you.
DODGE
TILDEl'oI
Loog way to drive .
You don 'I know iIlything about that : TIw happened before you
were born! Long before: (pp. 92 -3)
DODGE (10 TILDEN)
In the first two versions Tilden is confusing his son Vince with the mun1cn:d
first-born, and in the third version with the child Ansel. wbereas in lhe
definitive version, Tilden's first line anticipated !be later suggestion of incest,
Dodge, on the other hand. is obviouslytrying 10 conceal the facts. although il is
true, in versions r and 2, that the burial occurred beforeTilden ..... 1&5 born. Then,
only a few speeches after the abovedialogue, Dodge complain, about what can
happen when he lies down to sleep, and the following occurs in ill versions:
. . . You go lie down and see what happens 10 you' See ~o ..... you like It ~ Tbeyll ~l.CaI
CUI your twr~ They'll murder your children ' Thar'~ whar'IJ
happen . (p. 94)
'. your boule! Tuey'li
Again Dodge is Ir)'lDg 10 reject Ibe truth; it is only in version 3 that his speech
corresponds to the facts. Then late in the second act the whole shocking
business fmally emerges wben Tilden n:countsat length 10 Shelly the story of
Dodge drowning the "tiny baby," an exact rendering for versions 1 and 2 and
the definitive play, On the other hand, Tilden's use of strikingdetails gives him
the appearance of a contemporary ,.'ibless to the event, something which IS
impossible In the [WO original versionsof the play whereSn.:pard seems to have
taken liberties 10 make the story vivid. Or perhapsone can attribute !he dewl of
these revelations to the power of 11 lurid story which has been handed down to
Tilden by Halie. Shonly thereafter, a.l the end of the second act, when Shell}
CHAJU..ESG. WHJnNG
SS2
asks Bo...:lcy if dley CaD't do somcthiDg for Dodge, DOW lyiDg on the noor.
IkadIey rapoads in aU venioos: "We could drownhim! WbIl about drowning
him!" (p. 106), This is III obvious aUUSionlO Dodge aetuaUy drowninga child,
coafllllliDl TddeD'5 KICOUDllO Shelly. It was kept in versioD 3. where it bas to
be SCCIl as .. UD1ibly retCftace by Bradley coDodge's cover-up slOry.
VcnioD I of Kt d:Re is close to rbe defiDitive play throughthe rust sentence
ofSbeUy's speecb: "'Tbtfeeling that DObody lives bere but me" (p. 110). Then
weDave die pasagc abady quoccd above whereShelly ~veals the main theme
oflbe play: "You're aU dud," aDd Ibis is Iollowcd by the dialogueabout L.A.
(p, 112). nbc passage about die pictures on the wall, p. III, appears only in
die ckfulitiV'C versioD.) Nexl comes the r1tSl set of lI\&!Iusaipt pages 63-4
where Sbelly lISts Dodge point-bllDk: "Wby'd you kill your baby'!" aoc:i she
adds a reten:oce 10 the firsr-bom: '1be ODe before Tilden," an oversight on
SbepMd's part because at DO time was Shellyever iaformed thatthe victim was
rbefirn-born baby, Dodge ~poads with a lengthy monologue whicb begins
'A1d: "'GodlOld me codo it!" aD llIlIDistakable refereece to the Biblicalstory of
God ordering Abraham 1(\ sacrifice iais SOD Isaac:
Hcsaidifyou doii'tdo iJ youdoo'tlaveme. And if you doo'tlove me. you don't love
youncJf. And if you doD 'tlove younelf you hale the world . Andjf you hate!he world
you'U die 5taDdiq up. You'U be buried alive.
air.
Then ill aD
switeb. Dodge confesses to Shelly that this entire story is a
lie. aud in fact the iafanticide "Dever happened." At this point Halie and Father
Dew retunl {p. I J 3J. and in the ensuing dialogueShelly rn.akes noreferenceat
any time 10the inlanticide sod there is DO discussion whatsoeverof the murder.
Shelly's fwlctjon in thisentire section is only to emphasize the themeof lack of
101>"e in this family. Vince then returns, 5I1la$hing his boules. He inherit!> the
fatm. and me eading comes as a complete surprise: Tilden bring, in the corpse
oj the murdered baby.
Shepard creared version 1 by rewriting pages 63-4 of the manuscript which
begin now DOl williSheUy'spoim-blank questionaboutlhe infanticide but with
-Whal's bappeDed to this family anyway'?" Dodge doesn't remember his
children, grandchi~n or greaJ-grandchi1~.l. and behind him there are only
dead aoceSIOrS {po J J 1'. Tben version 1 has lIIis imponant exchange:
SHI.LLY
You'A: DOt dead yet
DODGI fbey arc'They are~
All a 11em~ All tiIOloC proud busy hale hves lhat handed
me dowr. ODe ~ aoodJer. Each one t1unloDg hIS life wu eternal.
Each ODe IncduIg a SOlI. Each Wltl breeding a son. Aw.! ~h son behevmg
thal his soo. Ius SOD. his only son. hiS fll'Sl loOII would guaralllee hiS
s.aJvauon' Would carry hun !.Ip to heaven' To hfe everlasting
Digging up BlUied Cltild
553
Sbepard himself is the S4:venth fust-born son to bear the DlU1le "Sam Shepard
Rogers," so the idea of self-perpctuaJion, gaining immonality dtroughgiving
oue'SDame 10the fllSt-bom, was verypreseDl in his mind wbeobe wrote BIlTUd
Cltild, as was the contnlry possibility. murdering the rust-born. atrU'lDing
dealh, a centnLI theme of me play. Sbelly immediatelypica up 011 theallusion
aud asks. "Was Tilden telling tbc truth'!" (p, 111) . M in the dcfmitive text,
Dodge respoads only by shaking his bead. andthen be deflectsthe COIIversmOO
from the infanticide by talki.ng about Tilden. When Shelly asks what kind of
bad trouble Tilden got himself into out West. Dodge answers. '7ildell'? He
killed a child. ThaI's whathe did, "10 1alcr revisions. Shepardreplaced "killed"
with"molested ," end this in turn withwhal wouldbe thedefinitive version,"He"
gotmiaed up" (p. 113) .A rehearsal DOtebook sbows ShepardveryaWlIle of the
"innocence" of Tilden ("Dennis - don't play 'idiot' aspect as much as me
innocence of character"), something which must have caused him to rule out
Tilden as child-murden:r or child-molester. The idea. however,could eenaioJy
have inspired the ce:ttralrevelation of version3 where it is Tilden's monstrous
brother, Bradley, wbokills tile child Ansel. Tilden, on theotherbaDd, becomes
the one member of this family who throughoUl the play displays a lODging for
whalthis family bas lost, anU it is this which confirms IlIId eltplains the incest
suggested in the definitive version of the !bird aet. IUtbcr !han a grotesque
event, it should be seen as Tilden's attempttorestore this dead family to life aud
love."
It seems clear wby Shepard abandonedversion I for versioe a, and why in
tum this variation was repleced by version 3 with aradley as killer, The moti~
for the infanticide in version I was hardly satisfactory. It seemed to imply a
criticism of a fanatical Christianity and could have been intended to parallel
Shepard's satire of the ineffectual Christianity of Father Dewis, but Dodge's
fanaticism was neverevident elsewhere in the play. A secondseriousweakDess
was the choice of a dramatic strategy where Dodge's flat denial that the
infanticideever occurred WllS followed much later by the am valof the corpse.
Shepard seems to have decided that countingso much or " big surprise at the
end of the play wouldbe a rather cheapeffect. Hemoved then from Dodge's no&!
denial in version I to the ambiguity and suspense of vernon 1. There, whell
Dodge refers to a "first son," and Shelly asksthequestion, "WasTilden telling
the truth'!" (p. 111). Dodge shakes his bead. WhenShelly insists, he turDS the
conversation to a questionabout Tilden. WhenDodgereveals thai Tilden wasa
child-murderer and also distances himselffromTilden's act . the audienceis no
10' -r sure of the facts. Logically,of course.Tildencouldhardly have been the
mUi eerer of a first-born "liny baby:' but this conversation is still enough to
confuse the spectators and leave them in suspense unul lhe moment when
Tilden carries in the body of the murderedchild at the end of the play" Soon.
however, Shepard became aware of the weakness of vernon z; aoy suspense
generated by Dodge's behavior is completely wiped out by the return of Halie
aDd Fubcr Dcwis md
Digging up Buried Child
CRAnES G. WHITING
SS4
me cosuing dialogue and action, and then by the lively
mwder of the first child, no doubt because She-pard found it too difficuJt to
establish a satisfact.ory reason for such a murder. An obviouschoice of motive
....JS illegitimacy, and even better, because it maintains focus on the family,
incest. Shepard suggests it discreetly, however, !>O as no( 10 EUmthe audicoce's
attention laway from the central image of hard-heartedness aod death. 1be idea
of incest is only very subtly communicated through a description of Tilden's
loving attentions to the baby. a skilful contrast with Dodge's brutal insensi­
tivity.
Shelly is still referred 10in the fmal version as a ..detective" (p. 122), but her
role has been changed more than any other in the pia). In version3 she wasa far
more pushy investigator and given at times to strikingly insuJting language.
Already in the original manuscript there ....as some rude IA.1k to Halie. 00000 '[
mess with my mind, Grandma!" and to Father Dewis, "Don'I gimme thatcrap!"
and even some aggressive behavior when she warned Haliea....ay from Dodge:
elIIInDCe of druIlkcn ViD.:e throwing bottles againsl the porch wall. The
IJIObIcm wid! vasion 2 is tbal tbcrc is really DO continuity between Dodge's
ambiJUOUS rapaose mil the arrival of the axpse . The illfanticide,center of the
mytbic: saucmrc afme play, just disappears, The DCxl move, theD, versioe 3,
was ID develop funbcr the '"whodunit" begun in version 2 . The third version
iajects me mauer of die child-murder in an important way into the space
betweeD Dodge's beId-sukiDg and me urival of Tildeo widl the axpse .
bI Ibis IiUrd versioD. Sbepard retaiDed Dodge's third-act speech, quoted
above, about first sam as guaraDtors of everlastlDg life. It nowpasses UDDOticcd
becaU5eTddeD's allusions to a "baby" and 10 rbe "fust one" have been excised
from bis coaversatioo wim Dodge in act one (pp. 77-8). Having decided mal
Bradley would be the real murderer, Shepard also removed the unnecessary
complicatioo ofTildcn as child-murdereror child-molester in Dodge's third act
coaversatioo widl SbeUy (p. 113). The most important change, however, is a
1011& insert, wbich, if it ~ in the defminve text, would begin just-after
Dewis's lioc. ~Halie , please. Let me handle this" (p. (21). Here SbeUy starts
her active iIdenogabOD by asking Dewis, "How about infanticide? You blow
wbaI tbal is? Child murder!" Sbe then moves slowly toward Bradley, still
boJdmg his wooden'eg, and his 'OeC''lOC, third, ard fowth speecheson p. J:12 of
die dcfJDitjve edition come from this version 3 episode where Bradley is
defending himself. FmaUy he IS driven 10 confession:
He)'! You leave that man alooe! You geta....ay from him: I. . I You JUS! Stay away
from him . You're like a bunch of stupid birds Bu-rn pecbnga",'lly 81 each 0IJler until
oneof them dies .
Shepard cut thi; last passage but added some very acuve interrogation and even
sharper insults. Shelly screams vulgar cliches at Bradley: "You jive r..v.her­
fuekin' gimp!" and when De...·;s tries to intervene sbe shouts:
I mwbed ~ bead in IIDd I loved him . IlOld him. He knew I didn't baU: him . He
He told me JD his eyes. He thaDked me for il . I was hisbrother aDd be
tbaIW:d me. He lo&Id J sbould lake has pJa:.;e. I sbould be die one. Hewanled me 10
live. So( hun : SOl twn~ He...... dymg anyway . He ...· asO·II:nportanl. He'd never
be unportaIIl. Sever.
You couldn 't handle a wet pretzel mister: Whal"re you gonna do'! Put younelflll the
hands of God? ABo... che Will of the A1lTllplly' 10 lead us outof ourentanglemenl\ ~
kDev; dial
soja soitblllg. Co...ers 1u1fU~1f wah blDJrUl.
YOL! wiped t.im out . Y011 Wiped him righl out. lIo
SHEllY) !lic'vereveD krJ,e... wtw he wasdo. 0 ' . JUSI squashed him 10 the ground . Too
hale to Jmo- ...u be was dam". Way too httle We had10 cover upfor him
\OIXIeilo,. . CaD't ~ illiwlg like Ihat 10 the police. Had10 Iude it. Had 10 keep II
had.
UADUY colillps~s 011 rhl
DODGE I q~rl) 10 I&ADUY)
SbepanI tbu~ succeeded in version 3 10 preserving the central image of the
mfanticide, but Qc dcveioped "whodunit" formula fmally proved to be a very
uowttisfaetory solution: il shifted the cutin: focus of the play 10 the melo­
dramatic a..-noo of dJe ~.gg:-cs~jve detective uDcovering the real criminal. This
cltplams why Shepardin the defmitive editioo moved back apia to Dodge as
the guilty party. At the samr. time he tonedd~. n the final showdown:insteadof
the smprise di5c:Overy of the mW'dcm' it cow reveals only some infonnation
about the VletJlIi and an explanation of the crime. This crime: IS no lon~er the
sss
,"
After abandoning the · · wh (.~ ,.!'it" version3, Shepardchose 10 tonedo.....n Shell~'
considerably and 10 empt r size instead her strcng self·af~'irmalion and the fact
mal unlike all the other characters she is alive. and so fromthe ;11>1 performance
revie.....ers respcnr.-d I" her as a sympathetic character. strong. generous.
flet :bL. good-hum'
, '1.0St artractive person ill the pl,,~ . and. of course.
a ··.....indow.. of r,or
'lTOLgh ...·hlch the spectatorscouldobserve andjudge
trns dead family.
Opposite this concentrauoa on Shelly's lively indivtdualiry, Shepard made
changes which strengthenedthe central theme of death. In versions J . 2 . and ).
Dodge's long testamentary monologue rp. '29) ended With this passage:
Theil the whole Issue I~ 10 be plo ·td dee? 1010 the sorl and not re'lIl1ed or seeded for
IWO ...·hole w:ason~ . !"Out until the lldgraH ha~ had ll.hance 10 lake deep rool IIlld the
...·hale place looh as though noullng e\er happened
Instead. Shepard cho!oe to conclude the speech 10 thefinalversion.....IthDudge's
blazing funeral pyre. and an Image of dead ashes. When Vince tells FathC'r
'J!!f~:n; ,~ .:.:~~~." ,c:~..:.:~~
l:"~-'--;
f.>;
~:'
._~
. ."
~
Apia ~ decided to remove any reference to planting, fertility, and
poMbo V"mcc is DO figure of reaewal ill this drama; from his entrance ill the
SCCOIld Ie:! be bas tried to dominale SbeDy. He JRYculed her by force from
IaviDg(p. 91), aDJ be tried IOJmock the carrots out ofber8l1ll5 (p. 94). When
be WCIIl to buy wbistey for Dodge his intention was oe~ 10 rearrn, and ~ in
be is iporiDg SheDy and letting ber leave . AI the cod of the play, it is
oaIy rbe f8llbSi riDg Halie wbo can look out her wiDdow and see com. carrots,
poc.ua. md pea growing ill the backyard - at the same momeDt tbatTl1den is
slowly c:limbiDg rbe stairs10 berroom, teDderly carrying in his arms the muddy
CXlIpK of a smaU child.
8Ct tbree
NOTES
PlIl)'s (New
York. 1914). A reheanaI DOCdJook lIDd!be lDlIIIusa1pt are in !be SlID Sbepard
~ at tot. . Memcr.a1 Litnry. 805I0Il University. The typescript is 86 pqcs
Joaa pills vaIrious imau. In !be dWd 1ICt. there are two sets of pases 63- 4. the
iDiIiII SClIDIIbd mJ bod! pqes - 1$I DrafI Bur. Child . ~
:! Ilobc:rt Coc. -~ with Robert Woodniff:' in AlMnc/UI DrerJlJU. 1M
IlIIIIgiItIIIiDtJ
Slteptud. cd . BoaDie Mmomca (Nell' York. 198". p. 157·
3 1bis lU deIIiI seems to COllIe from tW life. Sbepard bad aD UDCle WDo died
,.;m his bride in a moItl room 011 Ibeir weddiDs night . ADocber wide lost. lei
• tbe • «lat. IUd be, DO doubl. is !be model for BradJey. Sam Shepan1.
MowlClrro.Ncks (SaD frlIIICisco. 1l}iS:Zl. p. 46.
4 1be Nn- York lJICIIIiere of BwUdClWdwas dileacd by Roben Woodruff. woo
bad the col1IbonIioD of Sam Sbep8nl hinudI wbelJ !be play was fust produced
at_ NaPe 11aIre ill San Fnocisco ill 1978. Wbeu TIlden spread!be com husks
011 tbe slcepiDI Dodge (p. 81 I. he als~ added aD ear of com IDd com silk to
repraem I paDs IUd pJbic hair.
I All rd'amces to !be definitive editiDD are to SlItn ShepBrd . Srwlf
ors-.