Buried Child

In Buried Child by Sam Sheppard, there are some realism aspects of this play, but it does not follow the traditional path of realism. There are some aspects that does not match the criteria, such as the lack of dramatic irony. The audience finds out the secrets when the other characters find out the secrets. Such as the secret of the dead baby. It is hinted, which shows some form of ambiguity (more on that a little later), but we do not know the real truth until the very end when Tilden comes from the back yard (or what we assume is the back yard) cradling a skeletal baby in his arms. The facts of this play that comes out is something that a reader or a watcher has to read/see a second time to capture all of the information that is not clearly thrown out there. The irony is hard to see because there is no clear distinction between reality and appearance. As I said before, everything that we do find out is found at the end, and still we don't know everything when it comes to the secrets or mysteries of this play.

A lot of things are left to ambiguity, such as what happened in New Mexico with Tilden, who was really the father of the dead baby(though it is implied that Tilden was the father), who really was Vince, just to name a few. There is some ambiguity that is revealed at the end, such as if there really was a buried child (there was.)

A bit of complexity would be Vince. It isn't until the end that he is remembered by his grandmother, but through out the play we (the audience) wonder if he was just as crazy as the rest of them appeared to be. Another complexity would be Bradley, who appeared all big and bad when he intimidates Shelly, but becomes a weak and pathetic child when his leg is taken away.

This play is most certainly not black-and-white. There are still some things left unknown by the end of the play and while it gives the appearance of ending almost exactly where it starts, there is no true closure except for the existence of the buried child.