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Abstract Sam Shepard’s plays abound in pictures of various kinds. The use of pictures and the de¬mystification of family run through his entire dramatic career. Shepard’s masterpiece Buried Child tells the story of a dysfunctional American family, and the pictures hung on the wall in the play record the history of this family. Characters in the play attempt to bury the ignominies of in¬cest and infanticide in their memories, by not seeing the pictures. However, not seeing is extend¬ed to other aspects of their life, creating the atmosphere of indifference and estrangement and leading to the loss of empathy. Characters’ eventual willingness to face the past and tell the sto¬ries behind the pictures, together with the return of the wanderer, dilute the family’s tragic color. The interactions between pictures and seeing effectively convey the senses of anxiety and entrap¬ment, and reveal characters’ inner struggles in escaping the familial entrapment, embodying the playwright’s deep concern for the existence of American families. For Shepard, saying some¬thing about the traumatic memories is of vital importance to save the dysfunctional family.
Key words: Sam Shepard; Buried Child; picture; seeing; saying
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