The Marxist Approach in Sam Shepard’s Buried Child and Raja Rao’s Kanthapura https://doi.org /10.5281/zen od o.14978841

The Marxist Approach in Sam Shepard’s Buried Child and Raja Rao’s Kanthapura
https://doi.org /10.5281/zen od o.14978841

Author(s): Dr. (Ms) Ramandeep Mahal

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14978841

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The Criterion: An International Journal in English Vol. 16, Issue-I, February 2025 ISSN: 0976-8165
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10448030
The Marxist Approach in Sam Shepard’s Buried Child and Raja Rao’s
Kanthapura
Dr. (Ms) Ramandeep Mahal
Assistant Professor in English,
Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Yamunanagar.
Article History: Submitted‐01/02/2025, Revised‐08/02/2025, Accepted‐19/02/2025, Published‐28/02/2025.
Abstract:
Drawing on the theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Marxism in literature is a
critical theory that emphasizes the connections between societal structures, economic power, and
class and how these affect literature, culture, and ideology.Marxism is centered on historical
materialism, which contends that economic elements, such as the mode of production, influence
of culture and society. This perspective holds that the dominating economic basis is reflected in
the prevalent ideals, especially those found in literature and the arts.According to Marxist
critique, literature frequently serves to uphold the ideology of the ruling class by portraying the
world in a way that validates their supremacy.The concept of alienation, which characterizes
how workers in a capitalist society are estranged from the outcomes of their labor, the working
process, and even themselves, is one of Marx’s central ideas. While Sam Shepard himself did not
explicitly identify as a Marxist, his play Buried Child contains elements that resonate with
Marxist themes, particularly those of alienation and the disintegration of the American
Dream.The colonial experience in India is a major theme in Raja Rao’s Kanthapura, and a
Marxist interpretation can highlight the ways in which colonialism and class systems combine to
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14978841

The Marxist Approach in Sam Shepard’s Buried Child and Raja Rao’s Kanthapura
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10448030
exploit the rural population. The novel examines how Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance campaign
gained traction in the 1930s in the little town of Kanthapura.
Keywords: Marxism, Class, literature, ideology, alienation, colonialism.

Introduction:
Marx grew increasingly interested in trying to comprehend the modern capitalist mode of
production, which is motivated by an unrepentant quest for profit that derives from the
exploitation of the oppressed proletariat.
Marx said that in order for capitalists to be able to brutally exploit workers, they must have a
privileged and firm position as owners of the means of production. Despite paying workers the
right salary, the capitalist somehow forces workers to put in longer hours than are necessary in
order to generate their labour power—Marx was incredibly ambiguous in this regard. If the
capitalist gives each worker $5 a day, he may have them work, say, twelve hours a day, which
was a typical workday in Marx’s day. The Marxist theory had deep roots in the early twentieth
century.
The superstructure consists of politics, law, and culture, including literature. Economics shapes
all of this. Marxist theory asserts that the literature of a society reflects its material circumstances
and class conflicts.
Sam Shepard’s Buried Child: One of Sam Shepard’s masterpieces is Buried Child. It is part of
the family drama, which is regarded as the second in his trilogy of plays that deal with
infanticide and incest themes: Curse of Starving Class (1977), Buried Child (1978), and True
West (1980). Without a doubt, Buried Child has psychological ramifications that examine how
the secret affects the family’s ability to unite. (Hammood, et.al, 2020).
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Alienation: Many Americans were profoundly disillusioned and distrustful of the government
and the basic principles of the An American Dream as a result of the Vietnam War. The broken
family at the play’s core represents this disillusionment in Buried Child. Secrets plague the
family, making them feel that something is seriously off in their remote house. Dodge, the father,
is an alcoholic who is reluctant or unable to face the truth about his family’s decline.
Every member of the family has a secret that they have concealed or covered up from one
another. Dodge retreats into his own world—the world of alcohol—as a result of this
disappointment. He runs away from the fact that he cannot create the perfect family. He is
unsuccessful in instilling moral and religious ideals in his wife and kids, particularly Tilden. He
is troubled by his wife’s incestuous relationship with Tilden, which is a grave transgression of the
family. He becomes a sickly husband and father who shows little affection, concern, or regard
for his family. Once a prosperous farmer, he is now destitute, ill, and an alcoholic.
In Buried Child, there are other situations where distinct dichotomies, which establish
order by opposing two apparent opposites, are not clearly distinguished. A community’s
established ties grow hazy as it moves toward a new catastrophe. Society determines the
presumed ties in a family—parent and children, husband and wife, guest and host. The loss of
these connections renders the family dysfunctional. We can gauge a society’s cohesiveness by its
degree of difference; in a differentiated society, power dynamics are distinct, and we can view
violence as either justified or not.
The majority of the family members in Shepard’s plays lack love, care, attention, and a
sense of belonging, making them an ideal family. According to Abdelsemie, Shepherd plays
portray the An American family as all life, which is violent and contradictory, rather than as a
haven of safety from a hostile world. Its members suffer from family famine, a loss of a sense of
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belonging, and a lack of assertiveness instead of living in an environment of love, security,
comfort of soul, and fulfilment. (Abdelsamie, 2013).
Socio Economic Decline: As per Sharma many significant socioeconomic developments that
profoundly affected family ties led to the breakdown of the An American family as a
fundamental social unit. By the start of the nineteenth century, the commercial and industrial
sectors had advanced led to terrible functioning of the human psyche.Free sex interactions,
which are made feasible by shifting moral beliefs and birth control methods, have accelerated the
breakdown of the family.Dodge, the father represents the generation left behind by the more
extensive political and economic structures of post-World War II America.Given Sam Shepard’s
plays’ suggestion of deeper truths about his own society are seen from one’s perspective.
Bottoms discovered that, “there is also a sense that these stories might contain lingering truths,
that the fragments might still resonate” (12). When Tilden or Dodge attempt to bring up the
buried child, perhaps in an attempt to expose and confront the violence at the heart of the current
crisis, Halie consistently works to suppress the truth.
Buried Child focuses on a single family while avoiding the capitalist critique. This choice
advances Shepard’s ongoing emphasis on family. Although he acknowledges that national
ideology has a significant impact on American families, he also shows in Buried Child how
alienating many of these forces are.Stephen Bottoms believes that “Buried Child is… tighter and
more unified than Curse in its thematic concerns, dispensing almost entirely with the issue of
external cultural pressures, so as to make the family’s internal dynamics the play’s central,
uncontested subject” (173).The play’s seclusion creates a stark distinction between family inside
characters and outside characters. This mismatch strengthens the family’s isolation from a
societal order that nevertheless affects them.
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When the family is functioning well, it serves its members in many beneficial ways. Possibly
most importantly, it offers emotional and psychological stability, primarily via the warmth,
affection, and camaraderie that cohabitation fosters between partners and, consequently, between
them and their children. However, here in the play Buried Child there is a completely different
picture presented. Dodge initially becomes an unseen individual who is shunned by his family
after becoming the patriarch. Death is deeply entwined with his image.
The “festering away [and] decomposing” (1.388) atmosphere indicates a hue of dying,
and Dodge’s appearance in “a well-worn T-shirt, suspenders, khaki work pants, and
brown slippers [, covering] himself in an old brown blanket” (1102)
All of Dodge’s sons inherit his frailty and infirmity. The family’s eldest son, Tilden, who was
“once a star athlete and a model son” (70), deteriorates into an elderly man suffering from a
serious mental illness. He avoids the past, particularly the period when he lived in New Mexico.
Additionally, Tilden denies the fact that he only acknowledges Vince, his lone descendant, who
is living, as opposed to the buried infant. So, “he is a shell of himself” (69)
Suppression of truth: Everything in the family is altered by Tilden and his own mother’s
incestuous relationship. Dodge becomes despondent as his wife and son betray him. Halie
becomes pregnant and gives birth as a result of the incestuous connection. Given that he and his
wife have not shared a bed for years, Dodge is aware that Tillden is the baby’s father. He dislikes
it and wants the child to grow up and live with the rest of the family. No one is aware that he
killed the infant and buried it somewhere on the farm. For almost thirty years, the entire family
has kept the secret.
DODGE: Tilden was the one who knew. Better than any of us. He’d walk for miles with
that kid in his arms. Halie let him take it. All night sometimes. He’d walk all night out
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there in the pasture with it. Talking to it. Singing to it. Used to hear him……..nothing.
Everything was canceled out by this one mistake. His one weakness. (58).
Raja Rao’s Kanthapura: Through the powerful, intense, and varied tones of emotions, ideas,
and sensations, Indian English writing demonstrates India’s genius and character. Since various
individuals, authors, artists, and novelists express Indian nature and the Indian way of life
differently, it is challenging to describe. Indian English literature is given colour and beauty by
the abundance and diversity of experiences it may access. The novel as a form of writing was
introduced to India by the British. The novel as a form of writing was introduced to India by the
British.
In the 1920s, the Indo-English version initially appeared. Numerous pieces of nonfiction
writing were impacted by societal changes, political upheaval, and other literary works. Many
writers, leaders, reformers, artists, saints, and philosophers rose to fame between the late 19th
and early 20th centuries thanks to their avant-garde English-language works, including Raja
Rammohan Roy, Ramesh Chandra Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Manmohan Ghose, Aurobindo
Ghose, Sarojini Naidu, and Vivekananda. These works have Victorian objectives and were
written in a romantic manner. In important Indian languages, the novel as a form of writing
began to gain popularity during this period.
The entire nation is the same as Kanthapura. It depicts the emergence of the little town of
Kanthapura, which is really a miniature representation of the whole Indian subcontinent. This
was the site of the victorious national independence struggle in the 1920s and 1930s. The
settlement is located in the Kara region. It is perched atop the rocky mountains overlooking the
Arabian Sea and the Ghats. Numerous Indian communities have awakened to resist the foreign
overlords, much like Kanthapura.
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Colonialism: When discussing India, the term “colonialism” refers to the 1757–1947 British
dominion over the Indian subcontinent. India and its people were subject to political, economic,
and cultural authority throughout this period by the British East India Company and then the
British government. India was exploited and made poorer as a result of colonialism. The British
deprived India of its riches by taxing Indians heavily and exporting to Britain Indian raw
products like cotton and opium. The deindustrialization of India was a result of British policies
that also weakened Indian industry.
British colonial control is portrayed in the book as a damaging force that upends Indian
society’s social, cultural, and economic foundation. The British Resident Thomas, who is shown
as an authoritarian person attempting to impose his own cultural and social standards on the
Kanthapura populace, is one of several characters that illustrate the British presence in
Kanthapura. The economic exploitation of India by the British through trade and taxation
policies is also depicted in the novel.
A significant element of Raja Rao’s Kanthapura is the influence of Mahatma Gandhi’s
Satyagraha, or peaceful resistance, ideology on Moorthy’s character development and his fight
against colonialism. A young, idealistic peasant named Moorthy is greatly impacted by Gandhi’s
nonviolent resistance ideology, which he learns by reading Gandhi’s works and from a local
Brahmin. After becoming a follower of Gandhi, Moorthy is motivated to unite the Kanthapura
populace in opposition to British colonialism and in defence of their rights. Under Moorthy’s
direction, the Kanthapura villagers begin to oppose the British by peaceful means, such as by
boycotting British institutions and products and demonstrating against their repressive practices.
One glaring illustration of how British colonialism was marked by social injustice and
economic exploitation is the mistreatment of workers on the Skeffington coffee farm in
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Kanthapura. In the book, we learn that Mr. Nair, the British owner of the Skeffington estate,
mistreats the Indian employees who work there by giving them inadequate pay and putting them
through difficult working conditions.
The main character of the book, Moorthy, is regarded as Mahatma Gandhi’s actual pupil.
He adheres to Gandhiji’s values and ideas. “The villagers of Kanthapura consider him by saying
that ‘He is our Gandhi, The State of Mysore has a Maharaj, however, that Maharaja has another
Maharaja who is in London, and that one has another one in heaven, and so everybody has his
own Mahatma, and this Moorthy …. will be our Mahatma’. (109)Paresh Shah believes that “He is
considered as a social reformer, a satyagrahi, and the leader of the non-violent movement in
Kanthapura.”Gandhiji’s principles are applied in order to oppose the violent actions of colonial
authority.” (2)Raja Rao believed that the villagers thought; “Oh, no, the Mahatma need not go as
far as the sea, like Harishchandra before has finished his vow, the gods will come down and
dissolve his vow, and the Britishers will leave India, and we shall be free, and we shall pay less
taxes, and there will be no policemen.” (172). The author muses on Gandhi’s vision of India’s
emancipation. Gandhi passes his exiled life after leaving his house and wanders the breadth and
length of India. Like Ram, Rao believes Gandhi would travel to Britain, Lanka, and will acquire
our independence, Sita. The people of Kanthapura after believing Moorthy who followed theses
ideals became aware of the oppression by the British Raj. Their struggle reflects the class
struggle according to the Marxists beliefs.
Peasantry and Class Oppression: Both the Indians at the top of the caste and class structure
and the foreign rulers inflicted hardship on the working class. There were no labour rights or
platforms for them to voice their grievances. The English officer who owned Skeffington Coffee
Estate took advantage of the labourers there, and the young girls who worked there were the
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victims of his passion. Girls who refused to comply with the master’s wishes were subjected to
harassment and beatings. A Brahmin clerk named Seetharam had to sacrifice his life to preserve
his dignity. He became the target of his gunshot because he refused to transfer his daughter to the
Saheb, an Englishman. The English officer was not charged with any crimes. Under Moorthy’s
leadership, Kanthapura’s anti-colonial struggle was non-lethal. They adopted Gandhi’s nonviolent
stance. Moorthy calms Range Gowda down when he uses derogatory words to discuss the British
government and its agents in Kanthapura, and he proposes that, “‘hatred should be plucked out
of our hearts, and that the Mahatma says you must love even your enemies.’ (80) Neelam
Srivastava believes that,“The breaking of caste barriers in the village is one of the most
significant ways in which Gandhi’s message is brought home to its inhabitants”(4) However,
removing caste boundaries wasn’t a simple process. The societal customs that were unbreakable
at the time even frightened the main character, Moorthy. His trips to the Pariah quarters, where
he ate meals before touching the sacred Ganges water and consuming a teaspoon for self-
purification were a sign of caste oppression. Raja Rao remarks that, “After all a Brahmin is a
Brahmin sister!’ (84) During India’s colonial era, the pariahs faced severe societal discrimination.
Pariahs like Madanna and Rachanna, together with their wives, were not permitted to enter
temple sanctuaries to swear loyalty to Gandhi in front of God. The social boundary of
untouchability was rigidly enforced in villages, and Kanthapura was no exception. In Indian
civilisation, women were always a weaker and timid group, regardless of their caste.The police
are drawn to Moorthy’s Gandhian activity in the area. The police arrive in Kanthapura to
apprehend Moorthy and end the agitation in deference to their colonial overlords. The villagers
are beaten down by the police when they are confronted. A significant method of colonial control
over their colonists was beating, which occurs often throughout the novel.
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‘and from this side and that there is the bang of the lathi and men shriek and women weep
and the children begin to cry and groan and more and more men go forward towards
Moorthy, and more policemen beat them.’ (98)
Conclusion:
The system of class oppression and freedom struggle is deeply ingrained in Raja Rao’s
Kanthapura. This class oppression deeply affects economy as well as people whereas the play
Buried childhas shown the destruction of the so called American Dream in the capitalist society
of America. These factors also affect the psychological and social structure of the characters in
both the works. Hence both the works have Marxist impact in them which is beyond the control
of a human being.

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