New and Old West
The two faces of the West refer to the American dream. Austin represents the suburban new West, while Lee represents the desert old West with the chaos in itself. The images of the desert and the city are motifs, referring to the tension between integrating into society and oneself staying away from it. Confusion is a phenomenon within True West; though the brothers tend to believe in one thing: the desert is needed for “making” the American men.
Fragmented American Masculinity
The main idea is that masculinity, more precisely, American maleness is fragmented as it comes from the ascendants. Therefore, these are shifting identities who as characters are not able to find themselves; they become images created from their popular culture. After a while, pretending and the performance become reality. Original identity is faded, lost. The question of the West is explained in a way that no brothers in True West can find their real, male identities as they are stuck. Men have to search for and prove their manhood. Lee and Austin cannot realize that they share the same insecurities in their lives. The image of the father and the father-son relationship are also of huge importance in this drama as he is the one who unwillingly and unnoticeably forms the descendants and their masculinity.
