True West Competition Quotes

It's pretty smooth how Lee manages to belittle Austin's chosen profession while also demonstrating that he could have done it too if he wanted to.

Austin tells Lee he can stay at their mom's house for as long as Austin is there. Lee's reaction, not surprisingly, is to point out that his brother has no say in what he does. It's just a little one-upmanship on Lee's part. It's something he's pretty good at.

The brothers spend a lot of their time trying to prove that one would be fine without the other—that they can survive on their own. Yet, as the play progresses, each one consistently needs something from the other. No so independent now, are we?

This is Lee's reaction to Austin offering him money. Well, this is his reaction after he lunges at Austin and grabs him violently. This shows that Lee doesn't do well when the competition leans in favor of Austin. He can't handle that Austin is in a position to help him.

Okay, so it's probably pretty obvious that Lee's quotes dominate the competition theme early on. He drives the conflict at the top of the play, and he often does it by trying to show how he has done just as much as Austin despite the fact that he didn't have Austin's opportunities. He also manages to make Austin's opportunities seem like fodder for ridicule.

This is just a little bit of Lee's evil genius. Saul starts talking about golf. Lee lets it be known that he plays, which spurns a little friendly competitive talk between him and Saul. This leads to the golf game, which leads to Lee getting Saul to pick up his movie idea. Not bad for a simple little line that seems harmless at first glance.

Finally, Austin gets into the game. Things have gone bad, and he's on the outside looking in, but he's starting to get a little fight in him. While Lee takes pleasure in belittling Austin's accomplishments, Austin is finally willing to call Lee out for his failures.

Nothing quite like two grown men turning into little boys. This is basically a "no you can't/yes I can" argument that children might have. Austin wants to prove that he's just as capable and criminal as his big brother. This leads directly to Austin ripping off a bunch of toasters from the neighborhood houses.

Once again, Austin resorts to a little bit of competition in order to try and prove himself to his brother. Even at this point, Austin is still the baby brother trying to show his worth. Soon, though, he'll gain a truly equal footing with Lee.

This one is important because Lee says this to their mother. It gives some serious insight into how things must have worked when the boys were children. They compete with each other with the hope that their mom will take sides. In this case, Lee wins out. His mother agrees with him.