True West Power Quotes

You see, Lee tried to borrow the car nice and polite like, but then Austin refused, so Lee had to exert a little power. He doesn't need Austin for anything. He can take whatever he wants.

Another power struggle over the car goes Lee's way. The little smile at the end just shows how little of a threat Lee considers his brother to be. There is no question at this point as to who is in power.

Although he denies it, Austin still seems a little afraid of Lee at this point. However, things are starting to shift. Austin isn't as weak as Lee might like to think, and he's starting to speak up for himself.

Want to let a grown man know you don't think a whole lot of his strength? Call him "boy."

Lee describes a scene from his movie idea here, but this tells us a little something about the brothers. This could hint at the fact that Lee doesn't have the power that he leads everyone to believe, and that he is just as afraid of the situation as Austin.

Keep in mind here that Austin has no desire to partner with Lee in the writing process at this point. This is simply Lee trying to exert power over Austin to get Austin to do what he wants him to do. This time, it doesn't end up working.

Bam! Austin just boiled down power in True West to its core. The brothers truly have power over each other when they have something the other needs. If you have nothing necessary, you have no power.

Lee is back on top, baby. He's got something Austin needs again, and now he can call the shots. Just to reiterate this, he calls Austin "little brother" to remind him who has seniority and who has the power.

It's like Austin is standing over a beast he's captured. This is the ultimate moment of power for Austin. It won't last long, but he won't go back to being dominated. This has helped him achieve equal standing with his big brother.

One way to look at this is that Austin knows that even though he's achieved power, he knows he can't hold onto it. He needs an out. Another way to look at this is that Austin senses that something is wrong and that Lee might be dead, so he says this to try to elicit a response from his brother. What choice would you make here if you were playing Austin?