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Dan Dietz’s “Trash Anthem” is about a woman who is talking to a pair of boots after murdering her husband, after he had an affair with the neighbor. While this play includes heavy situations, it is important to note Dietz’s use of boots in his work. This in itself is a strong use of symbolic literary characterization, also serving as a reiteration of the whole. It represents her love, or rather a loss of love. As she is weaving through this constant conflict, embarrassed that her own husband cheated on her with a man, the woman represents an underlying humiliation towards homosexuality. As the events unfold, it becomes apparent that this is not the case, but rather she feels unloved and unappreciated, being that she has always been the loving and loyal wife she thought she had to be. All the while, we are reminded she is speaking to an inanimate object. Additionally, she is sent into one last downward spiral as the boots tell her she was merely just used, and she sings along with the boots the eerie song sung throughout the play, showing once more her one last moment of sadness before the reckoning.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa Campos
The play "Trash Anthem" by Dan Dietz was very marvelous, and extremely clever. I love how the boots symbolized her dead husband, and how as you continued to read forward the play started to make sense. At first this piece was confusing, but as I continued to read I noticed that this woman murdered her husband for cheating on her with a man. She continuously speaks to these pair of boots in the play which is supposed to represent her 'cowboy' husband. She sings a song throughout which I made out as being about her husband and describing his dead body. I thought it was really clever that she kept talking to the pair of boots as if they were a person specifically her husband. She needed questions to be answered so she felt that if she kept asking and speaking to the boots she would get them. At the end the boots ended up telling her what she didn't want to hear which was despite the fact that she was a loving wife he used her, and at that moment she had a breaking point. I really liked the part where the boots said "I'm dead and bleeding and sinking into the soggy soil right beneath your feet! NOW WHAT THE HELL I GOT YOU WANT?" now this dialogue made things way more interesting. The fact that the woman had already gotten her revenge and killed her husband but still wanted more appealed to me. I loved that even she knew at this point it was ridiculous to be wanting more of an explanation even after she already killed him. In that sense I loved how her character was flawed and wasn't given a name or a look, but yet I still felt emotions towards her character and was left wanted to read more.
ReplyDeleteLianna Andrade
In Dan Dietz "Trash Anthem" there is a woman who murdered her husband I believe. All in all, it seems like a really interesting play. I did not think it was going to be boots that could talk that were husband. I especially did not expect the husband to cheat on the wife, Genevieve, with a man. I honestly thought this play was based in maybe the early 1900s for some reason. I read the play in an accent and kind of expected it to be based in earlier times. But this whole play was all unexpected and I thought that was really interesting. I can kind of relate to the wife just because I'm kind of the same with my fiance. I ask him a question and I just keep wanting answers to different questions, just as she did. I can also take this play symbolically, rather than seriously. I think the play is teaching that maybe even with revenge, murder specifically, it won't really change a damn thing. It'll get you into some trouble. She's definitely going to jail obviously. It was unexpected and very interesting. It was a good read.
ReplyDeleteSidney Carranco
In "Trash Anthem" by Dan Dietz we are taken through a conversation between a woman named Genevieve and a pair of boots that once belonged to her now former husband who she just murdered. As I read this play, I voiced the woman out loud and pictured her as a southern woman due to her dialect. The boots either signify her conscience and she THINKS she's speaking to her husband or I could also view them as being possessed by the spirit of her former husband. It's revealed from the boots her husband cheated on her with the neighbor who was a man. He shows that he has always known he was gay, but she is having a hard time accepting the fact it's true. The boots seem to reveal how his relationship was hidden because being gay wasn't accepted (308). Even though she already killed her husband she seems to want more even though the boots have already explained it all to her. She seems to be driven to dig deeper even when he tells her he used her. Throughout this entire time he keeps telling her to turn herself in in between little areas of their conversation up until they finally hear the sirens. I think this goes to show even though the deed got done, there will still be consequences in the end which were, for her, the police finding out she killed her husband. It left me wanting to know more after the blackout and left it off as something I can only determine myself.
ReplyDeleteI'm questioning of the song she keeps singing is the song they would dance to and that is what keeps her lingering and stuck on not wanting to accept what he revealed? i think they're her last piece of love she has left of him because when they went dancing and looked at his boots that is when she fell deep in love with him. I think the boots hold 2 different meanings of her conscience and love she doesn't want to let go of.
Faith Ortiz
it's* not they're in the second paragraph.
Delete-Faith Ortiz
Dan Dietz’s play, Trash Anthem, is about a woman who just found out she was cheated on by her husband with their neighbor who happens to be a man as well. Her anger made her delirious and caused her to grab a shotgun and shoot her husband. She would have murdered the lover too, but he was quick enough to get away which could explain why there are sirens heard in the distance. The play follows a conversation she is having with a pair of her husband’s boots. She also mentions that the boots were a part of him, something that he was never without. They are a representation of her husband which she uses as a coping strategy for what just went down. She gets to ask the boots questions she never asked her husband and the boots respond with complete honesty, even if it means that she will be offended and hurt. She says that she loved her husband dearly and that she did everything for him. She asks the boots why her husband would cheat, arguing that she turned herself inside out for him, and the boots have no reply for her. Well, not one that she wants to hear. This play is overall sad. I feel for Genevieve and her heartbreak. Although there is a comedic element with a deranged woman talking to her dead husband’s boots there is also an underlying factor of complete sadness.
ReplyDeleteKimberlee Salas
After reading “Trash Anthem” by Dan Dietz multiple times, I came to the conclusion that maybe this woman murdered her husband and kept his pair of boots that seem to be haunting her in a way. I like the use of personification in this play. We can see that the boots are “talking” to the woman, and they are kind of guilt tripping her. In the play, we read and visualize that the woman caught her husband sleeping with the neighbor, who is a man. This made the play very comical yet interesting. I envisioned the woman having a southern accent because of the way it starts off (it actually states the setting “Little house, Big South”). I can see her singing away burying her husband in a field or something, like one of those murderous movies you see on lifetime movie network.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I liked the play and the structure of it. It made the play interesting. I didn’t think about her murdering her husband for cheating until I read it like five times and then it clicked. The use of imagery and detail in the play was probably one of my favorite things as well. I would definitely like to see a play like this in action on stage.
Ilene Guevara
The play called “Trash Anthem” by Dan Dietz is set at the south and is about a woman that kills her husband for cheating on her and is talking to his empty boots while the cops show up to arrest her. While reading it, I would get lost at times but then after reading the scene that followed, my doubts would go away. The play starts off very slow and it takes some time to find out exactly what is going on with the boots and the murder. I liked how the author used personification in giving life to the boots. When the woman and the boots are talking to each other, it seems like the boots are another human. It’s almost like of the soul of the dead husband took over the boots and are now trying to snitch her out to the cops. The use of dialogue helped me imagine the characters even though I didn’t physically see the play. Since the language used in this play is used to imply things and not directly to the audience, it can several times to read it and get the full picture of what is going on in this play.
ReplyDeleteFrancisco Rosales
The play was more interesting and captivating than i'd originally thought it be. The beginning was very confusing for me. I didn't think that the woman was burying her husbands dead body in her backyard, I thought that she was just singing while holding a shovel. As i kept reading I started to understand more of the plot. I think that the boots symbolize the Woman's dead husbands spirit. I believe that after killing her husband the woman's psyche was starting to unravel due to many questions her husband is unable to answer. The boots in a way are her way of seeking closure and trying to justify this horrific act she committed. This is evidenced throughout the play when she is talking to the boots and trying to get answers as to why her husband cheated on her with a man. I believe that the singing is a coping mechanism for the woman whenever she is in a stressful situation. For example she sings when she's burying her husband in the backyard, when the boots try to mock her and when the police arrive at the house to arrest her. I believe that this play was very captivating due to the drama and symbolism of shattered psyche that represents the harsh truth of the world.
ReplyDeleteKatia Garcia
“Trash Anthem” by Dan Dietz was a great play to read I loved how it kept throwing curveballs at you. It takes place in the south with a fancy lady burying a pair of boots to of nowhere the boots begin to talk and they have a crazy conversation between one another. I enjoyed when she says “wish to god this story was more original, folks but it ain’t… but here I am, stuck back in that same old same old white trash anthem: women finds her man with a dick inside the neighbor. Woman grabs the rifle off rack.” (306-307) I completely know what she was saying not that I’ve done it but it’s so common with southern movies where someone is caught cheating and someone gets shot. But the best plot twist was the husband cheated on her with a man. I do know the conflict was about cheating but the ending confused me they seem to make peace but do the cops catch her did she die all even after a second time of reading I was still confused with the ending. Also the song she was singing i did not really understand why she was singing that song.
ReplyDeleteAndi Rubalcava
The play ‘Trash Anthem’ by Dan Dietz was entertaining, especially towards the end. Out of the entire play, the new starts and the singing confused me the most. The stage probably goes black and the play restarts again, but does that disregard what had happened previously? I’m probably thinking too much into how the new starts connect with one another, but still. As for the singing, it really didn’t start making sense for me until the very end. One of my favorite things about the play is how comedic it is. I love how the woman and the boots bicker back and forward, and the mental of them screaming at one another is hilarious. Underneath that comedy, however, is the true plot of the story. The play is funny but the way it’s worked into the real story is pretty amazing, like the reveal of the husband’s affair. The way the gender of the neighbor is revealed is great, but when the wife asks if he danced with the neighbor like he did her, I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of reality at the response. Another thing I really loved was the ending, I love how ominous it is! However it’s that same open-endedness that upsets me. Does she fight the cops? Does she get taken in? Does she run away? I wanna know! On the last and unrelated note, I don’t know how the title ties into the play but I think it’s great.
ReplyDeleteTeresa Villarreal
The play Trash Anthem is really interesting because is she crazy and the boots are really talking to her or is she imagining the boots being her husband’s spirit in some way and telling her and talking to her as if the boots were the husband or a part of him. I thought it was kinda funny when the woman says “I hope it didn’t hurt”. And the boots reply “course it hurt, jesus!” and it demonstrates as if the boots were an actual person. But what made believe she was crazy was the ending saying how “as they sing the woman dances on all fours, her hands in the boots” and it explains how they sing together. I enjoy the imagery and the feeling it gives in the end describing the scenario and scenery of when the police arrive and how she stares into the audience and it ends.
ReplyDeleteStephanie Ruiz
Humiliation and betrayal follows through in Dan Dietz’ work “Trash Anthem,” for the wife voices her inadequacy as a woman and lover toward the husband she killed. Through the woman’s conversation between herself and her husband’s boots, it becomes clear that the boots do not have a voice of their own nor are the boots speaking metaphorically on behalf of the husband; the conversation is between the woman and her perception of who her husband is. At the beginning of the story, the woman reveals the following: “Ain’t a talker, nope. So I fell in love with his hands and his feet. We’d go dancing, and I’d spend the whole time looking down at his boots.” (David Starkey. Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief (p. 320).) We see here that the woman acknowledges that she fell in love with the appearance of this man, such as “his hands and his feet,” and that he “ain’t a talker,” meaning the two of them did not meet on an emotionally intimate level.
ReplyDeleteThe boots are a metaphor of one’s masculinity; that cowboy of the west; that handsome rogue - a prime example of masculinity. We can also take the woman’s relationship as a form of situational irony, as while it is implies the woman fell in love with her husband’s body, just as the husband is intimate with another man; a homosexual relationship is considered a sin, a sin spawned of the flesh - the body. What is interesting, is that no mention of boots are said of the other man - the gay lover; in fact, the lack of boots is what saves the other man enough time to escape while the husband is slowed down by his own boots; this is a play on people who are unable to run from their lies. The boots, again, are the lies worn by the husband. What I also found interesting was that the boots gave little implication of what the husband thought of the other man, perhaps signalling that the woman could not see what her husband saw in the other man; it is also implied that the woman is convinced the husband still loved her, especially so when the boots state he was only intimate with the other man four months ago in June. As I can see it, this is a tale of denial, with a near-reluctancy to bury her past, both figuratively and literally.
- Gary Tolar
In the play "Trash Anthem" it seems to be of a women and pair of boots having a conversation. Which honestly made me a little confused because, another character name Jeff is mentioned a few times. From what I understand from the show a woman is arguing with a pair of boots over a few problems she can't seem to get passed. The play starts to re play itself a few times which I personally didn't enjoy because she kept singing the same song. Whoever the character the boots were playing was honestly pretty funny because at point they're yelling at each and she strangles the boots! Overall the way the play is written is done very well by bringing the boots to life and giving them their own voice. You know how sometimes you just need to talk to someone so she brought this piece of object of life to give her the talk that she needed to hear.
ReplyDelete-krystdamayne Guerrero
"Trash Anthem" by Dan Diet and is about a woman having a conversation with her husbands pair of boots that she murdered. The woman is at some point arguing with the boots and the reader can infer that she is almost venting her problems with the boots. The play has a sort of comical, mysterious, and even a dark sense of humor. The boots have their own personality as well as their own emotions that help the play along and give us the questions.
ReplyDeleteCaesar De Luna
Trash Anthem, written by Dan Dietz, concerns a conversation which takes place between a woman and the pair of boots her partner wore before she murdered him. The woman and the boots have a back and forth conversation regarding interactions the others had with each other, as well as the infidelity of her partner. The way Dietz prepares the setting of the play helps the reader create a mental image of the scene, use their bodies of knowledge to fill in the gaps of appearance, speech, accent, and so forth. Moreover, the boots taking place of the deceased allows the woman to have a conversation which was no longer possible due to the furious and quickly performed murder. It's important to note that the boots do not apologize for the man's actions, rather blames the woman for murdering the partner. There is a calmness to his phrasing which seems to contrast the woman's bouts of anger, until the boots demand to be let in peace. There is no remorse for either of these characters, and both feel justified in their actions. I don't understand the significance of the dirt in the boots to be quite honest, though I feel as if there is a connection to the idea of masculinity.
ReplyDelete- Jose Montoya
Trash Anthem is a 10-minute play featuring two characters: a woman and a pair of boots. The woman and the boots engage in dialogue, and the audience learns that the boots belonged to her husband. The play takes place in the Deep South and the woman is dressed like she has been digging a hole. We learn that the woman’s husband cheated on her with another man. The woman and the boots revisit the past and elements of their relationship through dialogue before flashing blue lights arrive at the scene.
ReplyDeleteI liked the way the woman and her murdered husband’s boots “talk” throughout the play, and both defy stereotypes, which Starkey says to avoid (238). The woman, contrary to simply having a vengeance plot, which is often stereotypically portrayed in affairs, shows character development as the play ensues, and confesses her longing for “something real” and asks how much her husband loved her (308). The Boots as a prop serve to evoke masculinity by a tough and leathery exterior, stereotyping a cowboy. The man, unexpectedly, turns out to be homosexual, which went against his wife’s expectation of him (“You were so butch,” 307). I also really liked the strong characterization of the woman, from her screams to her vengeance, and the strength to bury her husband after shooting him herself.
Natalie Roeglin
“Trash Anthem” by Dan Dietz, is about a woman having an intense conversation with a pair of boots. From the song the woman was singing, we can infer that she murdered and buried her husband. The conversation between the woman and the boots was metaphorical in the sense that it was as though she were speaking to the husband. This play was a bit confusing to visualize because I found it hard to imagine a pair of boots talking, or being animated. One other aspect that confused me was the character jeff. I couldn't decipher how he was significant or important for the plot. The woman fell in love with the physical attributes off her husband, but it is almost if she was unable to communicate efficiently with him. Due to the lack of emotional connection, this may have led the woman to murder him. I would say my favorite part of this play, would be the fact that they incorporated the boots as a character. Dietz complicated the character, and gave them meaning. Though the woman may have been just talking to herself in real life, she could have imagined that she was actually having a conversation with this inanimate object.
ReplyDeleteValerie Jackson