ghout the play until this point, Lee’s dialogue has been considerably lengthier than Austin’s has. In this scene, Austin’s dialogue is explosive in its length when compared with Lee’s sparse one liners. This change marks the end of the way things used to be for them. Austin’s reaction to his brother is not the timid, patient person who we met in the first scene. In contrast, while Lee is being a little more ambitious and social than we have been led to believe he normally is, the major change is that it is Lee who is calm and timid when Austin becomes infuriated:AUSTIN: Yeah, well you can afford to give me a percentage on the outline then. And you better get the genius here an agent before he gets burned.LEE: Saul’s gonna’ be my agent. Isn’t that right, Saul? (P.34)While these behavioral changes don’t necessarily mean that the brothers’ roles have switched, in scene seven, role changing is blatantly obvious. In a reversal of the play’s opening scene, Lee is trying to write the draft of his story, and Austin is the constant disruption:LEE: (slams fist on table) Hey! Knock it off will ya’! I’m tryin’ to concentrate here.AUSTIN: (laughs) You’re tryin’ to concentrate?LEE: Shut up will ya’!And later,LEE: I’m a screenwriter now! I’m legitimate. (P.37)Lee’s cry that he is “legitimate” shows that he has been more concerned with his illegitimate past than he has let on. He wants to be part of society, and he thinks he has finally found an outlet for that part of himself in his brother’s life. When he tells his brother that he is “legitimate” and a “screenwriter,” he is really trying to convince himself. For Austin, his Lee has been more successful in Austin’s business than Austin has, and in just a few days. His rivalry is determined to fight back, “You really ...
