American Buffalo: Analysis of Major Characters
"American Buffalo" is a play that delves into the dynamics of friendship, trust, and the moral ambiguity of crime through its major characters: Don Dubrow, Walter Cole (Teach), and Bob. Don, the proprietor of a junk shop, grapples with feelings of betrayal after unknowingly selling a rare buffalo nickel for too little. His desire to reclaim a sense of power leads him to concoct a plan for a robbery, although he ultimately remains a passive participant. Teach, Don's assertive but insecure friend, embodies a cynical worldview where deceit and violence are justifiable business tactics. His interactions highlight a lack of genuine moral principles, as he oscillates between boldness and uncertainty. Meanwhile, Bob, portrayed as a slow-witted junkie, is dependent on Don and struggles with his own identity amid the chaos. His attempts to prove himself often result in increased vulnerability, exposing the fragile nature of loyalty and respect within their small circle. Together, these characters navigate a gritty landscape where the lines between friendship, manipulation, and survival blur, prompting reflections on the complexities of human relationships in a morally ambiguous world.
American Buffalo: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: David Mamet
First published: 1976
Genre: Play
Locale: Don's Resale Shop in an unspecified city
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: The 1970's
Don Dubrow, a man in his late forties, the owner of the junk shop called Don's Resale Shop. He unknowingly sells a rare American buffalo nickel for what he assumes must have been too little. He believes that by tricking him, the buyer achieved an unwarranted dominance over him. Don intends to get even by planning a robbery, one in which he will not participate but that will involve the nickel being restolen. This dream-fantasy of the robbery restores to Don the sense of power that he lost with the nickel's sale. When the play opens, Don is berating the dependent Bob for leaving the house he had been sent to stake out. He emphasizes his dominance by making Bob apologize for that action. Don's need for family is expressed by his fatherly friendship and concern for slow-witted Bob, whom he tries to teach the difference between friendship and business but whom he betrays out of mistrust of his own convictions and the strength of Teach's arguments. He holds the offstage character Fletch up to Bob as an example of a guy who can think on his feet, but he becomes totally demoralized when he learns through Teach that Fletch cheated him, a friend as well as a business associate. Don turns violent when frustrated. His whole life seems to exist only within his resale shop.
Walter Cole, called Teach, an overreactive friend and associate of Don who is unsure of his actions, although he puts up a good front by using bold language infused with positivism. His unsureness is echoed in his innate suspicion of others, and he believes that everyone is motivated by self-interest. Business in his world is necessary, and the means used in its execution are self-justifying. Deceit, physical violence, and assault are merely business tactics, and friendship is nothing more than a means of gain. Teach lacks the courage of his convictions, however, and there is a great gulf between his words and his deeds. His suspicions allow him to terrorize Bob physically, and even though these thoughts turn out to be erroneous, he is never anxious or questioning of his actions. Teach utilizes moral principles that justify his cynical outlook. His great robbery never takes place; Teach is a bungler as well as a misogynist. Offstage female characters illustrate his lack of control in his world.
Bob, a slow-witted junkie who works as a gofer for Don. He emphasizes the superiority Don feels. Bob is cheated out of participation in an abortive robbery but ironically may have done the cheating. Bob is dependent on Don for the cash to feed his drug habit. Participation in the robbery will temporarily bring him the cash he needs and perhaps inspire praise from Don. Because of his habit, however, Bob must also be committing small types of crimes, and it could be that he committed the crime that Teach accuses him of—getting the buffalo nickel from the customer in some foul way. Don's calls to the hospitals in the area prove that Don does not trust Bob. Throughout the play, Bob, in repeating much of what Don tells him, uses a type of low-language slang that indicates his low intelligence and his inability to progress outside Don's Resale Shop.