Lincoln and Booth: Sibling Tensions in Topdog/Underdog Janelle Askew College

Suzan-Lori Parks once explained that her play Topdog/Underdog “isn’t just confined to a man’s experience,” furthermore, “I think it’s about what it means to be family and, in the biggest sense, the family of man, what it means to be connected with somebody else.” A major theme found throughout the play is sibling dynamic, and Booth's explanation about the world in scene five depicts this dynamic perfectly.

Booth explains to Lincoln that, “Thuh world puts its foot in yr face and you don’t move. You tell thuh world tuh keep on stepping. But Im my own man, Link. I aint you.”. This is after Lincoln has tried to educate Booth on how to be a better card player. Booth gets over confident in his ability and paired with his anger by getting “played” by Grace he walks out in a fit of anger. Lincoln ends the scene by acknowledging that the two aren’t similar but through his actions he proves to be proud of the fact.

Although in depth it seems that Lincoln is not the Top dog or allows Booth to feel as if he has the potential to be top dog, it is apparent Booth isn’t capable of taking this responsibility. A complete opposite of Lincoln, Booth is in a constant desire to be Top dog but can never achieve it, because frankly, he is not Lincoln....