"The American Dream": Summary and Analysis

Author: Edward Albee was born on March 12^th, 1928. He was adopted by the son of a famous producer and was introduced to theater at a very young age. He and his stepmother struggled over her wanting him to become a member of high society.

Setting: An apartment in the late 1950s-early 1960s (modern day at the time).

Plot: The play begins with Mommy and Daddy in the living room of the apartment waiting for someone to come. They begin complaining about how they are always waiting and how they cannot get satisfaction in modern times. While they wait, Mommy gets distracted and tells a story to Daddy about her purchase of a hat yesterday. She says she went to the store but could not find a hat that she liked until they showed her a beige one. When she left the store wearing the hat and ran into the chairman of her woman’s club who told her the hat was beige. She was distraught by this and took it back to the store to get a beige one. They gave her the same hat back and she accepted it as beige. They begin talking about how the toilet is not functioning correctly and how Grandma has trouble in the bathroom, at which point Grandma walks in with a bunch of well-wrapped boxes. Daddy mentions the toilet again and Grandma gets offended and starts talking about the neglect and ways of older people. Daddy tries to change the subject back to the boxes so Mommy tells how Grandma used to wrap her a lunch box full of her own dinner from the night before. Mommy did not eat it (she ate her classmates’ food) so Grandma ate it after she got home. This sparks a conversation about wealth and how Mommy has it now but Grandma works for it even though she would not have to. Grandma goes on another rant about what happens with age after this. Mommy tries to send Grandma to bed, but ultimately allows her to stay and watch. Finally, someone is at the door and Daddy becomes anxious about answering it, but Mommy gets him to. It is Mrs. Barker (chairman of the woman’s club who has a husband in a wheelchair) and she comes in, sits down, takes off her dress, and insults the appearance of the apartment. Mrs. Barker also reveals that she was listening outside and she wears a “cream” version of the hat from the story. After a while, Mommy asks Mrs. Barker to tell them why she is there and Grandma interrupts with, “the boxes…the boxes…”, but Mrs. Barker is not there for the boxes. Here, the focus shifts from Mrs. Barker and the boxes to Daddy’s operation. Soon Grandma goes on another rant and Mommy threatens that the van man could come and tells Daddy to break Grandma’s TV. At this point, Mommy wants to chat with Mrs. Barker, but she says she is not feeling well so she needs some water. Mommy tells Grandma to get it but she refuses and Mommy has to get it herself. After Mommy has left the room Grandma tells Mrs. Barker a story of a family “very much like” her own family who adopted a baby boy. This baby had flaws so they removed pieces of him until he died. Daddy cannot find Grandma’s room and Mommy cannot find the water, and Mommy brings up the van man again. The doorbell rings again and Grandma answers it to find a young attractive man whom she calls “the American Dream”. He will do anything for money so she tells him about how she won money from a baking contest with her “day old cake”. The young man tells her about how he had a twin but they were separated, and for a long time he has been unable to feel. Grandma recognizes him to be the twin of the adopted boy from the story she told Mrs. Barker about Mommy and Daddy. Grandma tells the young man to take her boxes outside and then he walks her to the elevator and she exits. Mrs. Barker tells Mommy and Daddy that she has gone with the van man and that the young man is the replacement boy from the adoption agency. They believe they have finally gotten satisfaction and drink meager wine.

Characters: Mommy (powerful, represents a very materialistic society, naïve), Daddy (feminized, makes a lot of money, seems to actually care about people but that takes away from his masculinity), Grandma (strong willed, representative of the old American Dream), Young Man (young, attractive, emotionless, represents the new American Dream), and Mrs. Barker (works for the Bye-Bye Adoption Service and is a professional woman, she has a power struggle with Mommy).

Style: There is no narrator in this story so there is no point of view, except for at the end of the play when Grandma speaks out to the audience. She reveals that conflict is to come but that the story must end before then because it is a comedy. There is also little imagery because it is a play; all imagery comes from the dialogue (such as “a banana shaped head”, “beautifully wrapped boxes”, etc.). Symbolism can be seen in many aspects of this play. Examples include Daddy’s operation (feminizing him), Grandma’s boxes (her values), Grandma (the old American Dream), and Young Man (the new American Dream).

Significant Quotes:

1. “That’s the way things are today; you just can’t get satisfaction; you just try” (Mommy, pg 61). This quote is significant because it shows how modern society is so focused on consumerism and getting everything that they want, while also describing how companies will fool their customers to make a profit.
2. “When you get so old, all that happens is that people talk to you that way” (Grandma, pg 64). This is important because it shows how people think about the old American Dream—not just Grandma. Because the values of the past are seemingly outdated, the new ways are overcoming it and causing people to talk about the old American Dream as if it is dead, even though it is still around (just weaker in prominence).
3. “…the doctors took out something that was there and put in something that wasn’t there” (Daddy, 83). This is important as well because it shows Daddy being emasculated permanently, having further implications on the organization of the gender role structure in society.

Theme: The overall theme of this piece is that the old American Dream is fading, while a new superficial American dream takes hold.

à This theme is set by having the play set in a common modern day home to represent the general population. Also, by having Grandma being representative of the old American Dream—which we can tell by her need to work for a living, her independence, and her strength despite her age—and Young Man representative of the new American Dream—which we see in his emotionless being and need for money—the contrast between the decline of one and the growth of the other is clearly apparent. As Grandma fades away, the Young Man is reaching his prime. The title, "The American Dream", foreshadows this. 

Close Reading #2

“The Game is All-Consuming, at Least Until the Outside World Intrudes” http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/movies/brooklyn-castle-directed-by-katie-dellamaggiore.html?ref=movies

            In the review, “The Game is All-Consuming, at Least Until the Outside World Intrudes”, Manohla Dargis portrays “Brooklyn Castle” to be a touching, engaging, and exciting documentary. She does this through her usage of diction and figurative language, and the details that she incorporates.

            Throughout the article Dargis shows the reader how the film is captivating and emotional through her word choice. This begins in the very first sentence of the review when she refers to “Brooklyn Castle” and an “irresistible documentary”. Also in the first paragraph while describing the chess matches in which the team featured in this film partake, Dargis says, “…you come to know these children…as you witness their pulse-quickening matches”. The use of the word “pulse-quickening” emphasizes the tension brought about by the film that ultimately results in fascination and excitement. These feelings show that Dargis is trying to portray the engaging qualities of the film. The article also exhibits diction that presents a feeling of tenderness that comes about from the film. For example in the fifth paragraph Dargis says, “…their students, who can wear their burdens heavily, with worried eyes and anxious jittering”. By including the adjectives “worried” and “anxious”, the reader feels bad for the students experiencing anxiety, making the plotline touching and heart wrenching.

            In addition to her diction, Dargis also uses figurative language to emphasize the emotional and exciting aspects of the film. For example in the first paragraph she says, “The child chess champions…don’t take long…to crush you”. In using the phrase “to crush you” Dargis demonstrates the effects that the conflicts in the film have on the audience. By using these words rather than saying “makes you sad”, it emphasizes the level of attachment that the audience develops to the students and how touching the film becomes. Dargis also shows how exciting the matches in the documentary are by referring to the winners as “conquerors” in the third paragraph.

            The details of which Dargis includes in her review of “Brooklyn Castle” also contribute to her representation of the film being touching and engaging. For example, in the second paragraph she lists some of the hardships that certain members of the chess team are facing and their dreams to fix them. By including these details, feelings of sympathy arise within the reader, thus showing how emotionally touching the story is. Another example in which details contribute to the overall representation that Dargis is trying to portray is when she says, “It’s deeply satisfying watching these public school, hard-knock kids win…” in the final paragraph. By not only including that the film is “satisfying” to watch, but also that the children win, the reader already knows that the plot will not be disappointing, and therefore full of excitement. The satisfaction also proves her point that they documentary is engaging.

            By making strategic use of diction and figurative language, while also incorporating relevant and meaningful details, Dargis reflects her feelings towards the documentary to the reader. Because of this, the reader feels that that the viewing of this film will be a captivating, exciting, and emotional experience.

Prompt #2

2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

                In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a conch shell is used to symbolize order and civilization throughout the novel. This is done through strategic timing, uses of the object, and changes reflecting on it. Golding uses the deterioration of the conch to emphasize the absence of society and the effects that it has on the boys.

                At the beginning of the novel, the sound of the conch is used to assemble the boys who are stranded on the island. Once together, it is also used to signify who may speak—whoever holds the shell can talk and all others must remain silent. By having the boys use the conch in these ways it comes to represent order by keeping them together and under control. It also indicates the ideas of civilization through the organization of power and the control over the group of boys. Without the shell the boys would not have been able to come together all at once and discuss. They also would not have been able to hold a mature meeting in which they were able to discuss their options and ideas—a necessity in any civilization.

                As the novel continues, the boys begin to lose their sense of order with which they began.  As this occurs, the conch shell begins to fade away as well. For example, as Jack and his followers become more ruthless in their hunting and start to rebel against Ralph’s leadership, the once deep pink of the shell turns to a pale cream, and as the story progresses it continues to become meekly colored by a cloudy transparency. When Piggy, the only character to truly maintain all of the ideals of civilization throughout the novel, is killed, Golding writes that the conch shell shatters completely. In doing this he is symbolizing the complete deterioration of all sense of order that the boys had began with.

                William Golding uses the decomposition of the conch shell to show the meaning of the novel, which is without the rules of society, people would be consumed with self interest and be evil in nature.  The symbolization affiliated with the conch shell signifies the process of this occurring with the youth in the story. Because children have not been exposed to civilization for as long as adults, they are able to lose their grasp on the importance of it. As this occurs, they also become more self indulgent and vicious without true purpose. Since the order that the boys once knew fades with the color of the conch, Golding’s overall meaning in the novel is emphasized.

                The conch shell in Lord of the Flies not only symbolizes order and civilization as it begins to deteriorate throughout the novel, but also contributes to the overall meaning of the work that Golding was portraying. The corresponding of the loss of all remnants of the ideals of society and the fading conch emphasizes the effects on the boys and the savagery consumes them. This ultimately reflects that without the rules and constraints of civilization, humans would be selfish and evil.

Response to Course Material #2

In the past few weeks we have covered quite a bit of material. We have learned about existentialism, critical lenses, literary movements, The American Dream, theatre of the absurd, how to write an AP essay, and we also expanded on analyzing literature using DIDLS. Something that was of particular interest to me was how to write the AP essay. Before that lesson, I had no idea how much thought had to go into the directions of the prompt alone.  Realizing that you must first identify the three parts that the prompt is asking, for before even beginning to analyze the piece, is something that I never would have considered. In the past, essay prompts have been pretty straight forward—find commonalities between multiple works, explain how a certain character changes over time, etc. Never had I been asked to analyze the author’s motives for writing things in a certain way. Because of this, I found myself lost when it came to devising a thesis for the sample essay that we were shown in class—regardless of knowing the three things that the readers will be looking for. I look forward to further expanding on how to do this in class.

                Last year in British Literature, we spent some time learning about the different critical lenses as well, but we never spent a lot of time focusing on how they were applied. For example, I knew that a feminist critic would use gender roles to form a theory about a piece of literature that they were reading, but I never made the connection that the analysis had to do with the author’s motives when writing the story. I am very glad that we spent some time learning about how each form of criticism is applied in this class because this will help us gain an understanding of the works that we read over the course of the year and on the AP test. It will also help us to annotate the pieces that we read. If we consider all of the different forms of literary criticism, we can think about all the different things that the author could have been considering consciously, or subconsciously, while writing it (as we are beginning to see in The American Dream. We also spent some time talking about the literary movements in British Literature, but we never compared them all with one another as we did on Friday. Having a clear comparison of the different movements over time will help in making distinctions between them. Knowing the specifics of each literary movement will also help determine an author’s motives based on the time he or she wrote something. I look forward to learning more about these literary movements and seeing more examples of how we see them in literature from their eras.