Summary and Analysis of The American Dream

Setting:
The 1950s, in the living room of a middle-class American family's apartment.

Author:

The American Dream was written in 1960 by an American playwright named Edward Albee. He’s famous for writing plays that reflect modernist ideas of the post-WWII era. Many of his plays are part of the Theater of the Absurd, including The Zoo Story and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Setting:

The play takes place in the living room of a family apartment. It’s a very generic setting, a familiar scene to middle-class Americans. Though the time period is unspecified, the play most likely takes place during the 1950s or 60s, the era of consumerism.

Characters:        

Mommy is a cruel, authoritative, selfish woman. Since she was little, she manipulated others for her personal gain and always intended to marry a rich man. She treats her husband, Daddy, like a disposable tool rather than a person. In one instance, she tells Daddy, “I can live off you because I married you,” indicating that she values her husband because of his wealth, and nothing more. This quote also shows her attitude of being self-entitled to everything. Throughout the play, she constantly belittles and patronizes him. In an overt display of her aggressive and sadistic nature, Mommy also remarks, “WHAT a masculine Daddy! Isn’t he a masculine Daddy?” This quote fully displays her outright lack of human  for Daddy. She’s also very pretentious.

Although he’s a man, Daddy is a powerless and impotent character. He often acquiesces to Mommy’s domineering personality. When Mommy openly demeans Daddy, he never tries to defend his dignity. To add to this, Daddy has a physical disability that perpetuates his powerless persona: sexual impotency. He is a thoroughly emasculated character, both internally and physically.

Grandma is a character who takes on the role of a bystander rather than a real participant in the play. Unlike the other characters, Grandma isn’t pretentious. Her dialogue is often gruff and brusque. She doesn’t get treated well by Mommy or Mrs. Barker. Yet, the reader should recognize and appreciate Grandma’s genuineness because of how it contrasts with the other characters. If Grandma wasn’t in the play, we might have a harder time realizing how pretentious the other characters really are.

               

Plot summary:

The American Dream starts out with Mommy and Daddy sitting in their apartment living room, having a dull conversation and complaining about someone being late. Mommy begins describing the time she went shopping for a hat and made a giant fuss over the color. Grandma enters the room carrying a lot of wrapped boxes. Mommy comments on how nicely the boxes are wrapped. She then tells a story from her childhood, describing how Grandma would pack her lunch in nicely wrapped boxes, which Mommy wouldn’t open. Mommy would take sympathy food from her classmates during lunchtime and bring her unopened lunch back home for Grandma to eat. Now that Mommy has married Daddy, who is rich, Mommy says that she’s entitled to everything Daddy has. The doorbell rings and Daddy hesitates to open it. But when Mommy coaxes him and tells him he’s masculine, Daddy finally opens the door to let Mrs. Barker come in. Although Mrs. Barker seems to know the Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma, they don’t seem to remember Mrs. Barker very well. Mrs. Barker takes off her dress, making Daddy uncomfortable. The four of them sit down and talk about numerous small things. Throughout, Mommy and Grandma have arguments with one another. Daddy leaves the room after Mommy tells him to find Grandma’s television and break it. Mommy makes a snide allusion to the fact that Mrs. Barker’s husband is in a wheel-chair. Mrs. Barker becomes uncomfortable, so Mommy leaves the room to get her some water. While they’re out of the room, Mommy and Daddy struggle to find Grandma’s room. Grandma smugly remarks that she has hidden everything. Now that she’s alone with Mrs. Barker, Grandma begins to tell Mrs. Barker the reason why she’s here. Years ago, Mommy and Daddy adopted a baby from the adoption center Mrs. Barker works for. Mommy got annoyed with the baby’s habits, so she murdered it by cutting its body parts off. After Grandma’s story, the doorbell rings and Grandma finds a handsome young man at the door. Grandma calls him the American Dream because of his perfect physical appearance. The young man is the twin brother of the baby that Mommy murdered long ago. He lacks the ability to feel emotion or love, in ways that parallel his twin’s chopped-off body parts. Just like how the baby twin had its eyes ripped out by Mommy, the young man lacks the ability to look at people with pity. The young man explains that he’s looking for a job so that he can make money. Mommy sees the handsome young man and immediately becomes pleased with him. She takes him in, just like she adopted his twin (it’s implied that the young man has been “hired” to satisfy her sexually). The play ends right there, after Grandma leaves the house.

Author’s Style:

Albee’s choice to write The American Dream in only one act and one setting is important for the point of view. The entire play is set in the living room of Mommy and Daddy’s apartment home. This generic and static setting serves to emphasize the play’s focus on the reality of a consumerist family lifestyle and not a doctored image. With this setting, it feels as if the reader is taking a candid, uncensored look at the happenings of Mommy and Daddy’s life.

There is no spectacular action or frantic drama in the play. The imagery found in the dialogue of the play is generally dull. Even when Grandma is describing the time when Mommy mutilated her adopted son, she doesn’t use the image-invoking or emotional words that would warranted for such a violent thing. The plain and emotionless words in the dialogue create a surface appearance of a peaceful, untroubled family. But after discovering the horrors of Mommy’s sadistic nature and actions, the reader will realize that the lack of strong imagery in the play is a deceptive veil.

Theme:

A major theme of the book is the idea that surface appearances are often incongruous with reality. Behind the façade of Mommy and Daddy’s happy American lifestyle, there are many distressing things that go on. The play opens up with Mommy and Daddy having a mundane conversation in a plain living room, talking about fixing the toilet. This boring opening creates the impression that their lives are so untroubled that fixing the toilet is one of their biggest problems. But later, we learn about disturbing issues like Mommy’s sadistic control over Daddy, Daddy’s sexual impotency, and their mutilated adopted son.

This theme is supported by Albee’s choice of title for the play. The American Dream was written in the 1960s, a time where consumerism became a huge part of American culture. During this era, American people saw numerous magazine ads, TV commercials, and billboards that depicted middle-class American families living happily in houses with the latest household appliances and products (TVs, refrigerators, washers, toys, etc). Eventually, this culture of consumerism became a big part of the prevailing image of the happy American family. In the minds of many Americans, living the American dream meant buying a lot of things. As its title suggests, The American Dream is meant to pick apart the illusion of this so-called “American dream” and reveal how it’s incongruous with reality.

This general theme of reality clashing with image is symbolized by the handsome young man, whom Grandma calls the American Dream. The fact that this young man shares his name with the title of the play is very significant and should lead us to believe that he symbolizes a major theme of the play, which he does. In fact, he perfectly embodies the theme. On the outside, he’s young and handsome, and appears to have the potential to succeed. But as he later reveals, he’s empty inside. He can’t feel love, affection, pity, or even lust. His surface appearance is incongruous with reality, just like many of the things in the play.

Closed Reading #2

“Madonna’s Tone-Deaf Tattoo”

Meghan Daum

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-1018-daum-yousafzai-madonna-20121018,0,1844038.column

In her article, “Madonna’s Tone-Deaf Tattoo,” Meghan Daum remarks on a recent incident where pop singer Madonna revealed a new fake tattoo during a concert. Emblazoned on her lower back was the name of Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani girl who has gained a lot of recent media attention after being shot by members of the Taliban. The article carries a strongly negative tone that ridicules Madonna and attacks her tattoo. Daum uses pejorative diction to style Madonna as obnoxious, which goes in sharp contrast to the honorific diction she uses to endear readers to Malala. The language throughout is very sardonic, often used to mock Madonna. Also, Daum’s deliberate choice of details highlights many of Malala’s good deeds while bringing up ugly things from Madonna’s history.

The article uses a very sardonic language that mocks Madonna. With the very first line in the article, “There goes Madonna, classing up the joint again,” Daum immediately sets the sardonic tone of the article, making it clear that Madonna is not going to get much love from her. It doesn’t get much more sarcastic than saying someone is “classing up the joint.” By calling Madonna the “Hottest Bod in the AARP,” Daum gives Madonna a backhanded compliment, more of an insult than a real compliment. It’s a demeaning title for Madonna, meant to ridicule and dismiss any remnants of her status as a sex symbol. Daum again ridicules Madonna’s tattoo as pathetic and ineffective against the Taliban. She says, “Take that Taliban! Mess with a girl’s education and you’re messing with a 54-year-old pop star in a leather corset.”  The sardonic and belittling language that Daum uses throughout the article doesn’t do anything to flatter the pop singer. Instead, readers get the sense that Madonna is classless and grossly promiscuous.

            Daum also uses diction to put critical labels on Madonna, while putting positive ones on Malala. She says Madonna has an “obsession with her body.” She calls Madonna an “extremist.” She describes Madonna’s tattoo-exposing as “relentless self-promotion” and “envelope pushing.” All of these words carry negative connotations for Madonna that depict her as obnoxious. On the other hand, Daum describes Malala’s face as “earnest” and “un-primmed.” She refers to Malala as a “modest Muslim girl.” Although these words don’t directly praise Malala’s character as fervently as Daum’s criticism of Madonna does, they highlight some of Malala’s qualities that endear the reader to young girl. Daum’s choice of diction in this article is subtle, but it still does enough to influence the reader.

Through her deliberate choice of details, Daum gives unflattering stories and examples of Madonna’s actions to depict her as disgraceful. For example, the article mentions that Madonna “superimposed a swastika on the forehead of French politician Marine Le Pen.” It mentions that she “called President Obama a ‘black Muslim’ while ‘endorsing’ him at a performance.”  Yet, the details that Daum chose to leave out of the article are just as meaningful as the details she chose to include. Madonna has had a long, successful career as a singer. Like many pop singers, Madonna has done volunteer work, charity concerts, and fundraisers. But of course, Daum doesn’t mention any of this. Why? This article is supposed to be explaining why Madonna’s stunt is inappropriate, as the article title suggests. By highlighting a lot of the stupid, ugly things that Madonna has done, Daum paints a negative picture of Madonna.

In contrast, Daum chooses to highlight certain details about Malala that depict her as a virtuous person. For example, the article mentions that Malala has written a blog for BBC. It mentions that she was the first ever to receive Pakistan’s National Youth Prize. It mentions that “Desmond Tutu nominated her for an International Children's Peace Prize.” These impressive accolades definitely make Malala a respectable and morally righteous young girl.

            In the article, not only does Daum express her disgust with Madonna’s tattoo, but she also reveals her disgust with the pop singer in general. This is clear in her heavy use of sardonic language, negative diction, and biased choice of details to define and describe Madonna.

Open Prompt Response #2

2003, Form B. Novels and plays often depict characters caught between colliding cultures – national, regional, ethnic, religious, institutional. Such collisions can call a character’s sense of identity into question. Select a novel or play in which you describe the character’s response and explain its relevance to the work as a whole.

                Often, societal values and prejudices shape many of our ways of thinking. We learn to yearn for one thing and hate another thing, just because that’s what people around us do. Depending on the kind of society we live in or the people we grow up with, we develop certain types of ideas and prejudices. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison tells the story of a young black girl, Pecola Breedlove, who learns to hate herself because of her ethnicity and the supposed ugliness that’s attached to it. All around her, whether it’s in her parents, teachers, books, toys, or peers, Pecola sees evidence of the idea that whites are far prettier than and superior to blacks. Rather than embrace her identity as a black girl, she experiences an unfortunate loss of identity by yearning to be white and to associate herself with white culture.

                One key trait that Pecola associates with white culture is beauty. Throughout the book, Pecola feels that she’s ugly and thinks that she would be pretty if she were white. More than anything, she wishes to have blue eyes, a quality only white girls can have.  She sees that Maureen Peal, who is a light-skinned girl, is admired as pretty and favored by teachers and classmates alike. On top of this, she realizes that there are only white toy girl dolls that her peers play with. Being exposed to white culture in this way, Pecola directly associates white culture with beauty.

                Pecola also learns to associate white culture with stability and tight-knit family lifestyle. When she reads stories about Dick and Jane at school, she sees two white kids who are happy and have loving parents. She also sees her light-skinned classmate, Junior, come home to an attentive and caring mother. By seeing examples of white kids receiving care and love from their families, Pecola finds another reason to want to be white.

 Meanwhile, Pecola’s experiences with the realities of being black often teach her to hate black culture. Much of Pecola’s hatred comes from her own upbringing with her parents. The two parents are always arguing and physically fighting one another whenever Pecola gets home from school. Pecola had to live in a foster home as a small child because her drunk father burned down their house. Often, her mother wouldn’t be home to make food until late at night. To Pecola, the unhappy, volatile lifestyle at her home directly represents black culture.

Understanding how Pecola was exposed to black and white culture, it’s easy to see why Pecola struggled to find self-worth as a black girl. The sharp contrast in quality of life and quality of treatment made it clear to Pecola that becoming a white girl would be the best thing ever to happen to her.

Response to Course Material #2

When learning about the literary movements, I found it ironic that many of the concepts and elements from the Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Eras are so much more familiar to us than concepts and elements from the Modern and Postmodernist Eras. A lot of people know who Hades is, because they saw him on the Disney movie Hercules. A lot of people are familiar with Dante’s depiction of a hot, fiery Hell because that’s the way TV and movies portray it today. Many people know Shakespeare’s story of Romeo and Juliet because it’s reproduced in numerous different ways in pop culture. Then why aren’t Modernist/Postmodern concepts like Impressionism and The Simulacrum as familiar?

I can think of one reason for this. We recognize things from earlier literary eras because of a few recognizable characters and stories that come from those eras. These early eras had more defining characters and stories, while Modernism and Postmodernism simply didn’t. The Classical Era survives through its famous Greek gods and heroes like Zeus and Hercules. The Medieval Era survives through the legend of King Arthur and the Round Table. The Renaissance survives through the famous plays of Shakespeare. The Romantic Era survives because of the extravagant images of Frankenstein or the great whale from Moby Dick. Even the Victorian Era survives through famous characters like Sherlock Holmes and Alice from Alice in Wonderland.

Yet, despite the importance and the impact that Modernist/Postmodernist writing has had on society today, we don’t really have any images or characters that have a major presence in our consciousness.  A lot of us would probably have to be in a literature class before reading the works of Hemingway, TS Eliot, Fitzgerald, or any of the other Modernists. The reason we are more familiar with the Romantic concepts of nature and extremes is because we are already familiar with the story of Moby Dick, which demonstrates this. Yet, we aren’t as familiar with the Modernist concept of impressionism because there aren’t many mainstream examples of Modernist literature that already demonstrate impressionism. Therefore, when we learn about impressionism, it takes more time to grasp the concept.