The American Dream Summary and Analysis

The American Dream: A Summary

The American Dream is written by Edward Albee, a playwright that was young man at the time he wrote the play.

Characters:

Mommy is a controlling character who married Daddy for his money. As a young girl she did not have much money, but she now lives comfortably. She is always threatening Grandma with the “van man”.

Daddy is Mommy’s husband and recently had a sex change. He seems to be subordinate to Mommy, though he stands up for Grandma at times. He does not work, but is well off, alluding to him inheriting money.

Grandma is the mother of Mommy. Her husband died many years before, leaving her to take care of Mommy without working. She is constantly talking about boxes she has while she criticizes Mommy and Daddy. She is the most self aware character in the play and leaves in the end. She is often more gender neutral.

Mrs. Barker is the Chairman of the women’s club Mommy attends and she also volunteers for the Bye-Bye Adoption Service. Mommy and Daddy call her to their apartment, but no one can remember why. Mrs. Barker and Mommy are constantly fighting for dominance in the play.

Young Man is the last character introduced. He claims he is a shell of a human-being as he cannot feel anything. He also claims he has a twin that he was separated from. He is later “adopted” by Mommy and Daddy.

Setting:

Apartment in America in the 1950s

Only focuses in one room.

There is an archway, two chairs, and a couch in the room

Plot:

Mommy and Daddy are sitting in a room waiting for “them” to show up. While, they wait, they complain about the quality of their apartment and lack of satisfaction. Mommy even tells a story about the buying of a hat that she returns and then takes back again, all because the chairman of her women’s club said it was “wheat colored”.

Grandma then shows up with many boxes. Grandma proceeds to give wisdom on many aspects of life, but she focuses on how elderly people are treated.

Mommy begins to explain to Daddy how Grandma would wrap her lunches when she was younger and she would never open her lunch because they were so pretty. The other children would give her food because they thought she was prideful. Mommy and Grandma proceed to bicker at times with Mommy threatening to call the “van man” to take Grandma away. Then Mrs.Barker arrives, but it takes much coaxing from Mommy to get Daddy to work up the courage to open the door.

Mommy and Mrs. Barker throw barbs at each other, while Daddy sits by passively. Still, no one is sure why Mrs. Barker is there. The conversation steers towards husband and men in general. Mommy uses it to her advantage and she puts down Mrs. Barker’s husband. She also threatens Grandma with the “van man” whenever Grandma goes off on her spiels of thought about the role of elderly people in society.

Mrs. Barker feels like she is about to faint when Mommy insults her husband, so Mommy leaves to get her water, and Daddy goes to find Grandma’s television.

While they are gone, Grandma tells Mrs. Barker a story that relates to why she was invited to the apartment. Said in twisted words to defer any blame, Grandma tells a tale of Mommy and Daddy adopting a child that Mrs. Barker supplies for them. Mommy finds that the child does not meet her standards, so she “dismembers” the child until it eventually dies. Mrs. Barker is not sure what to think of the information.

The the Young Man shows up and he tells Grandma of his lack of feeling. Grandma realizes that he is the twin of the child adopted by Mommy and Daddy. Grandma then gives Mrs. Barker a plan to fix everything with Mommy and Daddy while the Young Man takes her boxes out.

Grandma becomes a part of the audience and Mrs. Barker offers the Young Man to Mommy and Daddy to fix any issues with the original child. Still, in the end, they all manage to complain about their drink before Grandma cuts off the play.

The American Dream: An Analysis

Tone:

The tone of the American Dream is often childish and innocent. Just the use of the characters names, like Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma, gives the entire piece a childish feel and makes the characters seem childish themselves. Later when Grandma describes how Mommy and Daddy ruined the baby, Mrs. Barker sounds casual about the entire story, and Grandma tells it matter of factly, even siding with Mommy’s and Daddy’s actions. This casual nonchalance makes them seem oblivious and innocent, but also dangerous. They are unaware that their actions are horrible.

View: 

Because the names Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma lead towards the presence of a child, the reader automatically imagines a child’s view. Even Mrs. Barker is an odd name from one adult to another. So, the reader is expecting the presence of a child, which is met when Grandma tells the story of the adopted child. The play also recognizes an audience as a point of view. In the end, Grandma even tells the reader or audience to be quiet so she can hear what is happening. Grandma breaks the fourth wall and sees the audience as a another viewer in the play.

Author:

Albee seems to be a more simplistic author. The play has little stage directions and ambiguous characters to make the readers draw the conclusions of the play themselves. The ambiguity also makes it more relatable to all of America. If Albee had named a specific city or name, the whole play would be less open and would say less about the whole society.

Symbols:

One of the largest symbols of the play is the original twin adopted by Mommy and Daddy. The twin is ripped apart literally by Mommy and Daddy, just because he did not fit their mold. The dismemberment of the child symbolizes the dismemberment of the traditional American values. Materialism replaces hard work and the Young Man replaces the original twin.

Mommy represents the old American Dream with her emphasis on how Mommy and Daddy are unfulfilled. She cares less about getting satisfaction and more about leaving the home. She also cares less about material things and appearances, and more about the substance of what is happening around her.

The Young Man symbolizes the new American Dream. He only has his appearance and lacks any depth or substance. The superficial need to get happiness through materials is what he shows when Mommy takes him in.

Imagery: 

The imagery of the play shows up when the description of the dismemberment of the child comes in. This part is set apart from the play in that it is more detailed and graphic than anything else. It brings more attention to how the child relates the the characters and overall message.

Thesis

Albee’s American Dream conveys that the new generation has created an American Dream that debases the traditional american values and is based on superficial materialism that causes a impossible need for constant and complete satisfaction with a small hope for possible future salvation.

From the beginning of the play, Mommy and Daddy are relying on the idea that meeting material goals will get satisfaction. Mommy says “Well, I got satisfaction” after she describes how she bought a “beige” hat and immediately took it back when the chairman of her women’s club tells her it is a “wheat” hat (Albee 61). Mommy is given the hat back and told it is beige and she accepts it. Buying things is what Mommy sees as happiness, though it may be short lived.

Mommy thinks that getting a child will make her happy, so she buys one. But, when the child has “eyes for its Daddy” Mommy destroys it eyes (Albee 99). This process continues until the baby has been mutilated so much, it just dies. Still, the superficial image of a child seems to be the most important thing to Mommy, and in the end she is not satisfied, which is why Mrs. Barker is there. The lack of happiness in one moment results in Mommy automatically doing anything to reach immediate satisfaction. She does not deal with the issue, she just looks for quick fixes. Even in the end, though Mommy says “Who says you can’t get satisfaction these days” She ends up disliking the drink and does not have happiness in the one moment.  Even her happiness does not go deeper than the surface. The satisfaction is not only material oriented, but also superficial. Mommy only focuses on the appearance of fixes because she cares more about perceptions. Mommy sees happiness in looking wealthy with a “beige” hat and having a child that perceives her as motherly. She is even obsessed with the way Grandma makes boxes look so pretty when she wraps them. Everything is judged by the surface, not the substance. Because superficial materialism is the means to achieving happiness, it becomes impossible to reach for Mommy as well as Daddy, the Young Man, and even Mrs. Barker at times.

The dysfunctional gender roles Mommy and Daddy fall into even displays how they are constantly searching for satisfaction. Mommy displays that she believes having a husband makes her happy when she says “then I married you, Daddy, and now we’re very rich” (Albee 66). The reliance on men for wealth may still be a part of old American Dream, but the need for wealth to achieve happiness is not. Mommy is not just happy she married Daddy for money, but he is completely subordinate to her. When she says something, he repeats it. He does what she says and wants to feel masculine, but only does when she tells him he is masculine. Even physically he is the women, in that he has had a sex change as he signifies when he says “the doctors took out something that was there and put in something that wasn’t there” (Albee 83). The gender roles may be reversed, but they are still dysfunctional and still being used to achieve satisfaction. Mommy and Daddy have a relationship that gives Mommy more power and Daddy less. This happens because Mommy finda content in being in charge and Daddy believes it will be better for him if he just gives into Mommy’s domineering nature. Still, the roles fail at least Daddy. He later states that he is having “definite qualms” about the operation and really his entire relationship with Mommy (Albee 82). Mommy even has to look elsewhere for happiness in men. She goes to the Young Man in the play and wants to get sexual pleasure from him. Though the gender roles were created to achieve happiness, the roles fail both Mommy and Daddy in giving them happiness.

Grandma and the Young Man in the play signify the old American Dream and new American Dream respectively. Grandma is less concerned with gender even giving herself with pseudonym “Uncle Harry” in a baking contest (Albee 111). This disregard for gender roles displays a more realistic response to finding happiness. She also shows how aware she is of what is going on around her. She knows why Mrs. Barker is there, who the Young Man is, and that the audience is present. This understanding causes her to focus more on herself and one big goal of leaving the house, rather than meeting little goals that mean nothing, like the new American Dream calls for. The Young Man is also self aware of his lack of feeling beyond his appearance. Still, his appearance is the most important thing to those around him, Mommy and Mrs. Barker for example. Mommy is enthralled by his looks and immediately accepts him, though he has no substance. His lack of content shows how the new American Dream is about perceptions. When things look good, they are good, though that is not always the case in the old American Dream. Overall, Albee displays the disconnect between the values of the new American Dream opposed to the old dream.

In the end, Grandma is able to step back from the play and join the audience. She gets away from the toxic nature of the new American Dream and has the possibility for actual happiness, not a constant need to feed satisfaction. Though she may not reach satisfaction, she reaches the chance for it. This possibility rises to a hope for the rise of the values displayed in the old American Dream, like hard work and understanding that constant satisfaction is not happiness.