The American Dream Summary and Analysis

Author: The story was written by Edward Albee and the play was first preformed in 1961.  The play gives off the impression that Albee had strong negative opinions about current society, especially the current American Dream and the how commodification is in society.

Setting: The entire story took place in Mommy and Daddy's apartment.  It was a pretty normal apartment, but it was commodified as a representation of Mommy and Daddy's wealth and social status.

Plot and Significant Characters: The only real change that occurred in the story was that Grandma ended up leaving on her own terms to go to the nursing home. Both the Young Man and Mrs. Barker appear in the play.  Mrs. Barker worded at the Bye-Bye Adoption service and gave Mommy and Daddy their "bumble of joy" which they eventually  killed before the play took place.  The Young Man was referred as the Van Man who Grandma ended up leaving the apartment with.  The three most important characters were Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma.  Mommy constantly emasculates Daddy throughout the story and treats Grandma as if she is no longer an equal human being because of her age.  Daddy is portrayed as a woman and Grandma is the only character who every says anything containing logic or real thinking.

Narrative Voice and Albee's style:  The play was an example of the Theater of the Absurd.  The characters were constantly repeating themselves and the overall plot was very static throughout the entire play.  The point of view was 3rd person where we didn't know about any of the characters inner thoughts.   Overall the tone was cometic but it also was mocking the character's stupidity and obsession with money and social status.  There was also constant imagery involving sex.  There were dozens of sexual innuendoes as well as Daddy becoming "sticky wet" when Mrs. Barker took her dress off.  These constant sexual images also helped describe all the characters besides grandma as being very stupid and immature.  Albee used symbolism to convey most of the meaning in the story.  Grandma represents the old American Dream while the Young Man represents the new American dream.  Albee voices his disgust about what the American Dream is turning into by constantly having the Young Man talk about money and how he will do anything to he can to get it.

Memorable Quotes:

"Well, you know how it is: the doctors took our something that was there and put in something that want there.  An operation" (83).

This quote is when Daddy is describing his sex change operation.  It shows how Daddy is really a woman and adds to the strangeness of the play.  It's characterizing Daddy as being a weak character whose is completely emasculated by Mommy.

"It's that television! Daddy, go break her television" (92).

Mommy believes that Grandma gets all of her radical opinions from television.  This symbolizes the values and ideas that television creates among society and the negative affects they can have.

"And we'll drink to celebrate. To satisfaction!  Who says you can't get satisfaction these days!" (126).

Mommy is talking about celebrating Grandma leaving the apartment.  It symbolizes how the new American Dream (now that Grandma has left) is really about the constant need for satisfaction.  Albee is describing how the constant need for satisfaction is what dives society.



Theme:  The old American Dream is being replaced by a new American Dream that is about being superior to other people based on the commodification of almost everything in your life.

The apartment, the setting,  is referenced many times to describe their social status.  The apartment is use to commodify their wealth.  The title of the play really makes it clear that Albee is talking about the American Dream itself not just newer generations replacing older generations.  By the only major change in the plot being the Young Man taking Grandma away, it is describing how the the New American Dream (the Young Man) is replacing the old values (the boxes) and the old American Dream (Grandma).  The style of Theater of the Absurd and the comedic voice  allows Albee to be very critical of the current American society in a degrading and mocking way, which allows Albee to make his points strong and vivid about current American culture.  The constant imagery of sex shows the newer generation's immaturity as well as its constant need for satisfaction.  Not only does Albee use the symbolism of Grandma and The Young Man, but Mommy and Daddy's inability to find water within the house symbolizes how they have become corrupt and are unable to cleanse themselves and regain their innocence and clarity.  Mommy and Daddy's loss of innocence represents a corrupt society as a whole which has adopted and embraces this new American Dream.

Close Reading #2

Buying the Election?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/opinion/nocera-buying-the-election.html?ref=columnists

Joe Nocera, a columnist for the New York Times, wrote an article called "Buying the Election" about campaign funding is having a negative influence on American politics.  Nocera is trying to explain how the large increase in funding for politicians is hurting democracy in America.  Nocera uses details, imagery, and diction to help convey and emphasize his negative opinion towards campaign funding.  

A challenge that Joe Nocera likely faced when writing this column was trying to make this problem seem relatable to an everyday reader.  He uses imagery to help connect to the readers when he wrote, "They seem to spend more time fund-raising than pressing the flesh with voters" (Nocera).  Pressing the flesh with voters is meant to represent the person connection you feel with a candidate by shaking their hand.  Nocera is saying that these fund-raisers have replaced connecting to voters. This has created a wider gap between voters and presidential candidates, which doesn't help democracy.  

Joe Nocera also uses diction to help explain his opinion.  He uses words like expensive that help make his point that the large amounts of money are bad.  An example of him negatively describing these large sums of money is, "... in the real world is that unlimited spending will not serve to enlighten voters." He uses the word unlimited to help convey how the spending is completely out of control. Nocera also uses pejorative diction such as corrupt when he says, "... money that comes into politics has the potential to corrupt." Corrupt brings images of crime and greed when used so Nocera uses it to help put these images into the readers mind while reading.  The diction allows him to help convey the harmful affects of campaign funding.  

Nocera also uses particular details to help emphasize opinions.  He uses the example of Sheldon Adelson who "pumped 10 million into into Restore Our Future, the biggest Republican super PAC."  This example shows the large sums going towards political campaigns just because the feel a certain way about a particular issue.  It really emphasizes the new wave of money trying to influence policy which goes against the basic principals of democracy.

The details,  imagery, and diction that Nocera uses all lead towards his goal of pointing how campaign funding is hurting American democracy.  They help lead the reader towards Nocera's opinion and serve as a guide for how the reader is suppose to react and interprete Nocera's findings.  

Prompts #2

2006. Many writers use a country setting to establish values within a work of literature. For example, the country may be a place of virtue and peace or one of primitivism and ignorance. Choose a novel or play in which such a setting plays a significant role. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the country setting functions in the work as a whole.

The country setting in Of Mice and Men plays an essential role in the story.  The country is used to represent a place of primitivism, ignorance, and most important loneliness.  

The country is set up as a simple setting that most people can picture easily.  George and Lenny, the two main characters, live a very simple and primitive lifestyle working on different ranches trying to make a living.  John Steinbeck uses this simple rural setting to help convey the theme of the improbability of the American Dream.  By working on farms for most of their lives, the classic American Dream of owning property of their own seems very realistic and less forced upon their readers.  If the story had taken place in the suburbs, the basic desire to own your own property would seem less relevant.  

The country setting also a place of ignorance in Of Mice and Men.  Lenny who has mental disabilities is a very strong and productive worker.  George has to constantly protect Lenny and tell him to keep silent to not reveal is ignorance.  The country setting helps create the general feeling that the society where George and Lenny live doesn't accept people like George.  The attitudes of the other characters especially Curley reflect ignorance and intolerance that seems somewhat reasonable for this setting.  Instead of this ignorance feeling out of place it seems to fit in with the normal perception of a country setting.

The loneliness of the country is also portrayed and has a major impact on the story.   Curley's wife instigates many of the problems on the farm primarily because she is lonely and doesn't have other women to talk to.  If she lived in the city or a setting where there are more people she likely wouldn't have spent so much time wandering around the farm talking to the farm hands.  This ends up leading to Lenny getting in trouble because Curley's wife talks to him and then angers him.  The loneliness of the characters in this country setting is one of the main catalysts for the problems the characters face.

The country not only exemplifies a primitive, ignorant, and lonely place in this novel, it also helps progress the plot with these themes.  Just by choosing a particular setting, the author establishes values of many of its characters and emphasizes the themes.  

Response to Course Material #2

In class recently we have done a lot of work with close reading a piece of literature.  I feel like I'm starting to read more in-depth into the poems and segments of novels that we discuss during class.  Before I took this class, I never really knew what to look for when looking for the theme and purpose of the literature.  Now I fell like I have a better understanding while I'm reading what I'm looking for and what connections I have to make while reading.  The one thing that strange to me is how broad and far-reaching some of the conclusions feel when we discuss them during class.  The conclusions usually seem logical and have information to support them, but I'm often thinking to myself, "How do we know."  

We also discussed the different critical lenses during class as well as the different time periods.  Both of these things are important to consider when analyzing literature.  The critical lenses lesson really gave me a broader view of the different ways of anazling literature.  I would have liked to see more examples of the critical lenses that we hadn't discussed in previous classes such as post structuralists because often times when reading a piece of literature you don't think that the writing is indirectly referring to something.  I found the discussion of the different eras of writing a lot more interesting.  In particular I really liked the discussion about the simulacrum.  It made me rethink certain movies and books about high schools that I have read and how they all are about societies view of high school and what high school is actually like.  In the movie 21 Jump Street there is such a strong divide between the "popular" and the "unpopular" kids.  This is a common view in many movies and books, but in reality the line is much more blurred.  Unlike in 21 Jump Street most high schools have groups that blend together.  "Jocks" are friends with "nerds" and people who may be considered popular work on projects with and are in clubs or play sports with people who are considered unpopular.  I found it interesting how powerful these ideas created by Hollywood and authors are in determining how we view certain things.

I felt like most of the subjects we covered the last few weeks including the close reading, critical lenses, and the history of literature are mostly preparing us for the AP exam rather than adult reading and writing.  I can see why it is important to understand the critical lenses, and the history of literature when you are writing an analysis of  a poem on the AP exam.  They both help you understand the authors purpose and the meaning of the literature when you are doing your close reading.