The American Dream is a one-act play by Edward Albee, a well known playwright who had a slightly adverse view to the society he grew up in. The play is set in a room within an apartment; a basic, separated layout with a doorway on either side of the room (stage) and a couch in the middle (facing the audience) with arm chairs facing inward on either side. This is the almost black-box setting of the play. The story goes as follows: Mommy and Daddy are having a shallow discussion to introduce the audience to some of the main motifs (consumerism and a lack of satisfaction, as well as a lack of respect). Grandma (the old American Dream) walks in with loads of boxes (the old values) and it is clear that Grandma isn't quite welcome. Mrs. Barker then enters (a personification of the new consumerist society and a symbol of the roles women play in the era) and no one knows why she is present (this is another motif: everyone is lost as to what is going on). It is shown that Daddy has been emasculated and that Mommy has assumed the patriarchal role in the household. Later, when Mommy and Daddy are both absent, Grandma tells Mrs. Barker a would-be tragic story of a "bumble" that the family adopted. As the "bumble" grew, the parents literally chopped off pieces they didn't like and the "bumble" eventually died; now that the "bumble" is gone, they want satisfaction (in the form of a replacement, but they don't even know that). Mommy and Daddy come back, and the group reverts to frivolous conversation, then the doorbell rings. Grandma goes to get the door and a Young Man (the new American Dream) walks in, a perfect image of everything Mommy and Daddy ever wanted, but on the inside, he's empty. Void of emotion, the American Dream is a hollow shell, a superficial solution to the characters' problems. Grandma Ushers in the Young Man and has him help her remove her boxes from the scene. With Grandma gone, we go back to Mommy and Daddy. Mommy realizes Grandma is gone and goes into a shock, beside herself with some sort of anguish caused by Grandma's departure. Everyone notices the Young Man and Grandma and the memories of her are forgotten.
Though The American Dream contains many elements from Theatre of the Absurd and existentialism, the narrative voice of the story shines through in Grandma, who gives the play direction with things the says and how she interacts with the audience. Albee's own point of view is expressed through linking events in his life to events in the play; as a child, Albee was adopted and (being a budding homosexual) he felt his parents trying to "chop away" parts of him. In The American Dream, this is reflected in the "bumble." Albee uses strong imagery and details/ lack of details to convey his messages throughout the story.
Two important quotes found in The American Dream are:
- Daddy: The way things are today; you just can't get satisfaction; you just try it. - This is a big motif throughout the play; the characters all try to obtain satisfaction, but in this consumerist society, they never will because there is always something more to want.
- Young Man: As I told you, I am incomplete... I can feel nothing. I can feel nothing... And so... here I am... as you see me. I am... but this... what you see. And it will always be thus. - This sums up the ideology of the new American Dream; fueled by a superficial desire in a consumerist society, the new Dream has been stripped of the values that gave the Dream substance.
The title correlates directly to the meaning of the play. The theme of Albee's The American Dream is that it warns that the current generation of Americans has gutted the heart and soul of traditional American values and replaced them with a superficial/ materialistic longing that drives us to acquire unattainable satisfaction (gender change, Mommy married Daddy for money, Young Man will "do anything" for money, etc.).
Apparently This Matters: Billionaire uses flip phone
By Jarrett Bellini, CNN
"My dad still uses an old flip phone. It's gray. It's clunky. And its two ringtone choices are an early recording of Greensleeves or a dramatic poetry slam by Grover Cleveland. But it works for him. And that's all that matters. The world sort of took notice of Jones' phone last week at the Arizona State-Notre Dame football game which was, for recruiting and financial reasons, being played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The venue is now known as AT&T Stadium.Besides, how proletarian could it possibly be when even the billionaire owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, uses one? But you can call it the Flip Phone Dome. Because, at one point, Jones appeared on the game's TV broadcast while talking on his flipper inside his luxury box. And that's when the tweets started pouring out." (Bellini)
I enjoy Bellini's writing style a lot. It's the kind of style I wish I had, but don't quite have a grasp on yet. In this article, he's writing about a billionaire with a flip phone and makes it sound like it's worth your time to read! How does he do it? In my opinion it's all about the diction and syntax. His tone and the mood he creates help out, but diction and syntax do his heavy lifting.
The author flirts with colloquial and informal diction to get you nice and comfy. For example, "My dad still uses an old flip phone. It's gray. It's clunky." Pretty simple start to the piece. And who uses the word "flipper" to describe a phone? Oh wait... we're talking about a flip phone... clever Jarrett, clever. So now we're disarmed and amiable; ready for his silly story about a "non-situation situation." You'll see though, that even though there is an almost overwhelming amount of slang and jargon, Bellini will throw an intelligent word or witty phrase in here or there: proletarian, "If the stadium roof were open... standing on the moon... you could... I wouldn't. But you could." Stuff that makes you step back and say, "Wha...? Where'd that come from? ...Oh it makes sense now." You can see the bright journalist behind the nonsensical "whywouldidothisohjustforfunsies" article.
Walking into this AP Lit class, the hardest thing for me to understand was syntax. I know I still have a shakey hold on it, but I'm learning fast. I love what Jarrett Bellini does with his sentence structures. Nothing is really ever long, it's all short. To the point. "I have something to say. This is a joke. Laugh." He says a lot, yet his ideas are clearly separated; not jumbled up into one huge blob (the way I often find mine). This was a fun, refreshing article for close reading. Not all authors can pull off straightforward humor like writing about nonsense in a serious way, like a reverse travesty, but that's what I see Bellini as having done here.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/11/tech/social-media/apparently-this-matters-jerry-jones-billionaire-flip-phone/index.html
