"The American Dream" Summary and Analysis

Well well well, here is our first big reading blog, the subject of which is The American Dream by Edward Albee, whose background we didn't really get into.
The American Dream revolves around a standard family living in a simple apartment where nothing can be found. Mommy is the dominating personal, ruling the meek and timid Daddy. Both take care of, but have little affection, for Grandma. Grandma acts throughout the play as if detached, almost commentating on the action. She is also separate from the superficial existence Mommy and Daddy live. Two additional characters are inserted later. Mrs. Barker, described as a professional woman, arrives, originally with unknown purpose. As the story progresses, she seems just as simple minded as the rest of the family. The Young Man, labeled only as a young man, arrives at the end, and seemingly ends all the conflict. Despite having a handsome exterior, he is a tragic character who seems to have a dead spirit: he cannot feel any emotions, and would do anything for money. He is immediately labeled as "The American Dream".
The plot of The American Dream is rather simple, yet somewhat morbid. The story starts off with Mommy and Daddy in an apartment arguing and complaining ("Not getting satisfaction"). After Grandma enters, the trio get into a brief argument and spat until Mrs. Barker enters. As Mommy and Daddy leave to do various events, Grandma narrates to Mrs. Barker about a child Mommy and Daddy owned that they killed and dismembered because it was disappointing them. After, the Young Man enters. At this point, the Young Man and Grandma have a discussion before Grandma leaves the apartment, leaving the Young Man as her replacement. Mommy and Daddy are overjoyed at the arrival of the Young Man.
We discussed existentialism the literature style in class, and Albee's work displays many aspects of existentialism. Many times the characters talk in a circular repetitive manner, repeating phrases multiple times. This is shown in about all the characters except Grandma and the Young Man. This language, as well as the the carefree manner of which the characters deliver their lines, promote an absurd tone, a tone which emphasizes the falseness and truly meaningless aspects of the play.
A couple of quotes "You...you are the American Dream" and "You just can't get satisfaction" are what I am going to mention next. The first quote is significant as it finally ties the title of the book to the play. Albee flat out states that this young man, this empty shell devoid of emotion and substance, is the American Dream. This is what people want. This also pertains to the second quote, as multiple times Daddy and Mommy seek "satisfaction", something that is superficial and not anything of real worth. Satisfaction and the American Dream are one and the same, as obvious by the end of the play as Mommy and Daddy are finally happy with the entrance of the Young Man.
According to what my class finally concocted, the theme of The American Dream is that through materialism and a loss of traditional values, the older American Dream is replaced, by the people, by a newer American Dream, focused on only the superficial. Now that is what I remember, and if someone is gonna throw the plagiarism flag at me, well, too bad. 'Cause I didn't really write it down anywhere, nor do I have it pulled up. But anyways, multiple elements support this theme. The bumble is gutted out by the people, Mommy and Daddy, resulting in its alive twin being empty and a shell. The guts and the pieces of the original child, like Grandma, irritated and where found inconvenient by Mommy and Daddy. The resulting shell, empty of anything that had any true function, was very agreeable to the pair. Furthermore, the emergence of materialism can be found as the embodiment of Mrs. Barker, who was called a "professional woman". Mrs. Barker sells the child to the pair, similar to how a corporation sells a product to the consumers. When Mommy and Daddy dislike the child, rather than put up with it, they complain to Mrs. Barker to send them a replacement, similar to how consumers assume that they could replace defective products. Not only is the new Young Man representing the American Dream, but he represents the new American Dream, and Grandma represents the old. This is alluded to several times. Grandma claims that she, like the romanticized American history, is of pioneer stock, a time of hardship and individualism. Grandma's possessions are boxed in boxes that Mommy and Daddy cannot find, and have no interest in. One can argue that the boxes contain the classic "values" of the American Dream, values that Mommy and Daddy are devoid of and try to destroy, which they can't as they couldn't find them. As the play ends, the Young Man escorts Grandma out of the door, acting as "the van man" and removing her from the apartment as Mommy has expressed wishing for several times. Thus, the new American Dream replaces the old. The old American Dream.