Open Prompt #3

1987. Some novels and plays seem to advocate changes in social or political attitudes or in traditions. Choose such a novel or play and note briefly the particular attitudes or traditions that the author apparently wishes to modify. Then analyze the techniques the author uses to influence the reader's or audience's views. Avoid plot summary.

     In Edward Albee's play "The American Dream", the audience looks in on Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma while they struggle through a simple meeting with a young man, and Mrs Barker, a local adoption agent. While the play seems to be absurd and confusing, upon analysis, it becomes clear that Albee is showing us the absurdity of american social norms of consumerism and conformity during the 1950s. By emphasizing and exaggerating the culture in addition to having childish protagonists, Albee tells us to abandon the ways of the 50s and accept a new less rigid society.

     Albee uses exaggeration throughout his play to show the absurdity of Mommy and Daddy's society. The most prominent example of this is when mommy proudly makes a scene in order to have her "wheat colored" hat replaced with a " Beige colored" hat. Though the idea of making a scene about a hat who's color is the same regardless of if it is called beige or wheat is in itself ridiculous. The more important fact is that mommy opted to have the hat replaced upon insistence by the head of her women's club that her new hat was wheat rather than the beige she thought she had purchased. This is an exaggerated form of conformity that Albee uses to show the absurdity of 1950s culture which he finds corrupt.

     One of the most prominent themes throughout the play is Mommy and Daddy's childish behavior. The first example of this behavior in the play is that Mommy, Daddy and Grandma all call each other Mommy, Daddy and Grandma respectively. By having his characters communicate as though they were children, Albee shows the childish nature of Mommy and Daddy. This nature transfers to everything they do especially when it pertains to greed. By calling each other Mommy and Daddy, the characters show that they have a childlike desire for all things considered to be important by society. Albee uses this nature to compare Mommy and Daddy's greed to the consumerist society of the 1950s in which individuals are encouraged to buy without thinking.
    By using different techniques in "The American Dream", Edward Albee thoroughly convinces audiences of his dissatisfaction with the conformist, consumerist culture of the 1950's