Revision from Sunday, October 14, 2012
2007. In many works of literature, past events can
affect, positively or negatively, the present activities, attitudes, or values
of a character. Choose a novel or play in which a character must contend with
some aspect of the past, either personal or societal. Then write an essay in
which you show how the character's relationship to the past contributes to the
meaning of the work as a whole.
In Edward Albee’s The American Dream, the Young Man must cope with the brutal mutilation of his twin brother 20 years ago. This event leaves him a shell of what he appears, devoid of desire and passion, literally unable to feel due to the actions of Mommy. He loses all internal elements of what makes someone a person, having a sort of empty inside while his appearance makes him seem perfect. Through the relationship of the Young Man to his past, Albee emphasizes the condemnation of the "American Dream" and its influence on society that are the focus of the work as a whole.
When the Young Man was just a child, he had
a twin brother who lived at an adoption center with him. Grandma reveals that
Mommy and Daddy “bought” this twin brother, but they grew dissatisfied with it
and accordingly they got rid of him, but not before punishing him through
physical abuse. When he wouldn’t show Mommy the love she wanted, she gouged out
his eyes, just one of many body parts that were cut off. Every time a part of
the twin was cut off, the Young Man lost feeling in that area, and as a grown up
man he cannot feel anything but passively lets others love him and enjoy the
perfect image that they see in his appearance. This is how the mutilation causes
the Young Man’s present to be different.
Another aspect of the adopted baby that is
very important to mention is that in the story, he is always referred to as an
object without gender. He is called a “bumble,” and referred to as “the bumble”
or “it.” This has huge significance for the meaning of the play. A baby, usually
a symbol of innocence and love, is turned into a commodity and used as a means
for Mommy and Daddy to experience pleasure. By doing this, Albee is warning that
we shouldn’t treat people like objects that we can use to fulfill our desires
and then discard when they no longer serve that purpose. Relationships between
parents and a child should not be about the best interests of the child or the
adult, but about love between the two, and the materialism of modern society has
threatened this.
The way the Albee chooses to address the
American Dream is also through the use of the Young Man and his twin brother.
The Young Man is called “the American Dream” by Grandma three times, and he
represents the “new” American Dream as people saw it in Albee’s time. The new
American Dream values things like money and the ability to earn it, as the Young
Man shows when he is very interested in all things related to money. It doesn’t
place any value on empathy or any sort of feeling at all, but instead allows
people to love it and attribute whatever they want to it. The old American
Dream, represented by Grandma, is willingly replaced by the new one before the
end of the play. There is a stark contrast between the two: the Young Man’s
appearance is flawless, and on the outside he contains all of the qualities that
people see as positive. Grandma, on the other hand, is old, wise, and has many
positive qualities on the inside that aren’t shown by her appearance. It isn’t
even possible to tell if she is a man or a woman, as she implies that she really
isn’t either, but possesses qualities of both. The new American Dream certainly
seems better, and after everyone meets the Young Man their thoughts about
Grandma are completely forgotten and replaced by this new American Dream.
In his character the Young Man, Albee
created a mechanism through which he could convey his thoughts on the old versus
new American Dreams, and also how the materialism in society was wrong and could
lead to very disconcerting situations.
