The American Dream Literary Elements

Satire, Drama, Comedy

English

The action of the play takes place in Mommy and Daddy’s apartment.

Comic, ironic, critical, dark, absurd, existential

It's difficult to say, because there isn't a centralized conflict, but perhaps it might be said that Grandma is the protagonist and Mommy and Daddy are the antagonists.

The major conflict is an internal one and is the result of the characters’ desire to appear outwardly as something that in reality they are not. Grandma also faces conflict in that she has an antagonistic relationship with Mommy and Daddy, who are putting her up.

The play reaches its climax when the Young Man is introduced and when it is revealed that he is the twin of Mommy and Daddy’s dead adopted son.

The anticipation of various arrivals—even though we don't know who it will be—foreshadows the arrivals of Mrs. Barker and of the Young Man.

Mommy, Daddy, and everyone else's emotional responses to the fact that they disfigured their baby are understated and illogical within the context of the play.

The way the Young Man is described is important because the image of the Young Man is linked with the idea of the American Dream. While Mommy and Daddy tried to shape their first child to be a perfect one and to fit their criteria, they were unable to do it and all they did was to mangle their son, piece by piece. The Young Man however, is everything Mommy and Daddy wanted: cold, and emotionless and interested only in financial gain.

The whole plot of the play seems to be a paradox, with Daddy and Mommy apparently not knowing why they invited Mrs. Barker into their home. The only character who knows the reason why Mrs. Barker was invited is Grandma, and this is itself paradoxical because no one takes her seriously as a result of her age.

A parallel is drawn between the First Son (the "bumble") and the Young Man. The two are related, being twins, and the Young Man is affected by his brother’s death. The two men are compared indirectly by Mommy and Daddy after they realize that the Young Man is in fact the dead’s son brother. The two brothers are completely different and this idea is pointed out from the beginning. While the First Son had to be shaped and transformed by Mommy and Daddy, the Young Man is perfect (but empty) just the way he is.

Grandma suggests that the Young Man is himself a personification of the concept of the "American Dream."

The use of dramatic devices offers information about the setting in which the action takes place and it also offers a detailed description of the characters. It stays fairly straightforward throughout, until the end, in which Grandma takes a position near the footlights, where she has more of a conspiratorial relationship with the audience.