open prompt 4

The classic image of the american dream is the house with the white picket fence and nuclear family. Edward Albee addresses the value of the aesthetic nature of the american dream in his play, The American Dream. Albee uses the repetition of Mommy changing subject with the acknowledgement of the boxes to show how only the exterior of the american dream is valued and how those who chase it tend to become more and more frustrated.

Initially Mommy is quite pleased with the job Grandma has done with the boxes, she does not care what is inside but she praises the exterior. When a conversation delves deeper, Mommy will immediately switch back to praising the boxes when she is challenged logically. Mommy has gotten so caught up in the appearance of life that she has neglected to acquire any logic to back her reasoning up. Even when she was a child and had lunch everyday, she would not unwrap the box because the appearance of her lunch was more important than the actual contents, which ironically are much more important in reality. Switching back to the boxes serves as a quick and reliable method for Mommy to ignore the details of her ideas.

After multiple changes of subject mommy is eventually fed up with the boxes and criticizes them quite harshly. She is focused solely on the image of the american dream and gets increasingly frustrated as it becomes clear that it will take more than wanting it and having a vague idea of what one wants to achieve it. By the end she has given up completely on the boxes, showing the completion of her transition to the new american dream, which is ushered in with the entering of the Young Man.

Edward Albee uses Mommy’s adoration of the aesthetics of the boxes and her gradual animosity toward them to show how society values the american dream only at face value. The Young Man has taken over as the new american dream of the household, but Grandma still plods along her boxes in tow.