Emily's AP Lit Blog: The American Dream

Excuse the Formatting.... :(
The American Dream

o Mommy and Daddy are found making sexual innuendos about consumer satisfaction while awaiting someone’s late arrival
o Mommy complains about the Beige/Wheat hat
o Grandma comes in with boxes
o Daddy hurts Grandma’s feelings and she launches into a bit of social commentary about the treatment of older things in society
o Mommy tells about how she would trick the kids at school into giving her food

o Mommy wants to put Grandma in a nursing home and tries to tell Daddy he wants to too but Daddy says he likes Grandma living with them
o Grandma gets confused about who’s mom she is and starts telling Daddy how she warned him against people like Mommy and that she was against the marriage in the first place
o Daddy had a vasectomy and feels emasculated by Mommy. Mommy uses this as a manipulation tool to get Daddy to do what she wants
o Mrs. Barker arrives.

o Mrs. Barker is into so many different things that she isn’t sure why she is at the house
o Mrs. Barker wants to know why she is there but Mommy tries to deny her the satisfaction of knowing
o As Mommy and Daddy run around the house looking for their lost rooms, Grandma explains to Mrs. Barker that Mommy and Daddy are in the market for a new kid after their old one became unsatisfactory and they disposed of him.
o Mommy takes Mrs. Barker into the kitchen for some water
o Grandma answers the door and it’s the Young Man, who sexually arouses Grandma.
o Grandma makes a deal with him that if he acts (since hes an actor) the part of Mommy and Daddy’s kid then he’ll get paid the money Grandma won in a cooking competition
o Young Man says he’ll do anything for money and so he helps Grandma move out the boxes from the appt
o When Mommy is told be Mrs Barker that the Van Man took Grandma, shes initially upset until she’s introduced to her new son. Then she becomes overjoyed.
o Grandma reenters unnoticed by anyone on stage except the Young Man.
o Mommy seems satisfied with her new son (maybe sexually too?) and so Grandma ends the play here

• Very few and far between. This leaves a lot of room for interpretation. The begging set up has Mommy and Daddy sitting in chairs, avoiding the sofa, on opposite sides of the room.

• Getting satisfaction from consumer and sexual outlets
• Mrs. Barker takes off her dress and Daddy giggles and becomes “sticky wet”
• Mommy hits on the Young Man even after being informed of him being her new son
• Mommy and Daddy cut off their old son’s penis after he wouldn’t stop touching it
• Mommy tells Daddy he was firm and masculine as a form of manipulation

• Mommy and Daddy treat Grandma like a child when they try to take away her TV, tell her to go to bed and in lecturing her about her language. Grandma does assert notions that she’s older (in her rambling speeches about how horribly old people are treated) and in her story of when Mommy was a child.

• Grandma says shes about 150 years too old for the Young Man (same age as USA at the time of printing)
• Calls herself Uncle Henry
• There are a lot of references to Grandma being old and rural/colonial. This is a supporting factor in her being symbolic of the American Dream.

• See Stage Directions
• The characters don’t really state anything that could be taken as imagery as this is a play

• The boxes hold all of her possessions, some valuable, others not so much. It also holds memories and regrets. These boxes are what make a person an actual person with depth. Grandma is taking the depth away with her as the New and shallow American Dream moves in.

• The Young Man symbolizes the New American Dream. The New American Dream is shallow and all about money and consumerism. Similarly, the Young Man is just looks and doesn’t have any of the depth to him that Grandma does. He also says that he will do anything for money.

• See Colonial References
• Grandma is the Old American Dream. The Old American Dream was depth and more about family. Its about keeping a sense of dignity and

• Referred to as a “they” which points to a corporate feeling towards Mrs. Barker. She also plays many different roles throughout the play (

• Grandma’s line
• Grandma ends the play when everyone is satisfied. This infers that later on Mommy and Daddy won’t be satisfied with the Young Man. It reinforces the idea that satisfaction is temporary through the New American Dream of consumerism of which the Young Man represents.

• Grandma’s line
• Grandma is calling the Young Man the American Dream. She just pointed out his muscles, Midwest farm boy type, and other physically attractive qualities that make him cut out to be in the movies. Nowhere does she mention anything other then the outer shell. The Young Man has no substance. He is an actor that can be anything and will do anything for money.

o The New American Dream, full of consumerism, is a negative and shallow replacement of the Old American Dream

Emily's AP Lit Blog