Post by danielleg07 on Apr 9, 2008 5:29:38 GMT -5
Dreams Never Die: An Analyzation of the Dysfunction of the 20th Century Family as a Result of the American Dream
In the August Wilson’s Fences, Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the dismantled American family of the 20th century is tragically portrayed. The dysfunctional and mercurial nature of the relationships existent within each family is evident. These strained relationships are often the product of the failure of those within the family to achieve their dreams. When these aspirations cannot be acquired the entire family suffers as dreamers never cease to hope. Instead, they continue to pursue their aspirations as the family ultimately sacrifices for the fulfillment of their dreams. Though these works expose a 20th century family of American dreamers whom have noble aspirations, they also portray the detrimental effects of a parent’s dream displaced upon their children which breeds dysfunction and brings about the family’s inevitable decimation.
August Wilson’s Fences exposes an American family ravaged by racism but most principally damaged by the father’s inability to successfully achieve the American dream. The protagonist, Troy, aspires to become a baseball player, his version of the American dream, until his race and more significantly his age prevent him from playing. Because he feels as though he has failed as a result of societal restrictions placed upon him based on race, Troy’s dream is reinvented as he comes to wish that he could escape the regulations put upon him. His means to achieve this goal, by hindering his son’s progress, ultimately destroys the family. Troy feels that society will attempt to impede his son from football and therefore purposely condemns his son to a future in a grocery store. Though his intentions were to help his son escape the societal rules that terminated his dream, Troy fosters animosity in his son that ruins their relationship and upsets the family wholly. This portrayal of a father’s dreams displaced upon his son shows not only the prevalence of the American dream in the 20th century family but also the means by which the dream destroys the many than never realize it. By forcing children to imbibe the dreams of their parents the children become rancorous and the parents a disappointed, causing a divide in the family that breed dysfunction.
The family in The Glass Menagerie is hindered by the mother’s deep involvement in the dream allowing for Williams to criticize the dream which haunts the 20th century family. In the play former southern belle, Amanda, cannot handle her failure to achieve the American dream as her husband leaves her. She never abandons her dream and instead attempts to fulfill them by way of her daughter Laura. She enrolls her in a typing school and attempts to find her a gentleman caller though Amanda ultimately fails to help her daughter realize the American dream. The Wingfields, then, come to represent a 20th century family dismantled by an inability to achieve the American dream. The prevalence of aspiration in their lives shows the disappointing fate of the family of dreamers. Also, Laura’s inability to secure the American dream that her mother could not alludes to the cause of much of the discontent prevalent in the 20th century family.
In Miller’s Death of a Salesman the Lomans epitomize a family destroyed by not only the father’s devotion to the American dream but also the dysfunction that occurs when future generations adopt the same faulty dream. In the play Willy Loman is a failed salesman whom refuses to disassociate from his dreams of success. Instead, he peddles his lies and pretends that he has achieved the success promised by the American dream. By doing so he causes his boys to internalize the dream that causes a rift between him and Biff and leads him to suicide. Even despite Willy’s death his son, Happy, pledges to acquire what Willy could not, serving as an omen to his obsession with the dream later in life. By exposing the American dream as a system in which there are many losers and few winners, Miller offers a criticism of a crisis prevalent in the lives of the 20th century family. Those whom cannot sell themselves to achieve the dream, as the Lomans could not, are essentially condemned to a life of aspiration. It is this undying aspiration that dismantles the family of the 20th century that invests in a dream which destroys most actively pursue it.
The 20th century family of American dreamers is ultimately d**ned by their inability to resist the allure of the elusive dream. More so, the parents that cannot handle the failure that often comes with pursuit of the dream and thereby force that dream upon their children becomes utterly dysfunctional. As parents fail, their dreams are imbibed by their children whom often can’t see how the dream has detrimentally affected their family. In this way, these works serve as a warning to families in the 21st century. They warn against an obsession with the American dream as most never achieve the success and power that make the dream enticing, inevitably destroying those involved. More significantly, they emphasize the detriments of parents vicariously fulfilling the dream through sons and daughters which fosters the dysfunction prevalent in the 20th century family.
In the August Wilson’s Fences, Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the dismantled American family of the 20th century is tragically portrayed. The dysfunctional and mercurial nature of the relationships existent within each family is evident. These strained relationships are often the product of the failure of those within the family to achieve their dreams. When these aspirations cannot be acquired the entire family suffers as dreamers never cease to hope. Instead, they continue to pursue their aspirations as the family ultimately sacrifices for the fulfillment of their dreams. Though these works expose a 20th century family of American dreamers whom have noble aspirations, they also portray the detrimental effects of a parent’s dream displaced upon their children which breeds dysfunction and brings about the family’s inevitable decimation.
August Wilson’s Fences exposes an American family ravaged by racism but most principally damaged by the father’s inability to successfully achieve the American dream. The protagonist, Troy, aspires to become a baseball player, his version of the American dream, until his race and more significantly his age prevent him from playing. Because he feels as though he has failed as a result of societal restrictions placed upon him based on race, Troy’s dream is reinvented as he comes to wish that he could escape the regulations put upon him. His means to achieve this goal, by hindering his son’s progress, ultimately destroys the family. Troy feels that society will attempt to impede his son from football and therefore purposely condemns his son to a future in a grocery store. Though his intentions were to help his son escape the societal rules that terminated his dream, Troy fosters animosity in his son that ruins their relationship and upsets the family wholly. This portrayal of a father’s dreams displaced upon his son shows not only the prevalence of the American dream in the 20th century family but also the means by which the dream destroys the many than never realize it. By forcing children to imbibe the dreams of their parents the children become rancorous and the parents a disappointed, causing a divide in the family that breed dysfunction.
The family in The Glass Menagerie is hindered by the mother’s deep involvement in the dream allowing for Williams to criticize the dream which haunts the 20th century family. In the play former southern belle, Amanda, cannot handle her failure to achieve the American dream as her husband leaves her. She never abandons her dream and instead attempts to fulfill them by way of her daughter Laura. She enrolls her in a typing school and attempts to find her a gentleman caller though Amanda ultimately fails to help her daughter realize the American dream. The Wingfields, then, come to represent a 20th century family dismantled by an inability to achieve the American dream. The prevalence of aspiration in their lives shows the disappointing fate of the family of dreamers. Also, Laura’s inability to secure the American dream that her mother could not alludes to the cause of much of the discontent prevalent in the 20th century family.
In Miller’s Death of a Salesman the Lomans epitomize a family destroyed by not only the father’s devotion to the American dream but also the dysfunction that occurs when future generations adopt the same faulty dream. In the play Willy Loman is a failed salesman whom refuses to disassociate from his dreams of success. Instead, he peddles his lies and pretends that he has achieved the success promised by the American dream. By doing so he causes his boys to internalize the dream that causes a rift between him and Biff and leads him to suicide. Even despite Willy’s death his son, Happy, pledges to acquire what Willy could not, serving as an omen to his obsession with the dream later in life. By exposing the American dream as a system in which there are many losers and few winners, Miller offers a criticism of a crisis prevalent in the lives of the 20th century family. Those whom cannot sell themselves to achieve the dream, as the Lomans could not, are essentially condemned to a life of aspiration. It is this undying aspiration that dismantles the family of the 20th century that invests in a dream which destroys most actively pursue it.
The 20th century family of American dreamers is ultimately d**ned by their inability to resist the allure of the elusive dream. More so, the parents that cannot handle the failure that often comes with pursuit of the dream and thereby force that dream upon their children becomes utterly dysfunctional. As parents fail, their dreams are imbibed by their children whom often can’t see how the dream has detrimentally affected their family. In this way, these works serve as a warning to families in the 21st century. They warn against an obsession with the American dream as most never achieve the success and power that make the dream enticing, inevitably destroying those involved. More significantly, they emphasize the detriments of parents vicariously fulfilling the dream through sons and daughters which fosters the dysfunction prevalent in the 20th century family.