Open Prompt Response - 10/16

1973. An effective literary work does not merely stop or cease; it concludes. In the view of some critics, a work that does not provide the pleasure of significant closure has terminated with an artistic fault. A satisfactory ending is not, however, always conclusive in every sense; significant closure may require the reader to abide with or adjust to ambiguity and uncertainty. In an essay, discuss the ending of a novel or play of acknowledged literary merit. Explain precisely how and why the ending appropriately or inappropriately concludes the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.

            Any audience can find pleasure in a conclusive finish to an intriguing play, especially those that, without closure, would leave those watching it with an unsatisfied taste in their mouth. Albee’s The American Dream is one such play that leaves the audience with much confusion and in dire need of explanation. Despite the play’s general classification as a Theatre of the Absurd work, Albee provides a conclusion that both answers former questions and provides more for the audience to ponder. The American Dream is full of obscure language and character interactions, but its inherent meaning – the dangerous transformation of the American Dream – becomes clear through the details Albee includes in the ending.

            This play is full of ambiguity. Setting is intentionally unclear, character names are odd, and their encounters leave the reader with many questions. Albee uses language that confuses the audience members in an attempt to make them draw their own conclusions. And without reaching any, anyone watching the performance is left disappointed and likely resents attending in the first place. However, this resentment is avoided with the ending that Albee writes. Grandma, previously thought to be a problematic, witty character but nothing more, reveals the horrific acts that Mommy and Daddy have committed to their adopted child. This gives the audience a reason to question the setting even further, because Mommy and Daddy were never punished for their actions, and they appear to be monsters for calling Mrs. Barker to the house to compensate them for the disappointing child. Grandma’s shouting of “It’s the American Dream!” upon the Young Man’s arrival sets up an audience realization moment: Mommy and Daddy ruined the American Dream, their child, which now has only good looks but no real substance. The absurdity existing heretofore in the plot has been made clearer, and Albee can now finish off the play.

            Grandma is further elevated as a character in the final scene of the play. As she leaves the home, the audience wonders if her presence up to this point was solely to reveal that the Young Man is the American Dream. The answer is made obvious as she gives an aside to the audience in the final scene. Her speech presents the audience with the deformed American Dream that Mommy and Daddy now have in an attempt to save it from becoming so. She gives the option to those listening to keep the original dream alive, and the previous series of events bluntly shows them the madness that will occur if they don’t. This ending appropriately sheds light on Albee’s meaning, while at the same time it leaves the audience with questions as to the role of the other characters and the implications of some previous events.

            Without the final aside, Albee’s work is inappropriately cut off. The ending he writes provides the audience final clarity, and gives attendance at the play a purpose: they entered the theatre as ignorant bystanders, silently killing the Dream, but they can leave aware of their actions and begin revitalizing it. Grandma is realized to have a greater role than most of the play would indicate, and much of its absurdity is clarified through her actions towards the end. However, the ending is truly appropriate because it leaves questions. The plot is full of small details that remain unexplained, and the audience members are therefore forced to reach their own explanations.