Sonnet

Entire years have passed without a sound,
Yet, these few minutes seem to linger.
I watch the clock, my body tightly wound,
Anticipation courses through my clenched fingers.
All alone in a world of my own thoughts.
The imminent end is all I can see.
Here I lie where my youthful body rots,
Not another soul here to comfort me.
Not sure how I got here, not sure I'll leave.
The life giving heat leaves my firm body,
Still I wonder if anyone will grieve,
hoping the turnout would not be shoddy,
And yet, somehow, I'm ready for this year.
Somehow I'll make it through with just a tear.

Sandbox vs. The American Dream

Both of the plays by Edward Albee center around the same characters with the same general idea and theme. Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, and a Young Man represent a typical American family, but are placed in absurd situations with outlandish dialogue in order to point out the flaws of our society. Although they both have the same point and same characters, the two related plays have very different, specific aspects that make The American Dream and The Sandbox separate, distinct plays.

All of the characters have the same back ground in each play. Mommy married Daddy for money. Grandma married at seventeen and her husband died when she was thirty, so she had to raise Mommy, her daughter, by herself. In The Sandbox, the exposition of Grandma’s history is a segment in the cycle of her life witnessed on the stage. When she enters, she is “borne” in her daughters hands, like a baby. She doesn’t use her words, only child-like sounds. She moves on to the toddler stage when she throws the sand at Mommy in a temper tantrum. Once she is old enough to speak, she tells the audience about when she was a young girl in love. In both plays, Mommy and Daddy treat Grandma like a child, as if she doesn’t understand what they are saying. When Mommy has to experience the loss of her mother, she has a brief, intense burst of sadness her mom dying which rapidly dissipates after Mommy consoles herself and says she is happy in a sort of way. Both plays include this weird sexual attraction between Grandma and Young Man, who enters towards the last bit of The American Dream, and is on stage during the entirety of The Sandbox. The lines are almost the same when Grandma tells Young Man of her approval of his body. He is well built, young, strong and attractive, but that has different purposes in each play. In the American Dream, Young Man represents exactly what Mommy and Daddy want, the American Dream. He is perfect in all shape and form, even though he can feel nothing, emotionally and physically. In the Sandbox, Young Man is the Angel of Death, and his muscles and perfect body show the strength of death, because, after all, death is so strong it’s unstoppable. Young man is never actually his own character or person, but always a symbol for something to reflect back views of our society.

In theory, The Sandbox could be an ending to The America Dream because the characters are the same. If one put them together they would very fluid, and a good alternate ending to Grandma just disappearing in the end of American dream. The writing is fluid because of the absurdity and constant repetition. The Sandbox almost sounds like an afterthought of The American Dream, but oddly enough, The Sandbox was written first. The similarities and differences are very clear, but all very purposeful.