Open Prompt 5

1994. In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or does not appear at all, is a significant presence. Choose a novel or play of literary merit and write an essay in which you show how such a character functions in the work. You may wish to discuss how the character affects action, theme, or the development of other characters. Avoid plot summary.

Sometimes, the people readers do not see may in fact be the most important. Take the baby boy that Mommy and Daddy adopted, for example, in the play The American Dream. This baby does not make any appearance in the novel, but plays a significant role as he shows the mentality and disillusionment of the characters.

The baby is not given a name, like many characters in The American Dream, however, it is know that he is a toddler boy, around three years old. Readers also find out through the course of the book that Mommy and Daddy mutilated this baby boy, and they have no shame of it. On the surface, this shows that Mommy and Daddy would most likely benefit from some psychotherapy, that the mentality of some of the characters is less than stable. Contrastingly, characters such as Grandma and the Young Man show disdain regarding these cruel actions, which shows that their mentality is much more healthy. The actions done to this innocent child that is never physically seen in the play are how this can be interpreted: what sane person would take a child and cut off parts of their body?

Not only does the baby show the instability of the mentality of the characters in The American Dream, it also shows the disillusionment of the American Dream. Say the baby boy represents the American Dream: Mommy and Daddy only adopted the child for the sake of their satisfaction. Unfortunately, the baby boy did not satisfy them, so they took the boy and murdered him. This parallels the American Dream; Mommy and Daddy can’t seem to reach their “American Dream”, so they try to manipulate the idea that they use to reach the American Dream. They take it and tear it apart just because they were not satisfied with the outcome, much similar to how they treated the innocent boy, as if mutilating it will make it any better.
Although the baby boy is mentioned frequently in this play, he does not physically appear, but nevertheless makes an important presence. Although never seen, the innocent baby boy shows the mentality of the characters, as well as the disillusionment with the American Dream.