Edward Albee’s “The Sandbox” Essay

The inability of people to communicate and loss of personal values base lead to dramatic effects. Edward Albees play The Sandbox is an example of advanced Ameri groundwork drama in which he demonstrates cruel relations in a middle class family, criticizing modern societys decay. at heart the romance we see the dialogue between family members, a husband and his wife, who ar awaiting the death of her mother. As the names of characters suggest ( mum, pop, grandmother), the action put forwards place at heart the family unit. Notice that the names of characters be generic. In doing this, the author is trying to immortalise that it can be any family members.The story shows their c onetime(a) relations with and carelessness for their old grandmother. We see the money over the family values, so much in common with American society today. The story reflects the worldly concern of the modern American family. This is often a common situation today the children bring their old moth er from her country farm to their big beautiful house in the city. They do it not for her pleasure, plainly for their own convenience. They care neither for what she thinks, nor her interests or values. Money is the most important thing to them. They think she does not realize things very well anymore because she is old, and old-fashioned. In reality she understands more than anyone can imagine. Finally, when the children tire of her, they take her to a nursing home, where she can wait for the completion alone.In the story The Sandbox, the author makes a judgment some the younger generations attitude towards the older generation. The main groundwork of the story is the inability of people to communicate with each other, the vacuity of contemporary family life, and the meaninglessness of modern existence. The main characters play an important role in supporting the theme. As we see throughout the story, momma and soda pop are ignorant people. Mommy is domineering and cruel, w hile Daddy is passive and emasculated. He does what she says, followed by Whatever you say, Mommy. She shows no respect towards anyone, including her mother and husband.We notice when Mommy and Daddy speak to one another, that there is no warm and cordial relationship between them she only married him for the money. They treat granny with politeness, and at the same time with merciless detachment. They talk about her, only when hardly to her. Mommy reveals no emotionalattachment to her own mother. Daddy at least worries that Grandma is uncomfortable, but Mommy shuts him up. The emotion of anxiety they display is more hypocritical than solemn. On the other hand, Grandma is sincere and even child-like, making her character admirable. All the same she is sharp-tongued and shrewd. This only adds to the complexness of her personality.From the beginning of the play, we see that the plot of the story is evident, due to the way Mommy and Daddy talk about Grandma, and how they treat he r. However there is no clear climax or resolution to the story.Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma are symbols of forgetful relationships in the contemporary family unit. Mommy, Daddy and symbolize the future generation, while Grandma is an icon of the past. She tries to fit into and relate to the fashion of the new generation but at her age, she no longer commands the social weight. The new generation (Mommy and Daddy) do not wishing to accept her values and do not want her to be involved in their lives. The Young Man is presented in the story as the Angel of Death. He symbolizes todays personal values, emptiness and lack of culture of the new generation. When he kisses Grandma, it symbolizes that the end is near.When she dies, she is going to take her values and traditions to the grave. The bareness of the stage suggests the society in which we live today. When Grandma buries herself using the pail and shovel, she represent one of the millions of people with values and traditions, who is well-worn of living in a society that is so empty of emotions. When she dies, it represents the flip of an age, one in which value and hard work were important. Mommy and Daddy represent the decadent way of life that replaces it.In this play, Albee tries to show the reality of todays society, with its lack of compassion for individuals, regardless of age and the deterioration of culture and traditions that support it.