The researcher in this article has seen
O’Neil’s play “Long Day’s Journey into Night” through the lens of "The
American Dream" and its influence on the people of America. Focusing on
the mentally tormenting state of life of the Tyrones, the researcher has tried
to show the role of "The American Dream" in bringing them to this
situation and has tried to generalize this situation of the family for all
those Americans who believe in the American Dream and are trying to chase it.
The researcher has tried to show the bad condition of the familial relations in
America and the negative influence of the American dream on these families by
pointing at the collapsing familial relation of the Tyrones. As the play
revolves around the struggling middle-class families of America, so pointing
towards the families of this class the researcher wants to put the focus on the
middle-class society of America who is getting the worst influence from the
American dream. The researcher has attempted to show how this American Dream is
leading the middle-class people towards capitalism, which in turn is destroying
their lives.
1. A
Journey into American Familial Relationship
The researcher has thrown light on the
pathetic condition of each one of the Tyrones. He has attempted to show that
how all of them are in search of something and cannot get any satisfaction,
which has to lead them to get involved into drugs, alcohol and various other
activities to escape the reality. But they are also caught up in destiny which
they cannot escape. The researcher has linked this situation with their chasing
of the American dream. The researcher has tried to read the psyche of each
character of the family and has linked their state of mind with the title of
the play. Regarding Mary, he is of the view that this journey mentioned in the
title is a journey into a world of drugs and dreams for her. For Jamie this
journey is a journey into the world of hopelessness; and a world of sadness and
cynical beliefs. For James Tyrone it is a sorrowful journey of regrets about
all the wrong decisions that he took in life; especially his investing in wrong
places. For Edmund, it is a journey beyond the night. He even condemns being
born as a man and instead wants to have been born as a seagull. Almost every
person in the play longs for their past and shows a kind of regret regarding
their decisions which brought them to this miserable condition.
The researcher has also applied Freud’s
pleasure principle on these characters of the play and has attempted to show
how they repress their pleasure principle and how much they get affected by
this repression. When it comes to James Tyrone, he is seen as the most
repressed person of the play by the researcher. Following the American dream,
he has tried hard for building up his business and raising his financial status
by repressing his own delights and pleasures, which can be generalized for
almost every middle-class American believer of the American dream, but this
repression and struggle have just brought an increase in the problems of the
Tyrones specifically and that of the Americans in general. James’ repression of
pleasure principle brings destruction in his family. Talking about Mary the
researcher points to the fact that how the miser nature of James has made Mary
repress her own pleasures and delights, which in turn has led her to drugs
addiction in which she seeks escape from her current situation of life. Mary is
almost all the times under the influence of this repression and tries to dodge
herself by denying the reality as she does in the case of Edmund. Although she
deep down her heart feels that Edmund has got the consumption but she can’t
face the reality and scolds everyone who says that in front of her.
This repression of the pleasure
principle, denial of the truth, dodging one’s own self and living in a fantasy
world to escape the reality can also be found in the other characters of the
play. Anxious about his condition and his family’s pathetic situation, Jamie
tries to escape the situation by taking alcohol and by whoring.
The characters regret about their past
when they were having the opportunity but had taken regretful decisions. Both Mary
and James regrets about their past. Mary regrets about the time when she was in
the convent and was having the chance to become a Nun but she didn’t choose
that, while Tyron regrets selling his skills and talent for the sake of
money.
The researcher has also pointed out
towards the only positive and sexual marital relationship between the spouses.
The researcher has focused on the sensual desires of Mary that dominated her at
the time of marrying James because of his handsome appearance.
As a whole by highlighting the family
relationships in the play and focusing on their psyche the researcher has
related the play to the American dream and its part in making all this happen
and has indicated that how the situation of this single middle-class family can
be generalized for almost all of the middle-class families of America who
believe in the American dream.
2. A
Journey into Capitalist Failure
The researcher has mentioned how in
society, especially the middle-class society, the people are after power and
money. These people seem to be following the American dream, which makes the
people believe that this dream is achievable but ends up in making their life
and dreams to collapse. Many people who chase the power and money, in the same
way as the American dream, they are in a deceiving fantasy that they are
achieving something but instead they are losing their desires and wishes.
Tyrone in the play, being a man of
capitalistic mindset, believes that capitalism has shaped the minds of the
people in a way that every family in America wants their own home and their own
property. O’Neil in a way has suggested in this play that how capitalism blinds
the individuals towards their failure, he, in a way, has shown the part of the
American dream in bringing up this culture in his society. For O’Neil, it seems
that the American dream is nothing more than a fantasy land in which a person
may escape for some moments of joy. The way Tyrone longs for making money and
escaping the ordinary shabby life but is continuously falling into a pathetic
situation.
Escaping in the fantasy of the American
dream and chasing his capitalistic desires, Tyrone left his homeland, Ireland,
and shifted along with his family to America. The Tyrones could never fulfil
their dreams in America because the American dream is just an illusion and the
capitalistic culture is really unjust and deteriorating. Among all the family
members, James Tyrone is the most influenced by the American dream, who brought
his family to America for gaining a high financial status. The situation of the
Tyrones trying to escape the reality by taking alcohol and drugs is
metaphorically similar to all those American who are getting destroyed by the
capitalist culture and are seeking an escape in the American dream. For the
sake of money, James becomes a famous actor and makes friendship with McGuire
in order to get settled in real estate business, but he can’t achieve anything
of value. He ends up unsatisfied, as he thinks that he does not even know what
he wants in his life. His capitalistic mindset is evident from the fact that
how he values everyone on the basis of their “productiveness”. He considers
Jamie useless and loafer, as he is not able to add anything to his father’s
wealth or to help his family financially. In the same way, he does not seem
that much fond of Edmund because he also is not having any notable financial
success. Tyrone is completely caught by the clutches of capitalism, and being a
miser he considers every that person as his enemy who in any way is “burning
up” his money. James sells his talent for the sake of money and spends that
money in real estate business for gaining more profit, but eventually gets
nothing of value and finds escape from his real life in taking alcohol.
So, by focusing on Tyrones, especially
James Tyrone, the researcher has tried to highlight the drawbacks of capitalism
in the life of Tyrones, which can be generalized for all of the middle-class
capitalists of America. In the play, James Tyrone wants to save both his family
and money, but cannot do either, because in this risky chase of money one
mostly ends up losing everything. Tyrone finds himself betrayed by the American
dream, in the end. When he cannot find either himself, his property, or his
family in a prosperous state. After believing in the American dream he had
struggled for achieving his goals in the capitalistic society, but he, later
on, realized the American dream to be just an illusion and the capitalistic
society to be unjust. He gained nothing after all this except disappointment.
Salman Ali
Hi. I’m auther of Blog English Literature for students. I’m huge lover of books. I’m happy to share my views about different topics related to English Literature. I am inspired to help any student, who have any problem related to English Literature.
Nice
ReplyDeleteGreat
ReplyDeleteNice
ReplyDelete