Collapse of Moral Values and Spiritual Decay in David Mamet’s American Buffalo
Abstract
Decay of morality has been the focus of many American dramatists. David Mamet as one of the most well-known writers has a particular position in this regard. His plays, in particular American Buffalo mean to depict a critical situation in which the only way through which the different characters can survive is just through cheating on each other. This study is going to analyze this play in detail in order to show that the concept of American Dream seems so serious and real for the characters that makes them unaware of its being a lie. Likewise, the current study will declare that through American Buffalo, Mamet has criticized the entrepreneurial arrangement which has led to the characters’ wretchedness. To do so, the theory of grand narratives by Lyotard as this paper’s main methodology will be applied. The aim of this article is to show how the dramatist criticizes the capitalistic system and indicate to the destructive effects of this system on the human condition.
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References
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