Dialogue

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

While one might not immediately think of Mamet's dialogue as being rife with symbolism, the style of the dialogue is in and of itself symbolic of the world of the play. It is fractured, and one character's words halt as another breaks in before the first speaker resumes his previous thought. We're in a world where communication is stilted or even broken at times:

MOSS: Give me some leads. I'm going out… I'm getting out of…

LEVENE: "You have to believe in yourself…"

MOSS: Na, f*** the leads, I'm going home.

LEVENE: "Bruce, Harriet…Fuck me, believe in yourself…" (2.1.325-330)

While at first glance this might look like a conversation, in reality these are two people standing in the same room talking to themselves. Neither responds to anything the other says, and in this way human connection is included in the list of things lost in pursuit of the American Dream.