Abstract: Family relationships are some of the most prominent motifs in drama because the family unit is a microcosm of

society and is among its essential pillars. Several American dramatists use real-life events of American families in their
works. They intend their plays to be a useful corrective force to afford people a closer look into themselves and
consequently elicit positive change. The study is an analytical historical investigation of the theme of family disintegration in
Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey into Night.” It approaches the American family motif from different perspectives.
Specifically, it deals with how the Tyrone family is represented, the reasons behind its disintegration, the role of parents in
its breakup, the effect of the external surrounding conditions on the family, and the influence of the playwright’s personal
life and background on his play.

Keywords: American, Disintegration, Drama, Family, History, O’Neill, Long Day’s

Journey

Introduction

T his study uses new historicism for the most part to help readers comprehend the events
and factors that may have affected Eugene O’Neill (2014a) while writing Long Day’s
Journey into Night. It probes many elements of life at the time the literary work is
written,
as well as numerous details about the author’s life; as a result, we are left with a deeper
appreciation of the literary text and its historical context. New historicism emphasizes the social
climate of the moment as well as the author’s psychological condition. This theory is concerned
not only with history but also with culture and society. It considers the historical understandings
that highlight the value of literary works without ignoring nonliterary works (Tyson 2014). The
authors of this study intend to present a thorough, comprehensive analysis of the internal and
external factors that have contributed to the disintegration of the Tyrone family in Long Day’s
Journey into Night by the American playwright Eugene O’Neill.
Literature Review
Minoo Abouzarjomehri, in her article “Twentieth-Century American Family Drama: An
Exploration of the Image of Loss” (2019), explores the image of loss in modern American
drama focusing on the family motif in the postwar American drama from multiple angles,
including psychological, physical, and moral perspectives. She asserts that family breakdown in
postwar American society plays a central role in the psychologically shattered personality of the
major characters, as a result of the profound changes in the American postwar society and
family.
Cevik Yildiray, in “Dysfunctional Families: Three American Plays” (2015), posits that
American dramatists have deconstructed the stereotypical American family, casting it in a
realistic light and stripping it of its gilded romanticism. The playwrights have focused on
external pressures from the outside world that have contributed to the disintegration of the
American family.
Aneta Havlíčková, in “The Tragedy of Family in the Plays of Eugene O’Neill” (2018), is
not interested in describing the problems facing certain families within the plays but rather in
finding the possible culprits underlying family breakage, whether it is one member of the
family, multiple members, or certain materialistic or abstract forces. She looks for some
repetitive patterns in the villain–victim ratio in Eugene O’Neill’s dramatic works.

1
Corresponding Author: Asad Al-Ghalith, Department of English, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman 11733,
Jordan. email: alghalith@gmail.edu.jo

The International Journal of Literary Humanities

Volume 21, Issue 1, 2023, https://thehumanities.com
© Common Ground Research Networks, Asad Al-Ghalith, Alaa Al-Hadidi,
Some Rights Reserved, (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Permissions: cgscholar.com/cg_support
ISSN: 2327-7912 (Print), ISSN: 2327-8676 (Online)
https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-7912/CGP/v21i01/77-87 (Article)
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LITERARY HUMANITIES

Biljana Oklopčić and Ivan Horvat, in their article “Teaching Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s
Journey into Night; Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire; and Arthur Miller’s Death
of a Salesman Employing Modernist Themes and Motifs” (2016) show how Modernist themes
can be applied to teaching the aforementioned plays. The article concludes that Miller’s,
Williams’, and O’Neill’s plays do stand on their own as works of art but also offer both students
and teachers new interpretative and analytical opportunities.
Amber Munshi, in her article “Long Day’s Journey into Night—A Macrocosm of
Tragedy,” argues that O’Neill has felt that the suffering to which he had been subjected should
be transmitted through drama to help people in distress attain relief by experiencing a
“collective catharsis.” This play is Eugene’s unflinching portrayal of the acute psychological
stress that he himself was undergoing and the suffering his family was facing.

Theoretical Framework
Through the lens of new historicism, we can begin to better comprehend the lived events that
inspired aspects of or may have been integrated into their creative works. By considering many
elements of life at the time the literary work is written, as well as numerous personal details
about the author’s life, we deepen our understanding of the literary text within its historical
context. New historicism emphasizes the social climate of the moment as well as the author’s
psychological condition. This theory is concerned not only with history but also with culture

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and society. It considers the historical understandings that highlight the value of literary works
without ignoring nonliterary works (Tyson 2014).

Family Woes
Throughout his life, O’Neill had several family conflicts and issues. He tried everything he could
to get over them and forget about them, but these conflicts were like ghosts following him
around. O’Neill’s family and their struggles had a profound impact on him from all angles, and
neither time, success, nor fame could make him forget about them. Eugene eventually decided
to share his autobiography with the world to convey all of the struggles, challenges, and
psychological pain he experienced as a result of his family’s disintegration. According to Avey
(1961):

This is O’Neill’s most beautiful play—perhaps the only beautiful one he ever wrote.
And it is one of the great dramas of any time. In one speech, the tubercular young man
who is supposed to be O’Neill declines to be cheered when he is told that he has the
makings of a poet. He answers that he is like a bum who has asked for a cigarette: he
doesn’t have the makings but only the habit. In this, his next-to-last play, O’Neill, who
so often yearned beyond his reach, became a poet. (36)

As put by Al Ghammaz (2022, 1), “Like Dickens who shows feelings of sympathy and
compassion towards the weak, deprived, and downtrodden classes of the English society,
contributing to several impacting social reforms and changes in his time in England,” this
masterpiece depicts middle-class family life and contains O’Neill’s final critique of American
society’s values, as well as the American Dream. Its greatness, however, stems from its ability
to directly adapt to tragic emotion and inner human suffering.
Critics hail Long Day’s Journey into Night as a masterpiece for depicting man’s internal
and external struggles realistically. Journey is O’Neill’s attempt to capture the essence of his
family history as well as American society. This autobiographical play depicts one long summer
day in the life of the fictional Tyrone family, a dysfunctional household based on O’Neill’s
early years. According to Barbara Gelb (1994), James Tyrone, like O’Neill’s father James, is a
futile actor and tight-fisted father. Mary Tyrone struggles with morphine addiction, just as
O’Neill’s mother,
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Ellen, had. Jamie Tyrone, like O’Neill’s brother Jamie, is an alcoholic. Edmund, the Tyrones’
younger son, has tuberculosis and is rapidly declining in health. (O’Neill himself had a mild
case of tuberculosis and recovered.) As he stated in a (1923) interview, “I intend to use
whatever I can make my own, to write about anything under the sun in any manner that fits the
subject. And I shall never be influenced by any consideration but one: Is it the truth as I know it
—or, better still, feel it.” He also stated in the same interview that his goal was: “to get an
audience to leave the theatre with an exultant feeling from seeing somebody on stage facing life,
fighting against the eternal odds, not conquering but perhaps inevitably being conquered. The
individual life is made significant just by the struggle.” O’Neill believed that the theater should
serve as an icon to represent both internal and external conflicts within one’s family and
society. He saw the theater as a platform for a reform movement, one that should reflect the
struggles and realities of everyday life, prompting the audience to consider their own problems
and how to overcome them. O’Neill’s plays address a variety of familial and social issues,
including interrelationships, dynamics, and challenges. O’Neill was adamant about not
accepting plays that were either ridiculously funny or solely commercial.
O’Neill endured a childhood of extreme difficulty, unlike many of his peers. He spent his
life traveling across the United States with his family, staying in cheap hotels with bad food; he
was even born in a hotel. In Act two, Scene two, Mary says: “Your season will open again, and
we can go back to second rate hotels and trains” (O’Neill 2014a, 74). They did not live in a
stable home or lead an organized life. They even lost touch with their social lives as they had no

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relationships with neighbors or friends. This was all due to his father’s work as a traveling actor
in the same play, which O’Neill considered to be a useless play that did not reflect the reality of
his society. O’Neill and his family longed for stability, a decent home, family warmth, and a
well- ordered existence. All the characters in the play lack a real, respectable home from which
to raise a real, stable, and respectable family. Mary continues to press her husband for a
respectable home despite the passage of 34 years since their marriage: “You never have wanted
one, never since the day we were married” (69). On the other hand, her husband only gives her a
run-down summer house filled with cheap, worn-out items, which reflects poorly on the entire
family: “I’ve never felt it was my home. It was wrong from the start. Everything was done in
the cheapest way. Your father would never spend the money to make it right” (45). According
to Mary, their lack of a true home contributes to their suffering, loneliness, and sense of
disconnection because, “in a real home one is never lonely” (74). She even tells her husband
that Jamie, their eldest son, isn’t to blame for his rudeness and neglect “He is not to blame. If he
had [been] brought up in a real home, I’m sure he would have been different” (84). The corrupt
family environment in which he is raised has utterly ruined his character by turning him into a
cynical, foul-mouthed insubordinate. Even the father, who appears to place no value in the
house and would rather buy real estate than a home for his family, is indirectly in need of a
home. “He doesn’t understand home…and yet, he wants a home” (64). However, he feels at
home in the bars he frequents because he can get drunk and be away from Mary’s nagging: “It
was never a home, you’ve always preferred the club or a barroom” (74). He believes taverns are
where he belongs. He spends much of his time there having fun with his friends and immersing
himself in his pleasures. “They have too good excuse to remain in the barrooms where they feel
at home” (102). Edmund, on the other hand, feels like a stranger who does not belong in this
run-down house or in the relationships that exist within it. He would rather not be a member of
this decaying family, despite his illness and the fact that he requires care from them: “I will
always be a stranger who never feels at home, who doesn’t really want and is not really wanted,
who can never belong” (157). A family’s most basic right, as well as other rights such as social
life, stability, and health, is violated when they lack a real home. It is impossible to live a
peaceful and harmonious life in a maze of streets or the corridors of run-down hotels.
Sometimes, a family’s success is based on their daily routine; where they wake up every day; go
to school or work; eat together; and share interests, happiness, and sadness in their real home,
unlike the Tyrones, who are in a state of disarray and live on the fringes
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of society. Despite the fact that this family’s misery is not solely attributable to their absence
from home, it is a significant contributor to their lack of love, tranquility, warmth, and safety.
At the end of his life, O’Neill summoned all of his remaining strength to relive these
painful memories and recast them in a unique dramatic mold, dubbed Long Day’s Journey into
Night. O’Neill compared his tragic family life to a long and dark journey, as the play’s title
suggests. A journey is a wonderful way to spend time with our loved ones in a place we enjoy
and where we feel at ease and in the embrace of good company. It’s also mostly in broad
daylight, with birds chirping and our companions amusing themselves with overlapping
conversations and laughter. However, O’Neill chose to make the journey at night in order to
lend a true sense of desolation, darkness, and fear. It’s a long and difficult night swept by
heartbreaking conversations and painful memories. The trip usually makes the participants
happy because it strengthens their bonds and increases their love for each other while kindling a
sense of kinship. Regrettably, the Tyrone family’s journey is the polar opposite, with
resentment, blame, and mutual hatred pervading the journey from start to finish. They continue
to hold each other responsible for their personal tragedies and internal strife. They also continue
to practice self-abnegation and sabotage interpersonal relationships.
On a psychological scale, not a real-time scale, this night is far too long for this family.
People do not notice the passage of time when they are having a good time; instead, they enjoy
it and wish it would continue indefinitely. On the other hand, the Tyrone family is exhausted by
the journey and eager for it to be over. O’Neill describes the journey as long on purpose,

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implying that the characters will face difficulties that will make them feel as if it is going on
forever. This one day appears to be the culmination of many years, in which many wounds are
opened, many secrets revealed, and conflicts remain unresolved. There aren’t many events or
changes either, aside from the exchange of blame and verbal abuse. The journey begins with a
discussion about the mother and father’s concern for their youngest son’s health, as well as the
mother’s own health, which is deteriorating as a result of her anxiety over Edmund’s illness:
“But you mustn’t let it upset you, Mary. Remember, you have got to take care of yourself, too”
(16). Then a never- ending cycle of blame begins. Jamie accuses his father of treating his
younger brother with an inexperienced and low-cost doctor. He also holds his father responsible
for stifling his ambitions and forcing him to work as a vain actor: “I never wanted to be an
actor. You forced me to be on the stage” (32). His father, on the other hand, blames him for his
failure, lack of interest, and constant pursuit of prostitutes and whiskey: “At the end of each
season you’re penniless! You have thrown your salary away every week on whores and
whiskey” (32). He also claims that he sets a bad example for his younger brother. The mother
continues to criticize her boys and husband, whom she sees as the source of her sadness and
loneliness: “I found I could no longer call my soul my own. But one day, dear, I will find it
again, some day when you’re all well, and I see you healthy and happy and successful” (96).
But even so, it’s difficult to pass judgment on any of these characters because their
victimization was caused by a plethora of variables. According to O’Neill (1940, as quoted in
Gelb 1994, 11): “The characters had serious flaws and were all capable of great cruelty, but no
one character could be singled out as a hero or a villain.” O’Neill did not write this play to
criticize his family; rather, he expressed sympathy for all of the characters and even provided
rationales for their actions (Gelb 1994).
O’Neill dedicated this play to his wife Carlotta, and he mentioned in his dedication that
Journey was a “play of old sorrow, written in tears and blood” (2014b, 7). Eugene wrote this
play after experiencing a great deal of internal turmoil. Throughout his life, he attempted to flee
from his past in a variety of ways. However, with the encouragement of his wife and the
obsession of conveying his painful family experience to society, O’Neill succeeded in
confronting his past and pain. He seamlessly conveyed his childhood emotional trauma to the
audience. Carlotta described O’Neill’s mood while writing this play:

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When he started Long Day’s Journey, it was a most strange experience to watch that
man being tortured every day by his own writing. He would come out of his study at
the end of a day gaunt and sometimes weeping. His eyes would be all red and he
looked ten years older than when he went in in the morning. (Mambrol 2020)

All family members, like O’Neill, try to bury their past and move on with their lives without
revealing their personal strife. Nevertheless, they gather their strength and begin the long search
for the causes of their disintegration and loss of happiness.
The play revolves around a day in the life of a typical American family, a day in which
events and memories of the past are brought to the foreground and shed light on every aspect of
the family’s interrelationships. In this journey, it appears that the father is the main suspect. His
wife regards him as a worthless actor and a miserly family head who prioritizes keeping money
over all other considerations. She adores him and boasts about his handsomeness throughout the
play, but his good looks can’t hide his flaws for Mary. She complains about his obnoxious
snoring, particularly when he is inebriated: “I would never have married you if I’d known you
drank so much” (115). Mary has a lot of regrets about her marriage to him. She believes that her
marriage shattered her dreams and robbed her of her beauty and health. She also claims that she
was duped by her husband’s appearance the first time she saw him, when her father took her to
see him dressed as a handsome gentleman at the theater. In fact, she believed he was a noble
man in real life, just as he was on stage. As a result, her desire to marry him trumped her dreams

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and ambitions: “And he was handsomer than my wildest dream, in his make-up and his
nobleman’s costume that was so becoming to him” (107). She had no idea that this dashing
nobleman would bring her sickness, poverty, and depression. Thereby, she is still stuck in her
past, which she spent in her father’s prestigious home. “The only happy days she’s ever known
were in her father’s home” (139). She wants to live in a house similar to her father’s while also
achieving some of her previous ambitions, such as becoming a nun or concert pianist.
Mary expresses her sadness and loneliness while also looking into the causes of her
morphine addiction. The two sons, on the other hand, decide that they will never discuss their
past, or think about the future. They also go to great lengths to deny their present and
consequently spend most of their journey inebriated. “Yes, she moves above and beyond us, a
ghost haunting the past, and here we sit pretending to forget” (155). Despite their best efforts to
bury the past and forget the present, they open the book of the past and reread its lines
attentively. They recognize that their past is inextricably linked to their present and that they’re
doomed to spend the rest of their lives trapped in it. Additionally, they continue to criticize their
father’s stinginess and lack of fatherliness, as well as the reasons for their failure and Edmund’s
illness: “I won’t go to any damned state farm just to save you a few lousy dollars to buy more
bum property with! You stinking old miser” (148). The father makes a concerted effort to
defend himself against his family’s allegations. He tells them that he lived a bitter life after his
father abandoned him and returned to Ireland, his beloved homeland, to die there. After the
departure of his two brothers, who never helped, he was the man of the house. “We never had
enough clothes to wear, nor enough food to eat” (151). He shared a dingy hut with his mother
and three sisters, with little furniture strewn about the street. He didn’t go to school either,
instead he worked for fifty cents a week for twelve hours a day making files. He tries to
persuade them that owning real estate and land is the first step toward escaping the specter of
poverty that haunted him throughout his childhood: “It was in those days I learned to be a
miser” (151). Throughout this journey, this family tries to figure out what brought them to this
unhappy life, but they can’t seem to come up with any answers or solutions. They are unable to
overcome their addictions to alcohol and morphine, let alone cure their younger son or achieve
their material goals that are based on the American dream myth. The play has a dark and
depressing tone owing to the numerous broken relationships. The characters are caught in a web
of misery and frustration, fully aware of the futility of their existence.

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The American Dream

On a personal and familial level, each family member has his or her own set of reasons for
failure and disintegration. However, O’Neill points out that the four individuals’ failures are
linked by a common factor: The American Dream. The father continues to invest in real estate
at the expense of his family’s happiness. In exchange for his American dream, he ignores his
family’s needs and deprives them of all their basic rights, such as decent housing and medical
care: “Your father could afford to keep on buying property but never to give me a home” (75).
He competes with his peers to amass a large number of possessions. Everything is destroyed
owing to the materialism of the father, including the health of his son, who is on the verge of
death. Tyrone forgoes his family’s interests to indulge his excessive materialism.
Moreover, the father’s unwavering pursuit of the American dream is reflected in his
lifelong commitment to one role in the same play: “I’d lost the great talent I once had through
years of easy repetition, never learning a new part, never really working hard” (153). People
loved his performance in that role when he was younger, and many playwrights asked him to
perform it. However, after a while, the situation became tedious as Jim’s distinctive touch in
performance faded owing to frequent repetition. People stopped asking him to work, but Tyrone
kept playing the same role in different parts of the country. He was unconcerned about the
content he provided or the impact it had on others: “Tyrone never is worried about anything,
except money and property and the fear he’ll end his days in poverty” (103). He didn’t care

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about honing his acting skills or presenting new material; all he cared about was making money,
regardless of the means. Because of this role, Tyrone earned money but lost his talent,
reputation, and admirability. Jim’s materialism is exemplified by his preference for collecting
money over all other considerations.
Marie, on the other hand, is unable to distinguish between dream and reality, which causes her
to suffer greatly. Mary believes that the American dream is a reality that must be realized by
everyone who believes in it, regardless of their capabilities or efforts. Despite her husband, and
children’s failure to strive for a better standard of living, Mary looks at the American Dream as a
magic wand that can fulfill all of her desires in the blink of an eye. She spends her life in search of
a luxurious home, friends, fulfilling relationships, and a reasonable standard of living. After a long
period of waiting, she is finally able to escape to the serenity of her dreams with the help of
morphine.
However, Mary soon rises from her slumber to confront the harsh realities of poverty,
alcoholism, illness, failure, and the death of her father and child. She is traumatized by the loss
of her dreams and the inability to achieve happiness: “For a time after my marriage I tried to
keep up my music. But it was hopeless. Cheap hotels for one-night stands, dirty trains, leaving
children, never having a home” (106). She loses touch with the present and everything around
her while obsessing over the ideal future she longs for. She’s like a desert traveler who can only
focus on a phantom mirage that vanishes quickly, only to be replaced by despair. Mary loses her
happiness when she is unable to realize her material dreams, which she regards as the source of
family success and the beauty of life: “The past is the present, isn’t it? Is the future, too” (90).
She continues to hold her husband responsible for providing her with nothing more than a cheap
and lonely life away from her friends.
O’Neill attempted, through Journey, to confront the propagandist illusion generated by the
media that continued to hide the tragedies of the American people by creating an image that was
diametrically opposed to reality. Politicians and powerful people in the United States sought to
embellish American reality in order to gain economic and political advantages. They claimed
that Americans were the happiest, wealthiest, and most successful people on the planet, whereas
the United States was experiencing widespread poverty, disintegration, and collapse on all
levels. O’Neill wanted to dispel the origins of this lie and reflect a realistic image of the
American people’s tragedies. Through the four Tyrones, he showed the struggles of men,
women, and children in American society. O’Neill revealed that his family and many other
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families were

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victims of this mythical dream. The fact that this play was not a figment of his imagination, but
rather real events that Eugene personally experienced, added to the sincerity of Eugene’s
portrayal of the American family and community.
Tyrone’s sons blame their father for their misfortunes, compounding his burden. Jamie
chastises his father for failing to fulfill his responsibilities and delaying the recovery of his
younger brother, who has tuberculosis: “It might never have happened if you’d sent him to a
real doctor when he first got sick” (30). The father responds that he is doing his best and that
there is no shame in sending Edmund to a charitable sanatorium because no one knows anything
about his property assets. The brothers reproach their father for being a rotten miser and urge
him to seek medical attention for Edmund from a more experienced doctor. Jamie also accuses
his father of depriving him of the opportunity to pursue a meaningful career, forcing him to work
instead as a menial actor. The father, on the other hand, claims that Jim’s inability to find a good
job is attributable to his own failure and that he did everything he could to get Jimmy to work in
the theater, where he has all of his acquaintances and influence, and that he is unable to help
him in any other way. The boys put pressure on their father to provide the keys to a happy life
for them, even though he does not have the keys. He is unable to provide work that meets
Jamie’s ambitions as well as to realize Edmund’s dream of becoming a famous poet. He is
unable to grant them their wishes for happiness and fulfillment. The same is true in the case of
the people of the United States, who expect the government to deliver on the promises
encapsulated in the American Dream.

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Notwithstanding their constant criticism of their father, the sons are not in a better position
than he is. They even look up to their father as an example. They are alcoholics who spend their
time drinking and hanging out with prostitutes. In addition, they spend most of their money on
alcohol and neglect their jobs: “You never wanted to do anything except loaf in barrooms!”
(32). They ignore their own duties and their purpose of existence. From the beginning to the end
of the play, none of them take the initiative to improve their situation. Jamie fails college and
prefers drinking to academic and career success, despite having the financial means to complete
his studies and realize his dreams of a prestigious job and a comfortable life: “After all the
money I’d wasted on your education, and all you did was get fired in disgrace from every
college you went to!” (32). They continue to bemoan the unfairness of life, which in their
opinion has failed to provide them with happiness, wealth, and a happy family life. All of this
stems from the transformation of the traditional familial values into material values based on
individual interests.

Alcoholism
Scenes involving alcohol take up a significant amount of space in this play, where alcohol and
addiction are viewed as major internal causes of the Tyrone family’s downfall. The family’s
men are all alcoholics, and the mother is addicted to morphine. Addiction is used as a coping
mechanism by members of this family to deal with their troubles “Or be so drunk you can
forget” (134). Their addictions result in constant stress, financial problems, job abandonment,
failure to fulfill responsibilities and obligations, broken relationships, physical and
psychological exhaustion, and so on. These problems obstruct healthy communication between
them. Alcohol, serving also as a dramatic device, loosens their tongues and allows them to
speak freely and without inhibitions in this play, causing them to further disintegrate. James
claims that bringing wine to the entire family costs him a lot of money: “I’ve thrown money
over the bar to buy drinks for everyone in the house” (149). He also spends his life playing the
same role in the same play because he doesn’t have enough time to try something new or put in
more effort since all of his efforts are wasted on alcohol. Jamie, a hardworking and intelligent
student, is expelled from school and many colleges after he begins to drink. As a result, he
abandons his ambitions and embarks on a career following in his father’s footsteps. Despite his
dislike of the theater, he believes it is the most convenient way to set aside enough money and
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time to enjoy a glass of wine: “he’ll never come home so long as he has the price of a drink left”
(111). Edmund, who enjoys writing poetry, writes poetry about his love of drinking

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and how it is the best way to forget about everything, despite his illness and Dr. Hardy’s
recommendations to avoid drinking. The mother, on the other hand, requires treatment periods
that force her to spend many months outside her home, away from all tensions and away from
her responsibilities as a mother and wife owing to her addiction.
Tyrone teaches Edmund and Jamie that alcohol intake is a good way to deal with problems
and that they can use it to escape life’s difficulties and pains, instilling addictive tendencies in
his son. In Act Three, Mary accuses her husband of corrupting her sons and instilling a life of
inebriation in them from the time they were small children, when he used to drink in front of
them all the time, “You brought him up to be a boozer. Since he first opened his eyes, he’s seen
you drinking. Always a bottle on the bureau in the cheap hotel room!” (113). In addition, when
his sons were babies, he would give them a teaspoon of whiskey to calm them down if they had
a nightmare or stomach aches: “I can remember that teaspoonful of booze every time I woke up
with a nightmare” (113). To put it another way, he taught them how to use alcohol to relieve
physical and psychological pain through their life. Jamie is chastised by his father for not setting
a good example for his younger brother, despite the fact that James is a bad role model for both
boys: “It’s the truth! You’ve been the worst influence for him” (35). Jamie is accused of
teaching Edmund how to drink and fail and of being the devil who drags Edmund down into the
abyss. What’s surprising is that James expects his son to be a good role model for his younger
brother.
This shows how children in American society are repeatedly exposed to alcoholism,

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whether from their parents or others, leading them to believe that it is a necessary remedy for all
issues faced by adults. This family views drinking as the most important aspect of their lives
and a top priority. They spend most of their time in bars, getting drunk and falling asleep, only to
wake up with feelings of guilt, self-blame, and frustration. It’s also sad that the father in this
play doesn’t try to prevent himself or his children from becoming alcoholics; instead, he works
hard to provide them with alcohol. When Edmund accuses him of being a miserly father
incapable of providing a decent life for his family, he responds by saying that he spends a lot of
money on drinks for the entire family. Even Mary’s successful and generous father dies of
heavy drinking after he retires at the age of 40. The father’s approval of this destructive
behavior reflects American society’s acceptance of alcohol addiction as a necessary supplement
for American families: “Drinking began to shift from an occasional, often public, act to one that
was incorporated into daily life in the home as a marker and accompaniment of leisure”
(Blocker 2006, 225). We can see a link between drinking alcohol and external events like the
Cold War and World War II, as well as difficult economic conditions. Many details about the
life of American society during this time are reflected in this play, one of which is the lofty
societal view of alcoholism. Addiction is commonly accepted and even welcomed in
American households; it is no longer seen as a source of shame or obscene behavior.

World War II
Long Day’s Journey was written in 1941–1942 during World War II, which is widely regarded
as the worst period in American history. According to González and Derecho (2011), World
War II was the most expensive war in American history, costing over $350 billion and killing
over 292,000 American servicemen. War brought with it devastation, depression, deprivation,
and death. On the home front, families were severely impacted. The United States experienced
an immediate political, psychological, and economic shift as a result of its unpreparedness
following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Families were also fully involved in the war effort
while American forces were fighting overseas or training in US military camps. The United
States’ home front prepared for an all-out effort to rush into war production, and American
society underwent significant changes as a result. When the men went off to war, the first major
impact was labor shortages. Women were increasingly entering the workforce. They began to
work in industry, which had previously been reserved for men. Many women were now
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working full time while still trying to maintain their home lives. Attracted by available jobs,
the number of high

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school dropouts increased dramatically, resulting in a three-fold increase in the teen labor force
from one million to three million. Meanwhile, federal inspectors disregarded laws prohibiting
the employment of minors. Separation from fathers or sons had devastating consequences, and
many children felt as if they had been robbed of their childhood. Families were initially taken
aback and filled with mixed emotions as each member’s role was drastically altered. It was a
time of great emotional upheaval—the American family would be forever changed.
These adversities resulted in fundamental changes in the structure of American families and
society as a whole, altering stereotypical images of the traditional family, the role of women and
children in the home, and the issue of alcoholism and addiction. War, poverty, and alcohol were
all common factors that interacted with the traditional family to form a modern American
family whose most prominent features are disintegration and dissolution.
The Tyrone family exemplifies complete dysfunction and an unwelcome shift in family
roles. The father is well known for being the family’s first financial supporter and for
establishing the familial rules that safeguard each individual member’s rights and obligations.
The mother, on the other hand, is the father’s first assistant, who stands by him through thick
and thin and motivates her family to achieve success and progress. The children are the result of
the parents’ efforts, and their success is regarded as a basic indicator of the family’s overall
success. Throughout Journey, the father is viewed as a failure, incapable of providing anything
of value to his family. Thus, he lacks their appreciation and respect. Jamie is seen mocking and
disparaging his father in front of his mother: “stop sneering at your father!” (63). The father is

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in excellent health and appears to be 10 years younger than his actual age. He is a handsome
young man with well-defined muscles. He claims that he eats a lot of food, as do most young
people with a healthy digestive system. Jim has always played the same role, despite his
physical strength, and has made no extra effort to improve his family’s situation. This
demonstrates his lack of ambition and desire to succeed, as well as his lack of concern for his
family’s problems. The mother is preoccupied with her delusional aspirations and represents the
greatest icon of failure for her children when she becomes addicted to morphine, withdraws
from their lives, and attempts suicide. In the case of the sick younger brother, despite his illness,
he continues to drink alcohol while convincing himself that he is only suffering from a bad cold.

Illness and Death

Elements such as illness and death increase anxiety and stress in the family. Mary is devastated
by the deaths of both her infant son Eugene and her father. Eugene’s death, she claims, was
caused by Jamie’s jealousy, and she holds him responsible. The mother is also concerned about
losing her son, Edmund, who has a serious health problem that causes him to cough up blood: “I
couldn’t sleep because I was thinking about you. That’s the real reason! I’ve been so worried
ever since you’ve been sick” (49). To avoid thinking about death yet again, Mary tries to
convince herself that Edmund has only a bad cold that will go away with time. However, she
expresses a desire to die and contemplates suicide at various points throughout the play. “I
hope, sometimes, without meaning it, I will take an overdose. I never could do it deliberately.
The blessed Virgin would never forgive me, then” (123). Her desire to die is most likely
motivated by a fear of losing Edmund or seeing her family’s situation worsen. Mary’s
psychological distress is palpable throughout the play. Her negativity and constant fear have a
negative impact on the entire family. She also exacerbates their problems by allowing her
addiction to take its toll on her health.

Family Legacy
Family disintegration appears to be a family legacy passed down through the generations that
have encountered it. It is a widely held belief that a tight-knit family produces well-balanced
individuals capable of establishing enduring family structures rooted in mutual respect, love,
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and cooperation.

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Those who lack the will and fortitude to cultivate such ties will be faced with inevitable
disintegration. When we investigate the father’s and mother’s backgrounds, we can see that they
both came from broken families. “When I was ten my father deserted my mother and went back
to Ireland to die. Which he did soon enough, and deserved to, and I hope he’s roasting in hell”
(150). Tyrone’s father abandoned him when he was 10 years old, leaving him to fend for himself.
Tyrone’s family was also a victim of the Irish potato famine, which left them penniless when
they arrived in the United States. Tyrone became a materialistic person as a result of these events,
desperately trying to buy more real estate at the expense of Mary and Edmund’s health: “Your
damned stinginess! If you spent money for a decent doctor when she was so sick after I was
born, she’d never have known morphine existed!” (142). Tyrone appears to have contributed to
Mary’s morphine addiction by refusing to pay for a good doctor to treat Mary’s pain following
Edmund’s birth. Mary continues to take morphine to relieve her psychological suffering, even
though she only needs it to relieve her physical pain of rheumatism. Mary’s refusal to accept that
she is an addict aggravates the situation. Moreover, even though Tyrone believes the disease
would take Edmund’s life, he doesn’t consider selling one of his estates to seek proper treatment
for him. This stinginess inflames Jamie’s rage and hatred for his miserly father, and thus a huge
rupture in their relationship emerges. “If Edmund was a lousy acre of land you wanted, the sky
would be the limit” (31). Tyrone’s extreme stinginess has ominous ramifications for his family
and has left lasting wounds in the lives of his wife and sons. Tyrone’s father cannot be absolved
of all blame for his family’s deterioration because his miserliness and alcoholism are the sources

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of many of the family’s woes. The same is true for Mary; her remarks about Mother Elizabeth’s
superiority over her own mother suggest a schism in their relationship: “It may be sinful of me,
but I love her better than my own mother. Because she always understands, even before you say
a word” (178). “My mother didn’t. She was very pious and strict. I think she was a little jealous”
(116). These disjointed relationships beget further disjointed relationships, resulting in a
crumbled society.
Throughout the play, Mary’s complaint of loneliness is repeated several times. Mary
believes that her home is unlike anyone else’s. It’s such a shambles that no guests can be
received in it. Aside from being cheap and worn, with shameful furniture, it is also full of
disease, poverty, and emotional coldness. Mary observes her neighbors as they receive guests in
their nice homes and wishes she had a decent home in which to receive friends like them. Her
husband refuses to make friends or form relationships with those in their immediate vicinity. As
a result, she is unable to make a real friend with whom she can converse.

Conclusion
Eugene O’Neill encapsulates all of the important aspects of the American family by exposing one
day in the life of the Tyrone family. He delves into the daily tragedies that American families face,
much like Chinua Achebe does in his treatment of family disintegration in Things Fall Apart.
Achebe also shows that “there is room for social distinction in Igbo culture but only in
accordance with tribal standards” (Abd-Rabbo 2019, 1). Family disintegration defies geographical
and cultural borders. It is a pertinent social phenomenon that continues to linger; its causes are
worth investigating and its lessons worth learning. The Tyrone family’s once close bond has
deteriorated over time owing to a variety of factors. The play starts after breakfast in the morning
and lasts until late at night. The events of this long night symbolize the struggles endured by
citizens of an atomized society that places greater value on the pursuit of pleasure and material
prosperity than on the tranquility afforded by a harmonious family life. We can find all the
variables that have led the Tyrone family to disintegration as we explore some of the major vices
and misfortunes presented throughout the play. Alcoholism, materialism, the American dream, the
Irish potato famine, desertion, illness, loneliness, death, and moral bankruptcy are some of the
factors that have led to the Tyrone family’s disintegration. The plot of Long Day’s Journey into
Night revolves around a dysfunctional family attempting to reconcile their conflicting emotions
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in the face of serious familial issues.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Prof. Asad Al-Ghalith: Professor of English, English Department, Al-Zaytoonah University of

Jordan, Amman, Jordan

Alaa Al-Hadidi: Graduate Student, English Department, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan,

Amman, Jordan

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International Journal
The International Journal of
of Literary
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Humanities The International Journal of Literary Humanities
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The International Journal of Literary Humanities

analyzes and interprets literatures and literacy
practices, seeking to unsettle received expressive
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bodies interpretations.
of work into traditions andThis journal
genres.
explores these dimensions of the literary humanities, in
a contemporary context where the role and purpose
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particular, is frequently contested.

As well as papers of a traditional scholarly type, this

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including unpublished literary pieces. These can either
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ISSN 2327-7912