The American Dream Failure

The American Dream in Death of a Salesman, The Great Gatsby, and Maggie: A Girl of the Streets Millions of immigrants come to America each year to seek their American Dream. Many people believe that rising social mobility and success is possible in America for everyone due to the American social, economic, and political system. From Abraham Lincoln to Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, countless Americans have risen from rags to riches and success. However, is the Dream actually

The main character is a salesman named Willy, who is desperately seeking his version of the American Dream but fails. For Willy, the American Dream means to be well liked and popular. In fact, Willy declares to his son that “[t]he man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want” (Miller 1298). The dream is very superficial because Willy believes that his appearance alone will determine his success, thus leading his

Willy blames himself for everything wrong that happens to him and his family. Eventually Willy commits suicide to give his favorite son Biff the money from his insurance policy so that Biff can fulfill Willy’s dream of being a salesman(Miller 1343). Willy can still not give up his socially imposed dreams of success. Even in death, Willy did not achieve his dream of being well liked and popular. While many attended his hero’s funeral, only a few close family and friends attend Willy’s (Miller 1349). In the end, although some do achieve their dreams, others fail because they fit themselves into the wrong social molds.

In the book, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows that the dream is undesirable while attainable but not necessarily in the way first thought. The main character, Gatsby, desires to achieve upward social mobility. Born into poverty in the middle of the United States, Gatsby wants to attain the wealth and prestige of being born into old money. He thinks the epitome of his dream is to marry the wealthy Daisy and works hard to achieve his dream, but will eventually