The American Dream; the belief that anyone regardless of where they were born or what their social rank is, can attain their own version of success in society. This dream is one that Americans strive for. They strive for that overwhelming feeling of success knowing they made an impact in society. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman searches for this dream while unconsciously destroying the relationships with his family and friends around him. Willy Loman married Linda and had two sons together, Biff and Happy. Although they were both old in the play, they were going through problems surrounding their identities. With the pressure to satisfy their needy father, Biff and Happy turned into hopeless dreamers. Biff could …show more content…
Dave Singleman was an eighty-four-year-old salesman who was known across the town. Dave would pick up his phone and call the buyers, and without ever leaving his room he made his living. “I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want,” said Willy as he realized Dave was a symbol for everything he wanted to be in life. Willy’s dream was to be a successful salesman who was remembered and talked about on his funeral day. The funeral would be crowded from door to door with salesmen and buyers who respected and valued him. In the order to achieve this, Willy put pressure not only on himself but on his son Biff as well. Willy told Biff that he had worked in a certain firm before only to realize that when Biff went to return to the firm his father was wrong, he had never worked there before as a salesman. Willy was so focused on this success that he believed certain things that were never true. Between the fighting, lies and constant contradicting, Willy’s dream disrupted the father-son …show more content…
Willy grew up believing that being “well-liked” was important to becoming a success. He envisioned Biff, the once great high school athlete, becoming a success for the wrong reasons. In contrast, we see Willy’s friend Charley who lived the real American Dream as a successful man in the business world. Through Charley we see the rewards to chasing this dream, such as the access to more money, and being able to have a flexible enough job to offer Willy a spot. On the other hand, the Loman family was not lucky enough to have any type of reward from the hunt for this success. Through this play, we see how the American Dream drove Willy Lohman and the family crazy and obsessed with a false fantasy. Arthur Miller shows us that the American Dream is valid, but those who hope to substitute popularity and lucky breaks for hard work are likely to
The main character Willy Loman, is constantly fooling himself into believing that he is a huge success. He often lies to his family about how well he is doing, when truthfully his salary was taken away, and he has to borrow money from his neighbor, Charlie. When Linda asks him about his wages, he replies “I’ll knock ‘em dead next week.” (Miller 36) Willy says this, very well knowing that he will not. He fools himself, and lies to his children about his success. “The cops let me park where ever I want in Boston!” (Miller 31) This shows that he thinks he is a big deal in New England, when truthfully he is washed up. He exclaims that he is, “A vital New England man, but in reality he has not been helping the company or his family. His boss was looking to fire him for a long time. His whole life, he has had the wrong idea. “Success doesn’t come from just luck, popularity, or personality. All throughout the Death of a Salesman, Loman tells his two sons, Biff and Happy, that the key to success in life is to be “well liked” and that all you need is “a smile and a shoeshine.” (Brett) However, Willy completely ignored his true calling of working with his hands, to become a business man. He was so infatuated with the American Dream, he didn’t realize that he wasn’t a good Salesman, and would have succeeded as ...
Miller amalgamates the archetypal tragic hero with the mundane American citizen. The result is the anti-hero, Willy Loman. He is a simple salesman who constantly aspires to become 'great'. Nevertheless, Willy has a waning career as a salesman and is an aging man who considers himself to be a failure but is incapable of consciously admitting it. As a result, the drama of the play lies not so much in its events, but in Willy's deluded perception and recollection of them as the audience gradually witness the tragic demise of a helpless man.
The American dream described in the play can be achievable, but Willy’s ways of achieving that American dream leads him to a failure. According to an article published by the South Atlantic Modern Language Association, the play builds the idea of American dream that it is harmful and immoral as long as it is based on selfishness and greediness. However, the dream us described realistic when it is achieved on values that ar...
In the story, several examples are used that call out the American Dream being fake. Many examples are used that depict Willy as a man that has worked his whole life and has nothing to show for it. The story has Willy angry with his wife, sons, and at the world. “Willy: How can he find himself on a farm? Is that a life? A farmhand? In the beginning, when he was young, I thought, well, a young man, it’s good for him to tramp around, take a lot of different jobs. But it’s more than ten years now and he has yet to make thirty-five dollars a week!” (Miller 7). In this quote, Willy makes fun of Biff’s (Willy’s son) way of life and compares it to his own. Since Biff is not making enough money and not doing things the way Willy would like, he considers him a failure. From Biff’s perspective, he describes his own happiness on several farms across different states. This causes Biff to be happy even though he is not making a large amount of money. The American Dream in Biff’s case, is more of a way to gauge happiness instead of income and having a good
The death of the American Dream is on the horizon, and for some the reality has set in. The pretense of the dream has become more fiction than fact. Faith in the American Dream has caused many to fall victim to the constant pursuit of happiness and success. Willy Lowman was one of many who fell into the delusion of what the American Dream offered, for it was his false hope which led him to his ultimate demise. Arthur Miller plays on these themes which look at the critiques of the American Dream, instead of the rags to riches model from writer Horatio Alger. Examining the different perspectives of the pursuit, many come to the notion that this dream is no more than subjective to the individual searching for validation in life. The reality of
The American Dream is defined as the ideal that every US citizen has an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work. While many strive for this ideal, some take it to the extreme by letting it run all components of their life. In his play “Death of a Salesman”, Arthur Miller repeatedly interrupts Willy Loman’s present state of mind by infusing various interruptions and challenges his grasp on reality by feeding a false truth that constitutes man’s blindness to the American Dream.
Willy Loman chose the career of being a traveling salesman, and has reached a point in his life, that of his age, that doesn't allow him to compete successfully any longer. Facing the termination of his job, he tries to examine his past in order to determine his life's value. His oldest son Biff disappoints Willie when he returns home for a visit and he rejects Willie's values and aspirations. Willy, although he doesn't realize it, has already achieved the historical American Dream; that of buying his own house, having a stable job that allows him to pay the bills and live a decent life. However, this isn't adequate enough for him. When Willy was deciding whether or not to go with his brother to look for his father, he met Dave Singleman. Dave was an extremely successful, eighty four year old salesman, to the point that he could now simply go into his hotel room, call the buyers, and make his living in his green velvet slippers. This view of a calm and successful career made Willy reconsider his decision and instead of going to Alaska he chose to be a salesman. Dave represents a sort of father figure to Willy, and so Willy follows the same path in hopes to create the same future and succ...
The American Dream in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman Material happiness provides the ambition behind seeking the "Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman." In Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman's determination to live up to his "American Dream" and to seek material happiness only takes his life. What is the "American Dream"? The "American Dream" cannot be defined. I know that my "American Dream" consists of a Porsche, a large house, and a happy family.
The American Dream is what all Americans strive to achieve. It is the illusion of prosperity and happiness. The American Dream consists of three different elements, money, sex, and power. The plays “Death of a Salesman” and “The Glass Menagerie” are about families who strive to achieve the American Dream. These plays are a lot alike and they have more similarities than differences.
Willy Loman spends the expanse of the play trying to achieve wealth, fame, and the like of others. These ideas epitomize the American Dream, to become a successful, well-liked businessman. Willy's true dream, however, was very different from this. Throughout the play you can see evidence that Willy feels trapped by this dream that he feels obligated to fulfill. Society has dictated to Willy that the American Dream is "the" dream, and no other dream is acceptable. Because of this dictation, Willy abandons his true dream of living on his own, in the country, where he can support himself by farming, and living from the land. The proof of Willy's true dream appears in short scattered bits. "God, timberland! Me and my boys in those great outdoors! Yes, Yes! Linda, Linda!" he cries exuberantly at the idea of moving away from the city. By the idea is quickly killed by the society surrounding him. "You wait, kid, before it's all over we're gonna get a little place out in the country, and I'll raise some vegetables, a couple of chickens..." once again, society surrounding Willy crushes this dream, his true dream, forcing it back into the subconscious of Willy's mind, where it remains for the duration of the play, only surfacing at a few times, when the dream that Willy is trying to fulfill becomes so horrible that he remembers that he had another dream, or when the false dream is looking as if it might be coming to a close, and he will be able to move on to take on his real dream.
Death of a Salesman is centered around one man trying to reach the American dream and taking his family along for the ride. The Loman's lives from beginning to end is a troubling story based on trying to become successful, or at least happy. Throughout their lives they encounter many problems and the end result is a tragic death caused by stupidity and the need to succeed. During his life Willy Loman caused his wife great pain by living a life not realizing what he could and couldn't do. Linda lived sad and pathetic days supporting Willy's unreachable goals. Being brought up in this world caused his children to lose their identity and put their futures in jeopardy.
The main character, Willy wanted to achieve his American dream to show people he was just as powerful as his brother. Willy’s flaw is that he thinks way too much about what others believe about himself. He has constantly stated throughout the play how he will be successful and will shock the world, “Don’t say? Tell you a secret, boys. Don’t breathe it to a soul. Someday I’ll have my own business, and I’ll never have to leave home any more.” (Miller 65). Willy’s attempt to chasing his American Dream showed how Whitman’s argument does not apply to all. Willy has opportunities to succeed in his life. He was his own enemy throughout the play and Miller makes it clear that he never has a set dream and just hopes to be what society wants him to be, “You wait, kid, before it’s all over we’re gonna get a little place out in the country, and I’ll raise some vegetables, a couple of chickens” (Miller 88). Willy Loman struggled to achieve his dreams like all Americans do. Although Willy meant good, he lacked in confidence and was truly insecure. Miller would hear a different sound than Whitman for Americans, more of a tragic suffering as his characters
In today’s society the term “American Dream” is perceived as being successful and usually that’s associated with being rich or financially sound. People follow this idea their entire life and usually never stop to think if they are happy on this road to success. Most will live through thick and thin with this idealization of the “American Dream” usually leading to unhappiness, depression and even suicide. The individual is confused by society’s portrayal of the individuals who have supposedly reached the nirvana of the “American Dream”. In the play “Death of a Salesman” Willy thinks that if a person has the right personality and he is well liked it’s easy to achieve success rather than hard work and innovation. This is seen when Willy is only concerned how Biff’s class mates reacted to his joke of the teachers lisp. Willy’s dream of success for his son Biff who was very well liked in High School never actually became anything. Biff turned into a drifter and a ranch worker. In the play “Seize the Day” Tommy who is financially unstable also pursues the idea of getting to the “American Dream” and becoming wealthy. He foolishly invests his last seven hundred dollars and eventually loses it leaving him broke and out of work. In both plays following the American Dream is followed in different characters and in both the characters are far away from it leaving them broke and forgotten by almost everyone.
Society has changed the meaning of the American Dream to require underhanded methods and luck to be achieved. Dave Singleman, the salesman who Willy idolizes, symbolizes the abortive effort it is to seek material wealth and comfort. The salesman’s colleagues attend his funeral neither caring nor appreciating him. These funeral attendees only seek advancement in the company in his absence. Readers do not have to look very far to recognize the significance of the salesman’s name. The name Singleman is representative of how our society pits individuals against each other to attain personal advancement and leaves all parties isolated and single in their
Willy believes in the American dream of certain fame and fortune. Within the logical framework of this dream, the individual need only strive forward to the future with a can-do attitude of confidence in order to enjoy the fruits of fame and fortune. Therefore, Willy regards the failure to succeed as the result of a personal flaw rather than a flaw in the American dream itself. In order to preserve his identity, Willy cannot acknowledge his failure to acquire the fame and fortune promised by the American dream. He cannot admit doubt or insecurity because a good salesman always remains confident, and the American dream promises success to the confident, eager individual. Death of a Salesman addresses Willy's struggle to maintain his identity in the face of narrowing hopes that he or his sons will ever fulfill his