Comparing The American Dream In Of Mice And Men, Death Of A Salesman

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Watching the American Dream The American dream has long been the butter to the bread of American Literature. According to Peter Weddle, “While it is quintessentially American aspiration, each of us has a unique vision of just what it is. For some, the dream is a chance to build a successful business. For others, it’s a home of their own. And for still others, it’s the opportunity to shop until they drop.” So many works, both past and present, refer to this mystical idea. However, one problem lies in the midst of these meaningful novels. How valid is the so called American dream? Is is a form of reality or is it simply a figment of the imagination? Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, Death of a Salesman; These novels have a large factor in common; …show more content…

The weird idea that Willy has is that he does not believe that Biff should work hard to achieve this position, but instead use personality and appearance. This strange tactic is seen through a quotation by Willy Loman where he says “Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such personal-attractiveness, gets lost. And such a hard worker. There’s one thing about Biff, he’s not lazy.” (Death). If we just look at Willy himself as a salesman, he is not the best of his kind and he is not as renowned as he says he is. He does not realise he is living a life where he lies to himself to satisfy his needs in term of status. The only one to realise this fact is Biff. Biff thought this whole time he had to listen to his father because he is very successful, until he saw him cheating on his wife. Biff brought a whole new meaning where he understood his father’s life was a lie, so Biff wants to become the person who he wants to be not what his father saw him to be as. Upon realization of the life of lies, Biff ends his father’s American dream.
During a time of despair there often comes a chance. This one chance occurs minutely and even if it does occur, it occurs with risk of ruin and personal loss. The novel , Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, is a prime example of this circumstance. Two men by the names of …show more content…

Many Americans participate in the day to day business of trading stocks. This type of business is a huge gamble in most cases and can leave one either very broke or one very wealthy individual. The economy itself is a gamble for the United States or any other country. The American dream pertains to this topic because before buying stocks, people think lavishly about how much money they might make and that they may live in a gigantic mansion one day with a ferrari or two. Of course, if this were to happen why are there not millionaires everywhere. The result is similar to that of the novels mentioned. The outcome is usually failure to accomplish the

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