Death Of A Salesman American Dream Essay

982 Words2 Pages

Everyone wants something, and no one plans on stopping until they get it. Whether it is religious freedom, wealth, safety, we all strive for one thing— opportunity. That is the epitome of the American dream in the society that we live in today. However, as our country has evolved, so has the perception of the dream. In “The Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, we can find a similar theme. Each character in the play represents the evolution of the dream through the years. For instance, Willy Loman, a materialistic, entitled man strives to get rich, and believes that being well-liked is the ultimate route to success. This mindset is much like the one of a twenty-first century American. However, in the play we also find a original version of the dream in Charlie and Bernard. Both of these characters believe that if one works hard, they will be successful. Overall, each character has a different idea of what the American dream looks like. In fact, numerous scholars have wrestled with the concept of whether or not the beloved dream is headed to its deathbed. Vanity fair writer, David Kamp, urges our …show more content…

At the end of the play Willy is so overwhelmed by his failure that his only solution is to kill himself. This is a significant metaphor regarding the demise of the dream, because it foreshadows the result of the envied dream in our world today. Much like the unwillingness of Willy to take responsibility for his failure, many Americans’ sense “of entitlement has spilled over into a lack of responsibility” (who wants to be a millionaire). Consequently, this a great interpretation of where the American dream is headed. The beloved dream is ultimately going to become obsolete, just like Willy Loman at the end of the play, if Americans continue to avoid hard work and traditional values to achieve

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between The Glass Castle And The Crucible

    125 Words  | 1 Pages

    The almighty American dream, commonly misconceived as the property of those who reap great materialistic wealth, has been analyzed and sought after through generations. However, this dream, “could come from anywhere and be anything you want in this country” (Goldberg), and the numerous success stories of impoverished beings proves this. This subjectiveness stems from the great diversity within human nature and the variation of goals and pleasures. The characters in novels such as The Glass Castle, To Kill a Mockingbird and the play, The Crucible, act to portray several attempts towards achieving this dream. Ultimately, the almighty American Dream manifests itself through the novels as the desire to accomplish stability and content within one’s

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman And The Piano Lesson Essay

    1179 Words  | 3 Pages

    The phenomenon of the American Dream has been engraved into the American culture since perhaps the beginning of post-revolutionary America itself. The classic belief that if you work hard, you would be able to reap the material benefits of what you sowed, at least enough to live comfortably is a myth that has been propagated in many literary works, deconstructed in many American literary works as a mere myth. And in Arthur Miller’s The Death of a Salesman and August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, we see such deconstruction of the American Dream take place through both plays’ showcasing of the many complexities of the American life, complexities that are not taken into consideration with the black-and-white narrowing of the American Dream. While hard work does make up a part of the equation, it does not make up the entire equation of a comfortable lifestyle. That manifestation of the many facets of the American Dream is shown in both Miller’s The Death of a Salesman and Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.

    Read More

  • American Dream Derailed in The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman

    1490 Words  | 3 Pages

    The American dream originated when immigrants came to America searching for new opportunities and a better life. In the early 1900’s all people could do is dream; however, those dreams gave many different meanings to the phrase “American dream”, and for the most part, wealth and hard work play a very large role in the pursuit of “the dream”. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, and Arthur Miller’s drama, Death of a Salesman, both protagonists, Jay Gatsby and Willy Loman, are convinced that the way to achieve a better life is by living the “American dream”. However, the dream does not end up successfully for these two characters. In fact, their ideals and hopes of rising to success cause their American dream to take a turn into a nightmare.

    Read More

  • The Consequences of Misguided Dreams: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    When people think of their dreams, they often include money, success, and material prosperity. The “Great American Dream” is something that many people are familiar with, but it does not have a clear definition. Everyone has their own definition of a dream. People often include freedom, money, or power in them. Although there may be many different definitions for the “Great American Dream” not all of them are noble, or correct. Misguided dreams lead to pain; in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie characters who follow their misconstrued dreams struggle towards happiness.

    Read More

  • Analyzing The American Dream In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

    436 Words  | 1 Pages

    Willy Loman dreamed to be a successful salesman like Dave Singleman who has both material success and freedom. His way to achieve success is to be well-liked, which is also the way he teaches his sons. His dream cannot be achieved in that way, and such that society becomes the reason to pushing

    Read More

  • The American Dream in Death Of A Salesman, by Arthur Miller

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    Success: Accomplishing Your Dream Completing the "American Dream" is a controversial issue. The American Dream can be defined as having a nice car, maybe two or three of them, having a beautiful, healthy family, making an impact on the world, or even just having extra spending money when the bills are paid. In the play "Death Of A Salesman," by Arthur Miller, the "American Dream" deals with prosperity, status, and being immortalized.

    Read More

  • Death of The American Dream

    761 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American dream is an ideal that most people are often left wanting. To be able to essentially rise from nothing and grow to be financially stable and live life in excess after a great deal of hard work. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the American dream is represented in different ways by the characters, though most of the plot centers around Willy’s failed aspirations for the American dream. Miller shows that the American Dream may not actually be reachable by everybody or that it may not even be a relevant dream for everybody in America.

    Read More

  • Comparing Death Of A Salesman And The Crucible By Arthur Miller

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyone wants their own version of the perfect life with a successful job, family, and a good standing in society, but limitations put in place by society hamper the dream and Death of a Salesman and The Crucible are examples of how the average person who is striving for this seemingly unattainable dream ends up striking out due to the failings of their society. Arthur Miller gives this message in a time where the entire country was in a flurry about communism and the American Dream was thought to be the glue holding America and its citizens together and keeping them safe from the horrors of communism. Miller used Death of a Salesman and The Crucible to make a statement against the troubles being ignored by society, and the ludicrous idea

    Read More

  • The Devastating Impact of the American Dream In Death Of A Salesman

    1282 Words  | 3 Pages

    The pursuit of the American dream can inspire ambition. It can transform a person and cause him to become motivated and hard-working, with high standards and morals. Or, it can tear a person down, to the point of near insanity that results from the wild, hopeless chase after the dream. This is what occurs to Biff, Happy, and Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's book Death of a Salesman. In the play, Willy Loman is a traveling salesman whose main ambition in life is wealth and success, neither of which he achieves.

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman American Dream Essay

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    One major theme in Death of a Salesman is the pursuit of the American dream. Playwright Arthur Miller details main character Willy Loman’s misguided quest of this dream. Death of a Salesman was written in postwar America, when the idea of the American Dream was a way of life. The United States was flourishing economically, and the idea of wealth was the base of the American Dream. Capitalism was alive and well, and by living in a capitalist society, everyone in America was supposed to have a chance to become rich and successful. Miller makes the reader realize this dream is a falsehood, because it doesn’t always work for everyone as planned. In the play Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is a prime example of someone trying desperately, yet unsuccessfully, to pursue the false hope of the American Dream, directly resulting from capitalism’s effects.

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman American Dream Essay

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The American Dream in "Death of a Salesman" and "Seize the Day"

    1098 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The American Dream in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

    456 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Failure of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman

    1487 Words  | 3 Pages

    America has long been known as a land of opportunity. Out of that thinking comes the "American Dream," the idea that anyone can ultimately achieve success, even if he or she began with nothing. In "The Death of a Salesman", Arthur Miller uses the characterization of Willy Loman to represent the failure of his ideal of the American Dream. Willy’s quest for the American Dream leads to his failure because throughout his life he pursues the illusion of the American Dream and not the reality of it. His mindset on perfection, obsession with success, and his constant reminiscence of the past and predictions of the future, all contribute to his defeat in the end.

    Read More

  • The Collapse of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller,

    2029 Words  | 5 Pages

    Prosperity, job security, hard work and family union are some of the concepts that involves the American Dream, generally speaking. Some people think this dream is something automatically granted; or in contrast, as in the story “Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller, as something that has to be achieved in order to be successful in life. The play takes issues with those in America who place to much stress on material gain, instead of more admirable values. American society is exemplified with Miller’s work and demonstrates how a dream could turn into a nightmare. Arthur Miller’s, “Death of a Salesman”, is a play that portrays the author’s life and the psychological problems that brings the collapse of the American Dream for this in a lower-middle family in an economical depression.

    Read More

More about Death Of A Salesman American Dream Essay

Open Document