Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Character of Willy Loman as a tragic hero in the death of a salesman
The concept of the American dream
The importance of dreams and the American Dream
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Clinging to a Broken Dream
The idea of having dreams is part of every culture. In other words, Dreams are taken for granted. Ever since childhood, people bomb you and hurl questions about your future around. Still, the idea of the American Dream takes dreams to a whole new level. ‘’What is the American Dream?’’ is a question that has always been controversial and debatable. Each American defines and views it differently: happiness, success, money, family, etc. If one takes a closer look into these ‘’concepts’’, they seem to be nothing without achieving ‘’freedom’’ first. True, freedom seems to be the core of the American Dream. However, whether this dream is real or just a lie to comfort ourselves with is certainly a blurred question. In his Death of a Salesman, Miller calls the idea of the ‘’American Dream’’ into question.
The American Dream is not only a random dream and is, definitely, not any dream. It is an integral part of every American’s life. In the case of Willy, the salesman, this dream has turned into an obsession, an obligation and a must. In fact, it seems to have infected him. Willy’s character is full of contradictions just like a dream. On the one hand, he
…show more content…
He does not know what is real and what is not. His son, Biff, tries to wake him up by saying that it has all been just a lie and that he needs to let go of it since they ‘’ never told the truth for ten minutes in (that) house’’, yet Willy seems to have been deaf to his son’s words as he never has woken up. Biff has kept on asking: ‘’you hear me?’’ ‘’Do you hear this?’’ to make sure his dad is following. The only words that struck Willy have been ‘’ There’s no spite in it anymore’’. Only then, Willy has believed that he is well-liked and his outrage turned into a smile. He has started to think that he can now die as a salesman. At the end, he sacrifices himself trying to ‘’mend’’ his son’s broken
The dreams of people are the most important things to anyone. Mainly due to the fact that dreams make up whom a person is at heart. An infinite number of people have had and will continue to have their lives destroyed because they chased a dream, and unfortunately they didn’t run fast enough. Among these people are Lennie Small and Jay Gatsby. These two gentlemen had the displeasure of chasing a dream that was unachievable even from the very beginning. This eventually led to the death of these two young people. In the end, a more precise name for the American dream just keeps coming to mind. That is The American Nightmare.
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.
Willy and Happy are very similar people. However Biff does not agree with the way Willy and Happy handle situations, which results in several conflicts between Biff and Willy throughout much of the play. Willy describes Biff as being lost saying, “Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such – personal attractiveness gets lost,” (Miller 16). Even though Willy believes Biff is the lost one, in reality, Willy is lost throughout most of the play (Eisinger 2). Willy does not really know himself. Willy always puts on a show for others and does not be his true self, which portrays the feeling of being lost within himself.
Willy dreamed his life out, even to his death. He dreamed of dying the death of a salesman. All the powerful men he knew would attend his funeral. Cars would line up for miles and everybod...
What encompasses the American Dream? Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” offers a realistic, stark picture of lives overflowing with dreams wished and dreams broken; yet, there are no dreams realized here. Their dreams comprise glory and fearlessness over those which genuinely can be achieved. Although Willy, Linda, Biff and Happy, as individuals, still believe in the American Dream, it’s clear that it represents something different for each.
Similarly, many of the goals and desires that the American Dream holds are not always what they seem to be. On the surface, they may seem to be what everyone wants, however below is the real truth about these desires and their consequen...
Moseley, Merritt. "The American Dream in Arthur Miller 's Death of a Salesman." In Bloom, Harold, ed. The American Dream, Bloom 's Literary Themes. New York: Chelsea Publishing House, 2009. Bloom 's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 30 Nov. 2015
He believes that he is well-liked and respected by everyone, which is not true. Willy's pride leads to his downfall, as he cannot accept that he is not successful and that his dream is unattainable. Finally, the illusion of Willy's life that resulted from him dreaming the wrong dream ends up in his tragic suicide and the destruction of his family. Willy's dream creates an illusion of a perfect life, which is not true.
With America actually being seen as the land of assurance, the American dream is usually associated with the freedom and opportunity of gaining prosperity, recognition, power, triumph, and contentment. On the surface, this dream appears virtually delighted, offering individuals the exceptional hope of accomplishing success despite of one’s race, religion, or family history. The American Dream is accurately what it seems to be the chance of perfect lying nearby the corner. However, the actual nature of this dream prohibit the pleasure of the victory one has earned, as the desire is always demanding one to work a slight harder and gain a slightly more.
Willy lived everyday of his life trying to become successful, well-off salesman. His self-image that he portrayed to others was a lie and he was even able to deceive himself with it. He traveled around the country selling his merchandise and maybe when he was younger, he was able to sell a lot and everyone like him, but Willy was still stuck with this image in his head and it was the image he let everyone else know about. In truth, Willy was a senile salesman who was no longer able to work doing what he's done for a lifetime. When he reaches the point where he can no longer handle working, he doesn't realize it, he puts his life in danger as well a others just because he's pig-headed and doesn't understand that he has to give up on his dream. He complains about a lot of things that occur in everyday life, and usually he's the cause of the problems. When he has to pay for the repair bills on the fridge, he bitches a lot and bad mouths Charley for buying the one he should of bought. The car having to be repaired is only because he crashes it because he doesn't pay attention and/or is trying to commit suicide. Willy should have settled with what he had and made the best of things. He shouldn't have tied to compete with everyone and just made the best decision for him using intelligence and practicality. Many of Willy's problems were self-inflicted, the reason they were self-inflicted was because he wanted to live the American dream. If he had changed his standards or just have been content with his life, his life problems would have been limited in amount and proportion.
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...
trouble determining what is real and what he’d like to be real. There are times when he talks to himself and has conversations with his deceased brother Ben. During the hallucinations when Willy is talking to Ben it seems that he wants to be like Ben who was rich and successful.
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.
Willy's most prominent illusion is that success is dependant upon popularity and personal attractiveness. Willy builds his entire life around this idea and teaches it to his children. When Willy was young, he had met a man named Dave Singleman who was so well-liked that he was able to make a living simply by staying in his hotel room and telephoning buyers. When Dave Singleman died, buyers and salesmen from all over the country came to his funeral. This is what Willy has been trying to emulate his entire life. Willy's need to feel well-liked is so strong that he often makes up lies about his popularity and success. At times, Willy even believes these lies himself. At one point in the play, Willy tells his family of how well-liked he is in all of his towns and how vital he is to New England. Later, however, he tells Linda that no one remembers him and that the people laugh at him behind his back. As this demonstrates, Willy's need to feel well-liked also causes him to become intensely paranoid. When his son, Biff, for example, is trying to explain why he cannot become successful, Willy believes that Biff is just trying to spite him. Unfortunately, Willy never realizes that his values are flawed. As Biff points out at the end of the play, "he had the wrong dreams."
Willy is a multi-faceted character which Miller has portrayed a deep problem with sociological and psychological causes and done so with disturbing reality. In another time or another place Willy might have been successful and kept his Sanity, but as he grew up, society's values changed and he was left out in the cold. His foolish pride, bad judgment and his disloyalty are also at fault for his tragic end and the fact that he did not die the death of a salesman.