Similarities Between Death Of A Salesman And Willy Loman

1. Both Miller’s play and traditional Horatio Alger model show the readers the idea of the American Dream. But they show two different sides of the American dream, just like the moon has the bright side and the dark side. Horatio Alger’s novels always have a similar topic: a poor boy works hard and makes good to improve his life. That boy finally escapes poverty and achieves his American dream. Alger’s novels give Americans positive hope and encourage them to achieve their American dream by working hard. But in the death of the salesman, the main character Willy Loman misses his American Dream and ends up with suicide. Unlike Alger’s novels’ positive ending, Miller’s plays have a very sad ending and take the readers to a deeper thinking of the American Dream.

Alger believes that if you are working hard, you can achieve your American dream. So his novels’ characters always get success and the end of the story because they are working hard. In Miller’s play, Willy Loman misunderstands the American dream. He thinks if a person is well liked, he will success. But that is not true. We can still find many pieces of evidence in the Death of a salesman that Miller believes the American dream. In the play, we can still find other characters reach their American dream. Take an example of Bernard, he is a successful Lawyer in the play. Unlike Willy and Biff, Bernard is a very hardworking man since he was a high school student. He is very responsible for himself and knows his self-identity. In the other word, he knows what he wants. So he gets success and reaches his American dream. So Miller doesn’t really conflict with Alger idea and the traditional American dream. In the other word, he does believe in the hard working American