Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller in 1949, won a Pulitzer Prize and established Miller’s international status. The play conveys issues of social realism and family complications as it explores the life of a man who lives in a fragmented state of reality with unfulfilled hopes and dreams. Arthur Miller’s play raises the question of the significance and value of the American dream by contrasting the two different views of becoming successful; one view believes that hard-work and support will lead to success, while the other relies on popularity, attractiveness, and likability to be successful.
Willy, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman, and his family have lived their lives believing an amoral and deluded version of the American dream compared to others. Willy is a very insecure, delusional, and misguided individual who whole-heartily believes the various lies and stunted interpretation he has based his life on; he believes that in order to be successful, one must be popular and attractive. Willy and his family are put at a disadvantage because throughout their lives “they continue to believe that the greater world will embrace them, will proclaim them, simply because they are superficially charming, are occasionally witty, and can bluster and brag with the best of them” (Thompson). Willy continues to look up to individuals that are very successful. Dave Singleman, and Willy’s brother are two characters in the play that Willy looks up to because of their hard-earned success. However, Willy helps the audience have an insight to the corrupted view of the American dream that is based on materialism, popularity, likability, and attractiveness.
The American dream that Willy is challenging was originall...
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...on what our founding fathers based it on: hard-work, support, success, and freedom of choice.
Works Cited
Cardullo, Robert James. “Selling in American Drama, 1946-49: Miller’s Death of a Salesman, O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh, and Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire.” The Explicator 66.1 (2007). Academic OneFile. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Centola, Steven R. “Family Values in Death of a Salesman.” CLA Journal 37.1 (1993). Literature Resource Center. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Jacobson, Irving. “Dreams in Death of a Salesman.” American Literature 47.2 (1975): 246-258. JSTOR. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer 10th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. 1386-95. Print.
Thompson, Terry W. “Miller’s Death of a Salesman. The Explicator 63.4 (2005). Academic OneFile. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 8th ed.Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford, 2008. 1908-1972. Print.
Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, Americans have idealized the journey towards economic success. One thing people do not realize, however, is that the journey is not the same for every individual. Media often leads its viewers toward a “one size fits all” version of success that may help themselves, but will rarely help the viewers. This is seen in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Miller includes multiple instances of symbolism and personification to reveal to the reader the situational irony in Willy’s life, underlining the theme of self-deception in regard to the American Dream.
Eisinger, Chester E. "Critical Readings: Focus on Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman: The Wrong Dreams." Critical Insights: Death of a Salesman (2010): 93-105.
Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman.” The Norton Introduction to Literature 10. New York: W. W.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Eds. Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 2128-2193. Print.
In brief, it is apparent that Willy’s own actions led to not only his own demise, but his children’s as well. The salesman tragically misinterpreted the American Dream for only the superficial qualities of beauty, likeability and prosperity. Perhaps if Willy had been more focused on the truth of a person’s character, rather than purely physical aspects, his family’s struggles and his own suicide could have been avoided. On the whole, Arthur Miller’s play is evidence that the search for any dream or goal is not as easy and the end result may seem. The only way to realize the objective without any despair is the opposite of Willy Loman’s methods: genuineness, perseverance and humility.
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is a tragic play about an aging and struggling salesman, Willy Loman, and his family’s misguided perception of success. In Willy’s mind, being well-liked is more important than anything else, and is the means to achieving success. He teaches this flawed idea to his sons, Biff and Happy, and is faithfully supported by his wife Linda. Linda sympathizes with Willy’s situation, knowing that his time as an important salesman has passed. Biff and Happy hold their father to impossibly high standards, and he tries his best to live up to them. This causes Willy to deny the painful reality that he has not achieved anything of real value. Willy’s obsession with a false dream results in his losing touch with reality and with himself.
Miller, Arthur. "Death of a Salesman." Compact Literature. Ed. Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. 1262-331. Print.
The purpose of this brief essay is to examine Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman, with respect to its reflection of the impact of American values and mores as to what constitutes "success" upon individual lives.
In M. Night Sherman’s movie, the village, Ivy Walker states, “...life is long is long and love is deep. Time will be sweet for thee. All the world to see. Time to look about and know, how the shadows come and go. How the breeze stirs the trees, how the blossoms grow.”
In Death of A Salesman by Arthur Miller, the character Willy Loman is an average modern American man with a superficial American Dream: to be liked, to succeed over everyone
Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” ends with the tragic suicide of Willy Loman, the lead character. It is the end of a life spent futilely chasing “the American dream”. Willy has been unsuccessful in achieving the success he so desperately craves because his perception of the formula for success is fatally flawed. Willy believes that the American dream is only attainable for the popular and attractive few, and he does not believe he belongs to this elite group. Yet, Willy still works his entire life pursuing his dream.
The American dream today is based on the fact that anyone living in America can achieve a perfect life if they work hard. Willy Loman, the father in the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, tries his hardest to reach the American dream as he grows up. The Loman’s life 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 causing Willy to have a tragic death due to the desire of succession. Willy wants to provide his wife Linda, and two sons Biff and Happy, the perfect life. Willy strives for the American dream throughout the entire play, yet never achieves what he hopes because there are too many problems standing in his way.
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman criticizes the American Dream and the means some (i.e. Willy Loman) use to achieve the Dream through many different symbol and motifs; however, the title Miller selected for his play is an overlooked aspect of his criticism towards the Dream. He uses the title to build layers of understanding for his denunciation of the American Dream.