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America and the American dream
The death of a salesman analytical essay
American dream in today's society
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What is the American Dream? Is it fame? Is it fortune? President Franklin
Roosevelt explained the American Dream as freedom of speech, freedom of
religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. (AAC) I think that the
American Dream is different for everyone. It is simply the urge for a better life.
The American Dream is still valid but is totally different from what it used to be.
For the early immigrants the American Dream was a better life not with
material goods, but by freedom. Freedom to worship whoever they want.
Freedom to say whatever they want without fear of being arrested or shot. (AAC)
This Dream stayed with America untill the 1900’s. That’s when things started to
change. Norman Rockwell was a famous artist during 1910’s through the 1930’s.
Rockwell drew pictures of the American dream during his time. His art of the
American dream consisted of families having a great time, or of a happily
married couple. The American Dream was happiness with a family or
a loved one.
The ending of war caused the American Dream to completely changed. I
think it’s because we no longer had to worry about freedom, we filled the gap of
freedom with wealth.The American Dream is now to marry a beautiful wife, start
a family, and become rich. It’s turned into greed. Everyone’s dream is to become
just like Bill Gates. People no longer do their work because they enjoy it. They
do their work because of the money. A perfect example of this is pro baseball.
When Major League Baseball first started the players did it because they loved
the game and loved playing in front of the huge audiences. They got paid low
wages but still plated the game because they loved it. Major League players
these days complain because ...
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problems in his family and personal life. As Willie is trying to pursue his dream
he often lets the family down. There are many flashbacks in the novel to the time
where they lived in Nebraska and how everyone was happy. Willy had a decent
job with good hours and got to spend plenty of his time with his family. He may
not have been the richest or most popular man but he had his freedom, family,
and happiness. If Willy would have never of had such a corrupt American dream
and would have kept it simple he would have lived a happy successful life. This
is Millers way of showing us not to be greedy.
Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” provides substantial evidence that
their is still and American Dream today. Most people dream of fortune and fame
but there is still that 10% that dream for a job they enjoy and strive for a lovely,
attached family.
The American Dream is something that anyone no matter their background, social standings, or ethnicity can improve their life through hard work.
The American Dream is a dream that no matter what race you or what social class you are born in you are still able to achieve it no matter what. Many believe that the American Dream doesn't exist and that you cannot achieve the American Dream, however they are wrong. America provides access to the American Dream because people who make sacrifices are able to become successful, people are able to become closer to God, and people are able to get a better education.
and his job was very important to him. Willy never got to live his dream. His life
I see American Dream in this era as a product of cultural environment which has a concept of glamorous and luxurious living that brainwashed the society. The goal of the American Dream here is to live life to the fullest by partying and climbing up the social
The American Dream is an idea that anyone can live in the United States through hard work and live happy successful lives. There are many obstacles that would stand in the way from achieving the American Dream. Fear, money and education/training, families changing in size, disability, race and gender, are some of the hurdles that many Americans face as they try to achieve the typical American Dream.
The American dream is the idea held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve prosperity.
The American Dream can be a motivational fire, but it takes a lot of hard work and dedication, one must focus on building a balanced life for themselves, participate in honest work and practice their craft to have marketable skills that just stick out from the competition. People work their whole lives making money so they can satisfy their desires. The idea of being able to purchase the items people have always dreamed of is an achievement in itself. Having a great family, owning a home and having beautiful things to fill it with is a common dream amongst people. Many people take pride in what they possess.
Barack Obama made history by being elected President of the United States, twice. This is just one more example that the American Dream is without a doubt achievable. Its pursuit is not easy; it requires undeniable hard work, modesty and optimism. Armed with these characteristics, seekers of this lifestyle will undeniably succeed. Success, though, is an interesting concept, for it can entail many superficial qualities. Willy Loman, the tragic hero of the play Death of a Salesman, sees only the superficial qualities of this dream. He views success solely as likeability (linked with attractiveness), and wealth. Ignoring all methods to honorably achieve these, Arthur Miller demonstrates how Willy’s search for the superficial qualities of the American Dream lead him to his own despair.
As Willy has always been a salesman, but his good for nothing father distorted his beliefs making sure that he would be nothing like his father. By trying to be likable, but in the end things because through the course of his life nothing has gone his way. His brother working hard doing the opposite that Willy believed in made a fortune and died with his wealth. Understanding this Willy attempted suicide hoping he could accomplish the same thing. Eventually, Willy became what his father was through his view as his connection with his sons slowly faded away. “Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens?”(Miller
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.
When the term ‘American Dream’ was first mentioned in 1931 by James Truslow Adams, he described it as “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” (Clark). When Adams mentioned the term, it had much more of an idealistic meaning, rather than the materialistic meaning it has in modern society. At the time of it’s mention, the dream meant that prosperity was available to everyone. In the beginning, the American Dream simply promised a country in which people had the chance to work their way up through their own labor and hard work (Kiger). Throughout history, the basis of the dream has always been the same for each individual person. It
Many people are in jobs that are not satisfying because the job market lacks creativity and vision, also people are scared to branch out without being bombarded with risks.
Although the Loman family had lives full of problems, not all problems were caused by Willy striving for the American dream. Willy’s problems were caused by decisions made because of his goal to attain the American dream. He put his family through endless amounts of torture because of his search for a successful life. Willy should have settled with what he has in life, without trying to achieve everything he had hoped for. One dream, the American dream, is not worth all the problems and pain it caused Willy and his family. Willy should have lightened up on his goal of succeeding when he realized it was not going where he had hoped. The American dream is impossible.
Willy's goal throughout life was to climb out of his social class. As a salesman, Willy was a failure and he tried desperately to make his sons never end up like him. As a result, he loses his mind and his grasp on reality. Throughout the story, Willy often has flashbacks of the conversations that he and his brother Ben once had and the author intertwines them in past and present very nicely.
The American Dream is a circumstance for every people in America to believe what they can do for their own and take advantage of every opportunity that gave them the chance to live in the country. That advantage will lead to a fact that life only flows on how the world has gone on, and on how the citizens of America reacts to it. Every person in America has a different perspective on life, to the point when they will look for a solution on how they will approach for their dream to live comfortably. American Dream is a dream that makes people experience challenges in life due to diversified circumstances present in the country.