The Importance of Dreams in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

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The Importance of Dreams in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller There is a wide range of dreams throughout the play. Every Character is living a dream and these dreams are what affect and change how the play flows. The main dream is the great capitalist American Dream, The dreams dramatically affect relationships, jobs and even threatens lives, and these dreams are usually unachievable so are never going to be reached. This however doesn't ever stop the Loman's from dreaming and eventually at the end of the play it gets the better of them. Willy Loman is a salesman whom lives his life chasing the American Dream. The American dream destroys Willy. Willy didn't want to believe that he was different from any other salesman or human being. He always wanted to be greater than that anyone else. Willy's hopes and dreams make him a selfish and dishonest person. Throughout the play the Loman's cannot tell the difference between reality and dreams. Willy is lost in false dreams. He's working but not earning enough money to pay his bills. As he gets older, he has trouble working out the difference between the past and present and is often having flashbacks. This problem makes Willy fall into his depression. His sons Biff and Happy are also failures, but Willy does not let himself see this. He wants his kids especially biff, to succeed and lead better lives then he did. He believes that to be well liked is to be successful. Willy would rather be in a world with dreams than realize that he was a failure. In the play there is a lot of Daydreams. Daydreams are just another way for Willy to escape failure. He daydreams about his sons being s... ... middle of paper ... ...w he never reaches this because he kills himself in the end to continue this dream for his son Biff. Willy wants to keep his pride yet he loses his job, has an affair and has 2 failing sons. Linda desires to simply be happy and free from debt. She dreams to have a normal and happy family that is totally reachable. She sticks by Willy's dreams because she loves him even though his dreams are totally unreachable. Biff initially wants the American dream but then quickly realises that it is not for him. He realises that dreams are unrealistic and false and he is the only Loman to find his true self. Happy wants the American dream and is too blind to see that this dream is the thing that killed his father off. He also deeply wants to be loved by his father yet this is near impossible because Willy only likes Biff.

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