The American Dream

Does being American mean that you’re an American citizen, or does it mean that you have the same rights and decisions as someone who is a successful American citizen? These decisions include choices you make in order to better yourself in life, whether it has to do with your choice in career, or what you want to do in life. Making decisions, and having choices comes with freedom, as a person, and that reflects on being an American everywhere in the world, even though you’ve never been in America. To be an American means that you have the freedom, and rights to do what you want, be who you are, and be/ become who you want. This right of having the freedom to do what you want, can be elaborated by someone’s life chances.

Similar to Gatsby, Willy Loman from Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, bases his "American Dream" on the idea that public acceptance would bring him wealth.  Willy believes that appearing well liked makes him successful.  Willy has based his life on the idea that if you are "well liked, you will never want" (Miller 33).  Moreover, he believes his sons' appearance will make them successful because they are "both built like Adonises" (33).  Furthermore, Willy's obsession with money leads him to equate the value of an individual with their financial worth.  Willy idealized his older brother Ben because "he is rich" (41).  Willy, reflecting on his own worth, concludes "you end up worth more dead than alive" (98).  Finally, Willy thinks that being a popular and successful businessman will win him the love of his wife and children.  Willy lies to his family, by telling his sons "[if there is] one thing boys: I have friends"(31).  He also exaggerates terribly by telling his wife he sold "five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston" (35).  In his final imagined discussion with his brother Ben, Willy concludes that by taking his own life he will finance his son's business venture, and "[Biff will] worship me for it" (135).

            Out of all of Willy's simplistic ideals, one major pattern we can notice is how Willy truly believes that popularity and physical appearance are what make people wealthy.  We are first introduced

The "American Dream" is an idea that has always been different throughouttime. It changes in diverse forms and in the end involves success. The "American Dream" was a phrase used by the American people and peoplewanting to become American. It was always the idea that you can become a success. This is true in a partial way, but the true "American Dream" is that with somework and determination anyone can build themselves up in the economic classsystem.

"The American Dream is that any man or woman, despite of his or her background, can change their circumstances and rise as high as they are willing to work” (Fabrizio Moreira). For many years, men and women struggled to achieve the idealistic life of living on independent terms. Many characters in Of Mice and Men work in order to pursue and achieve the American Dream that consisted of having their own house and income. Characters in the book may use that dream to help the overcome their life struggles and personal problems. Of Mice and Men tells the story of two friends, George and Lennie, who find themselves on a ranch in pursuit of their dreams. Unfortunately for them, circumstances beyond their control cost Lennie and George their dream and much more. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck portrays how dreams create a false sense of hope in order to cover up the realities of life through George, Curley’s wife, and Candy.

The "American Dream" is marked as unattainable in John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men. This is mostly shown in the case of George, Lennie, Candy, Crooks, and Curley's wife. These characters all have admitted to thinking about the "American dream" concept, and the freedom to pursue happiness and their dreams.

Willy Loman could honestly take no pride in the values he had instilled in his two sons. Case in point: As he preaches that likeability, above all, is the ultimate goal of mankind, he neglects to qualify his statements by adding that one should be liked for being himself, not by adapting like a chameleon to whatever the surrounding circumstances dictate. The following passage superbly demonstrates Willy’s twisted perceptions of what it means to succeed in life.

To begin, Willy could be described as having a case of misguided life goals paired with self-deception. Willy was unable to admit to his faults. His pride was so boisterous that he would lie to his own family, borrowing money every week from his neighbor, Charley, and claiming that it was his salary. Due to extreme insecurities, Willy compulsively lied to himself and his family in effort of making himself feel better about who he really is, disguising his self doubt and inner anxiety with profound arrogance. Willy raised his sons to believe that in order to be successful, one must be well liked. “Be liked and you will never want.” (1.3) He often lied to them and exaggerated his success, which led them to believe that everything was as good as he claimed them to be. Willy even encouraged deceit in his oldest son by urging him to steal things and cheat on tests. In Willy’s own delusional world, he is a largely successful and well liked salesman with sons destined for greatness, taking every opportunity to brag about these false perceptions. He lied about almost everything, even the quality of

The American dream originated when immigrants came to America searching for new opportunities and a better life. In the early 1900’s all people could do is dream; however, those dreams gave many different meanings to the phrase “American dream”, and for the most part, wealth and hard work play a very large role in the pursuit of “the dream”. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, and Arthur Miller’s drama, Death of a Salesman, both protagonists, Jay Gatsby and Willy Loman, are convinced that the way to achieve a better life is by living the “American dream”. However, the dream does not end up successfully for these two characters. In fact, their ideals and hopes of rising to success cause their American dream to take a turn into

Is the american dream still possible and was it always possible for everyone the american dream was this great idea that everyone can retire at a certain age always have a job. And not matter what race or country you come from or what you looked like but it wasn't always like this and still isn't.

Throughout the vast country that is the United States, many people, unique as they are, have one common goal and want that is the same. For lots of those individuals, that goal is just to get around the immense amount of challenges that one day brings upon them. For many, they will do whatever it takes to provide financially for themselves and or their family, in an attempt to build supportable and desirable lives. This concept is known as the American Dream. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s, Nickled and Dimed and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the American Dream is an everlasting concept that is perceived differently by both of the book’s main characters. Although these two pieces of writing were written in different eras, the characters

Being equal means that all Americans have the opportunity to succeed, it doesn't mean that all Americans have the same things. Some people will work much harder to succeed, those people have more than people who don't want to work to succeed. The American Dream is that every United States citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, initiative, and happiness. But many wonder if it is still alive today. Many studies have proven that the American dream is still alive today. The American Dream still exists because the unemployment ratio has decreased , the salary for the jobs has increased, and people of America have freedom.

Willy Loman is an old salesman (63 years old) who is no longer able to earn a living. He receives only a small commission as he ages, and he slowly loses his mind and attempts to kill himself by inhaling gas from the water heater or from crashing his Studebaker. Dave Singleman is his role model, he wants to become well liked and rich. He spends most of his time dreaming instead of doing anything to improve his life. He is obsessed with the post-war interpretation of the American Dream. In the end, he kills himself by crashing his car, hoping to get the life insurance money for his family.

Success: Accomplishing Your Dream Completing the "American Dream" is a controversial issue. The American Dream can be defined as having a nice car, maybe two or three of them, having a beautiful, healthy family, making an impact on the world, or even just having extra spending money when the bills are paid. In the play "Death Of A Salesman," by Arthur Miller, the "American Dream" deals with prosperity, status, and being immortalized.

Willy even convinced himself that being well liked was the key to a successful life, and chose to believe that he was well liked. "Like the legendary Dave Singleman, he wants to be well liked" (Dukore 21). "Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer" (Miller 33). Even when he doubts his charisma, Linda is right there to tell him otherwise. "Willy Loman never acknowledges or learns the error of his way. To the very end he is a devout believer in the ideology that destroys him. He believes that life’s problems are all solved by making oneself well liked and by a little cash. His wife knows only that he is a good man and that she must continue to love him" (Hurrell 66).