The Jagged Edges of a Shattered American Dream in Death of a Salesman

Many workers today go through a low time or a struggle and give up. Today’s workers do not necessarily commit suicide when they are in a low point but they do things such as quitting the job or relying on government assistance. Willy strives to achieve the American dream and he eventually realizes that he has failed and gives up on life. This dream is a belief in America and that all things are possible if you work hard enough (Criticism of ' the American Dream' in 'Death of a Salesman'). Arthur Miller uses this story to expose the problems with pursuit of such a dream: “What Miller attacks, then, is not the American Dream of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, but the dream as interpreted and pursued by those for whom ambition replaces human need and the trinkets of what Miller called the ‘new American Empire in the making’ are taken as tokens of true value” (Bigsby). “Death of a Salesman” creates a challenge to the American Dream and shows that an American should live a prosperous and plentiful life instead of get lost and die tragically (Criticism of ' the American Dream' in 'Death of a Salesman'). Gradually throughout the play, Willy gets farther and farther away from achieving his idea of the American Dream. His income slowly decreases to nothing: “as a salesman, Willy stages a performance for buyers, for his sons, for the father who deserted him, the brother he admired. Gradually, he loses his audience, first the buyers, then his son, then his boss” (Bigsby). His problem is that he completely surrenders to the American Dream and by the team he realizes his mistake, he has nothing to fall back on (Panesar). If Willy would have embraced his natural talent for manual labor and his family’s love for the countryside, the Lomans could have a totally different lifestyle (Panesar). Towards the end of the play, Willy became overwhelmed

Since the beginning of its time, America has set a global standard for offering chances at prosperity and career opportunities for qualified adults. Its people have been implicating the idea of the “American Dream” into its culture for many years and has become widely recognized by individuals all across the world. People pack up their lives and families to travel to American soil to try at a chance of a better life, and in doing so, they too venture on a path to achieving this so commonly understood “American Dream.” Arthur Miller, a well-known literary writer in America, seems to disagree with this national phenomena, offering a different view in his play Death of a Salesman. In this play, he demonstrates through the life of an average

The American Dream is a sought after idea sold to Americans and immigrants alike. It promises the opportunity to create a better future for oneself. So long as said individual works hard it promises a happy ending. Arthur Miller reveals the reality of the American Dream in his play Death of a Salesman through the life of Willy Loman and his family. Willy represents the primary target audience as a working class man providing for his family. His pride causes him to be two steps behind in his life-long quest to achieve the American Dream and his family inherit his failures in their own individual quests.

The American Dream is the belief that if you work hard you will gain success and wealth in life. In Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller, the idea of the American dream is shown through the main character Willy Loman. Willy has a flawed perception of success and the American Dream. His desire for wealth and popularity is what eventually leads to his downfall. His obsession with his image and his desire to be someone he wasn’t overtime drives him crazy and leads to his death.

Willy Loman desperately wants to believe that he has succeeded, that he is ‘well liked’ and a great salesman and therefore when he experiences his flashbacks he alters them to how he would have liked the situation to be- as a comfort so that he believes he not been a failure and a let down to the people around him. But as sixty- three year old man who is becoming weak and nearing retirement, Willy is viewed as a man who gave all of his life to a business, only to be thrown in the scrap-heap and as a house holder whose pattern of life was interwoven with instalment plans with which he could hardly catch up. If he was surrounded by a different community, Willy Loman might have been a content carpenter: he can put up a ceiling which his brother-in-law, Charley, lauds as a ‘piece a work’. Dreaming of retirement, Willy hopes to build guest houses on his yearned-for country land for Biff and Happy: ‘Cause I got so many fine tools, all I’d need would be a little lumber and some peace of mind.’ Throughout the play it is clearly evident to the audience that Willy Loman is a delusional individual who has built his life around deceit and lies: the American Dream.

Miller characterizes Willy Loman to further develop his character and the understanding of Willy’s American dream to expand the plot. When Charley offers Willy a job, Willy turns it down then tells Charley “After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up more dead than alive”(243). This characterizes Willy to show how he has given up his dream of a successful salesman. After Willy dies, Biff realizes “there’s more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made”(276). Biff realizes that Willy made the most success at home, fixing the house and making it the best place for his family to live. When Willy turns down Ben’s offer to move to Alaska, he tells Ben

Published in 1949, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is a tragic commentary on the hollowness and futility of the American Dream. This paper will explore Willy’s obsession with achieving material wealth and prosperity and how his yearning for the American Dream ultimately caused him to deny reality and lead the breakup of his family. Ultimately, Miller’s message is not that the American Dream is by necessity a harmful social construct, but simply that it has been misinterpreted and perverted to rob individuals of their autonomy and create inevitable dissatisfaction.

Still wishing to be successful for his kids, he begins to lie to them and himself that he is a world renowned salesman. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Miller utilizes the hallucinations, flashbacks, misfortune, and suicide of Willy Loman in order to demonstrate the road one may go down as they deal with the uncontrolled downward spiral through depression and denial. Willy’s inability to handle the stress of his failure as a father and businessman leads him to his suicidal thoughts and tendencies. From the beginning of the play, “Willy’s apparent obsession with suicide” has been clear (Domina). The play opens as he explains to his wife, Linda, that while driving home, he “couldn’t drive anymore” (Miller 5).

Willy rarely respects Linda, especially when Willy and their children are talking. When Linda tries to voice her option, she is met with negativity from Willy who believes her viewpoints are insignificant. Biff and Happy's behavior towards women were influenced by Willy's actions toward Linda. Willy's treatment of his wife cause his sons to view women in a sexist way as they use women to satisfy their lust or their own personal gain. Willy's worst offense towards Linda is through his affair.

Arthur Miller’s Death of A Salesman shows us the necessity to keep the idea and hope of the American Dream alive. Throughout the play, the character Willy shows us what happens when the American Dream is at risk. When he starts to lose his ability to continue to live this dream it puts him in a place of confusion because of all the years and time he has put in to live the dream that people say he should.

For many, the “American Dream” is the hope for a future filled with success and fortune.  Although many may share the idea of the American Dream, each person has a different perception of what is necessary to achieve this goal.  Willy Loman, the lead character of Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, believes that popularity and physical appearance are the keys that unlock the door to the “American Dream”.

As though to recreate the connection in life, literature often shows the relationship between past events and a character’s present actions and values. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy is haunted by memories of his older brother, father, and salesman Dave Singleman. Willy’s character and values are constantly influenced by the memory of the three men, compounding upon his deliria throughout the play. Willy considers these men the epitome of success, thus explaining his dependency on all three. Miller’s view on society, men, and the success of the American Dream are portrayed through Willy’s interactions with the men. The American Dream is synonymous with the phrase “the world is your oyster,” but Miller uses Death of a Salesman to criticize the American Dream through Willy Loman and his interplay between the past and present.

Everyone in life has ambitions and dreams, which they aim to accomplish. They can take the form of money, career, or family, all of which are included in the concept of the “American Dream”. In tragedies, such as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, by Edward Albee, or Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, we see the story of characters who seem to have failed to reach their goals. George from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is history teacher, married to Martha, who is disappointed he never accomplished much. Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman is a failed salesman who can no longer provide for his kids, whom he tried to guide towards a better future.

Rather than letting go of Biff and attempting to “save” Willy herself, Linda instead uses the excuse of blaming Biff for the detrimental state that Willy is in: “I’m - I’m ashamed to. How can I mention it to him? Every day I go down and take away that little rubber pipe. But, when he comes home, I put it back where it was. How can I insult him that way?...

Willy's mind also seems to be going.  Though near the beginning of his conversation with Linda he says that his Chevrolet is the best car ever built, moments later he contradicts himself, saying, "they ought to prohibit the manufacture of that car!" These contradictions continue, as Willy laments over the fact that he is not well liked, despite the fact that moments before he tells his sons that he is very well liked.  Yet Linda tries to reassure her failing husband, telling him that he is successful and handsome.  This statement causes Willy's mind to drift away to a time when he was with a prostitute on the road.  This short scene ends with Willy giving "The Woman" a pair of stockings as a present.  Though Willy certainly can't afford to buy these gifts, he does so anyway.  Here again, Willy shows himself to be anyone but a strong role model for his sons.  Later, when the scene returns to the present and Willy finds Linda mending some stockings, he feels very guilty.