Willy Loman And The American Dream

The American Dream ~ for many, it is the unlocked door that leads to happiness.  It is the hope for a future filled with success and fortune.  Although most people have a similar idea of what the American Dream is, they may have different ideas on how to achieve it.  For Willy Loman, a struggling salesman, achieving this dream would be a major accomplishment.  Unfortunately, his unusual ideas of how this dream can be achieved prevent him from reaching his goal.

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

Considering each character individually, it is obvious that Miller wanted to make a point that dreams are whatever we want them to be. The American dream is more or less just an outline or blueprint, and the individual determines the specific goals they themselves would like to achieve. Such thoughts applied to all characters in the play, Miller’s most extreme case being Willy Loman. A working man, a husband, and a father of two, Willy was traditional in his belief that a man in America could be prosperous and successful, but only if he was viewed

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.

Willy Loman had accomplished the historical American Dream but because of his ambition he did not realize it. When Willy was deciding to go with his brother to look for his father he met Dave Singleman. Dave was an ¨eighty four year old salesman who had drummed merchandise in thirty-one states and who could now simply go into his hotel room, call the buyers, and make his living in his green velvet slippers¨ (Stanton 131).This view of a tranquil and successful career made him reconsider his decision and instead of going to Alaska he chose to be a salesman. It seems that Willy saw a “father figure” in Dave, so he followed the same path, hoping he would have the same future and the same success in the field (Stanton 133). After thirty five years of his career he saw he hasn’t accomplished the success that he wanted. He devoted his life into a career as a salesman knowing that he was good with his hands, but ¨he possessed too much snobbery to admit that his own destiny was in a simple career as a carpenter¨ (“Death of a Salesman”). For Willy the difference between a white collar job and a blue collar job meant a lot, but he didn’t do much to gain a white collar one and he stayed with his old job. His career as a salesman did give him and his family the normal success people would want. Willy wanted more, and since he saw he didn’t accomplished it, he taught his kids into his

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

One of the concept of the American Dream is that everyone has opportunity to build his or her own future. However, the Arthur Miller could not accept the idea and write about the story of old salesman, Willy. In the play, he has two uncontrollable sons; Happy, Willy’s youngest son with no dream, makes money for the party and Biff, Willy’s oldest son, loses his dream since his football player in the college finishes. Willy believes that anyone can achieve the American Dream and keep the happiness for rest of his or her life; therefore, he tries to teach his sons. He says “Why, boys, when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and I was twenty-one I walked out.

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.

What is your idea of the American Dream? A good job? A family? A nice house? The American Dream means many different things to many different people. The American Dream is represented in these three novels through the ideas of hard work, overcoming obstacles through intelligence and resources, and that a dream cannot be possible if you miss your opportunity. The American Dream is the perfect life in which you have everything you could ever want in your hands. Unfortunately, not all achieve this dream. It requires hard work, intelligence, using your resources, or catching your opportunities when they arise. All of these ideas are represented in “Of Mice and Men”, “Death of a Salesman”, and “The Great Gatsby”.

The idealized concept of the American Dream is unclear to Willy Loman, which led to the downfall of their family. Willy Loman, is a salesman who has his mind set on living the American Dream. The American Dream, is the idea that prosperity and success will come from hard work in a free society. Willy Loman is confused with why they live "In the greatest

The year is 1949, and it had only been four years since the end of World War II. The United States had emerged victorious and relatively unscathed from world conflict. Moreover, the depression of 1929 which inundated the United States of America, was eradicated by progressive programs. One of the programs was Social Security, introduced in August of 1935, was now available to a society that was living longer. These perfect conditions created unprecedented prosperity within the United States of America, and gave birth to a new condition called, “The American Dream.” Willy Loman, from Death of a Salesman, was a troubled 63 year old who found himself struggling in the later part of his life both economically and mentally. These cacophonies of failures culminated in his sense of overwhelming and lethal guilt in not obtaining the American Dream.

What is the "American Dream?" How does one define success? Many people hold different views on how to obtain true happiness. One common view is the accomplishment of something yearned. A majority of individuals desire love, compassion, and a family. On the other hand, there are those concerned with self-image, material items, and the fact that money can indeed buy true happiness. In Arthur Miller's play DEATH OF A SALESMAN [published by Ted Buchholz (1993)]--the story of a sixty-three year old man named Willy Loman striving to achieve the "American Dream" and his family who suffer as a cause--contains many examples of trying to achieve material success. Willy's

Willy Loman is a man on a mission. His purpose in life is to achieve a false sense of the "American Dream," but is this what Willy Loman really wants? In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller analyzes the American Dream by portraying to us a few days in the life of a washed up salesman named Willy Loman. The American Dream is a definite goal of many people, meaning something different to everyone. Willy's version is different from most people though; his is based more on being well-liked and achieving monetary successes rather than achieving something that will make him happy. Willy never becomes part of the "American Dream" because he never follows his true dreams and

Willy believes that wealth is the key to your happiness, and the extent of your wealth is exposed by the amount of materialistic items one has. Miller explains Willy’s thoughts in Timebends, “The publicity apparatus tells Willy that if he works hard like Edison, that if he perseveres like Goodrich, that, if he is “well-liked” like Dave Singleman, then he will rise like Charley and become rich and powerful.” Willy’s thought process is foolish, and his belief that failure cannot be tolerated in his family causes him to lie about his success. This is evident when Biff says “We never told the truth for ten minutes in this house! [130]” The American Dream is to blame for imprinting wealth is all you need to be happy, into Willy’s mind.

In today’s society the term “American Dream” is perceived as being successful and usually that’s associated with being rich or financially sound. People follow this idea their entire life and usually never stop to think if they are happy on this road to success. Most will live through thick and thin with this idealization of the “American Dream” usually leading to unhappiness, depression and even suicide. The individual is confused by society’s portrayal of the individuals who have supposedly reached the nirvana of the “American Dream”. In the play “Death of a Salesman” Willy thinks that if a person has the right personality and he is well liked it’s easy to achieve success rather than hard work and innovation. This is seen when Willy is