Willy Loman And The American Dream

In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller’s character, Willy Loman, is desperately trying to achieve the unattainable American Dream. Throughout the play, Willy encounters many challenges that have derailed his course and his perseverance drives him and his family insane.

In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman’s life seems to be slowly deteriorating. It is clear that Willy’s predicament is of his own doing, and that his own foolish pride and ignorance lead to his downfall. Willy’s self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife, his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children, Biff and Happy, and lastly his inability to productively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his “American Dream”.

Throughout his life, Willy Loman thinks of himself as well-liked in the play "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller. It is the most important attribute to him. Willy lived his life thinking he had thousands of friends all over the New England territory and that he would be recognized anywhere he would go. He boasts this to his sons and they think he is the greatest man on Earth. He raises his two sons, Biff and Happy, to be well-liked and Willy does not care about their grades. He believes they will be better prepared for the business world if they are well-liked, and does not think education matters as much as personality, appearance, and physical skill. Although he has set high standards for sons, his morals are being well-liked, he

In "Death of a Salesman" Arthur Miller was attempting to create fully rounded characters. He wanted to figure out their emotional reactions to the failure of the American Dream. Willy Loman tried to pursue all the optimism of a salesperson. Charley is the neighbor of the Loman family. He is practically the definition of an American ideal. He is hardworking, successful, kind, and generous. He even offered Willy a job because he realized Willy was struggling financially. Charley says to Willy, “you want a job?” So Charley is just trying to give Willy a helping hand. Willy is a little jealous of Charley so Willy refused the job. Charley eventually said to Willy, “When the hell are you going to grow up?” Willy only earns commission on his sales job and he has not been able to make a lot of money. Charley has also paid the mortgage on Willy’s house even though Willy keeps saying he will pay him back. Unlike Willy, Charley raises his children to study

In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the audience sees the Loman family’s internal struggle with the failure of their lives. The main antagonists are the protagonists themselves, and their failure to distinguish realistic goals from wild fantasies resulted in their downfall. Symbolizing the common household, the characters reveal to the viewers that the “American Dream” does not guarantee happiness, and that forcing one to pursue it may even lead to depression and sadness. The theme of unfulfilled dreams is prevalent throughout the play because of Willy’s failure at obtaining the American dream, Biff’s desires being restricted because of his father, and Happy’s lack of affection from his dad. Willy Loman’s fruitless yet desperate attempt

In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the author conveys the reader about how a person lives his life when he or she cannot live the “American Dream.” Willy Loman, the main character in the play is a confused and tragic character. He is a man who is struggling to hold onto what morality he has left in a changing society that no longer values the ideals he grew up to believe in. Even though the society he lives in can be blamed for much of his misfortune, he must also be the blame for his bad judgment, disloyalty and his foolish pride.

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

Former American Lawyer and politician Robert Ingersoll once said, “In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences.” Ingersoll states that all actions have the same general result, people do not get rewarded nor punished, but instead they suffer from any plausible repercussions of these actions. As Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller tries to pursue his own american dream, he leaves behind a series of consequences due to the decisions he makes throughout the novel. Willy creates an unrealistic american dream for himself, which causes the family to struggle with him and his worthless belief of himself.

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, the protagonist in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, is a character lacks self-confidence. Willy passionately believes in the American Dream as a way to achieve accomplishments and be wealthy, however he does not accomplish it and his sons too. His sons struggle to do their father's hopes, while Willy’s delusions starts to affect his real life under the challenging realities of life, his cerebral condition starts to deteriorate. The pressure strains appear because of this American Dream, and because of the general necessities Willy initiates the main conflict of Death of a Salesman.

A child develops its ideas and behaviors dependent on its environment and the people that surround it. Ideas that can have many different meanings based on the person, such as the American Dream, can lead children into a life of confusion, since they don't know which meaning to stick to. Such is the case even for adults who, for example, don't know which definition of success and the American Dream is the best for them personally. People can lose themselves and what they believe in if they get lost in all of the possibilities of success, and end up as empty shells that never achieved anything. As if in warning, Arthur Miller's play, "Death of a Salesman", depicts many realizations of the American Dream through its characters, and documents

The "American Dream" is the idea that any man or woman can make his or her own fortune, regardless of his or her past. The American dream grasps the idea that if one believes and tries hard enough he or she will prosper, and be rewarded with the ultimate prize: happiness. Willy Loman's idea of The American Dream does not differ greatly from this definition although while trying to pursue this dream, Willy's mind steadily wandered further and further away from the reality of it all. Willy is trying to accomplish this success through this thought, believing that being "well liked" and working very hard will be enough to obtain his ideal success. Unfortunately, Willy was wrong.

Thesis Statement. The character of Willy Loman in the “Death of a salesman”, is that of a salesman, consumed with unachievable ambition, and whose dream was to become successful in his career. Meanwhile, he finds his expectations unrealistic as his family remain unsucessfull, he becomes disillusioned by this impending failure, faced by his entire family. However, he has high expectations of ideals, greatness, success and values for his family, which was unrealized and ultimately led to his early demise.

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

In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the main character, Willy Loman, is a salesman who is constantly trying to obtain the best things for his family. Willy wholeheartedly believes in the American Dream and tries more than anything to achieve it but sadly fails. He wants nothing more for his sons to succeed, as to where he felt he has “failed”. Being abandoned by his father and brother, Ben, Willy’s fear of abandonment grows stronger. In the final scene of "Death of a Salesman", Arthur Miller enhances the sense of abandonment, leaving the audience to witness Willy’s own abandonment of his family, in the form of suicide.