Death Of A Salesman Faith

530 Words2 Pages

Author Miller expresses in Death of a Salesman the tragic toll of having unrelenting faith in the American Dream by using Willy Loman to believe that anyone who is well liked and charismatic shall attain success rather than by hard work. The concept of the American Dream, where anyone can achieve financial success, lies at the heart of the novel and is being conveyed through various characters in different ways. Ben achieves this concept when he went off into the jungles of Africa and soon came into wealth by accidentally discovering a diamond mine. Howard Wagner inherits his Dream without much effort through his father's company. However, Bernard was a determined and quiet child, yet he became a successful lawyer through hard work. Over the course of his lifetime, Willy and his sons was not able to reach the …show more content…

However, the real tragedy of the novel is not that Willy is failing to achieve financial success, but rather that he buys into the dream so blindly that he ignores the real things in his life and escapes to his memories. A couple of ways Death of a Salesman demonstrates, through Willy, the tragic effects of the American Dream are his flashbacks, suicide attempts, and faith towards being a salesman. One of the ways Willy Loman was affected by the belief in the American Dream were the constant flashbacks of his past that contained hidden meanings. It becomes clear that his flashbacks actually trace the beginning of his mistakes and his family’s present troubles. An example in Death of a Salesman is the first flashback where Happy and Biff are teenagers helping Willy wash the car. During his memory, he tells the boys how well liked and respected he is when he goes on business trips. Willy says he will soon open a more successful

Open Document