Living or Dying with the American Dream
analytical Essay
1271 words
Everyone wants to be successful. We all dream of having a decent job, a house, a car or two, good social connections and the respect of our peers. We dream of opportunity and freedom. In Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, many characters are pursuing their own version of this dream, but they go about it in many different ways. Some see work and perseverance as necessities. Others think personal charm and popularity are essential in obtaining their dreams. We see the American Dream through the eyes of many different characters, giving us perspective of our own priorities and goals. Once we see the American dream from all of these angles we have to decide how we will interpret it, and how we will react.
Willy Loman is the main person we see seeking this dream. He spends his whole life trying to be successful. Willy makes many mistakes, but the first one is in how he defines the American Dream. He has this concept of a childish popularity contest. He thinks the goal of life is to be well liked and gain material success. Over and over again he tells his self and his sons that being “well-liked” is the way to be successful.
Many people claim that Willy Loman was corrupted by the “American Dream”. They say that Willy went crazy trying to prove that he could be successful. Juan Zhao, a literary critic, went as far as saying that Death of a Salesman is a “moving destruction of the whole myth” that the American Dream does or ever did work. However, the people who say this, like Willy, seem to believe in a distorted and contrasting view of the true American Dream (Zhao, 2010).
In order to avoid confusion the American Dream should be analyzed and defined. A recent poll done by Forbes magazine showed that twenty percent of America...
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.... He is telling us to focus on the things that matter and what we personally need to do to become what we want to become. In the end it is not what or who you know, but what have you become?
Works Cited
Bertoni, Steven. "Americans Most Commonly Define the American Dream in Terms of Opportunity, Freedom and Family." Forbes Oct. 2013: Web. 1 May 2014.
Carroll, Alan. "Top Ten Happiest Jobs and the American Dream." Web blog post. Surface Fragmants, 17 June 2012. Web. 3 May 2014.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York: Penguin, 1996. Print.
"Professor Richard Layard on Happiness." , Flourishing Lives, Money, Happiness and Economics. Ed. Pete Fletcher. Center for Confidence and Well-Being, 2006. Web. 3 May 2014.
Zhao, Juan. "Corruption of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman." CSCANADA. Cross Cultural Communications, 2010. Web. 3 May 2014.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how arthur miller's death of a salesman portrays the american dream through the eyes of many different characters, giving us perspective of our own priorities and goals.
- Analyzes how willy loman is the main person we see seeking this dream. he makes many mistakes, but the first one is in how he defines the american dream.
- Opines that many people claim that willy loman was corrupted by the "american dream". zhao said that death of a salesman is "moving destruction of the whole myth" that the american dream does or ever did work.
- Argues that the american dream should be analyzed and defined in order to avoid confusion. forbes magazine polls show that 20 percent of americans define it as opportunity, freedom, family, and happiness.
- Opines that happiness comes down to everyone trying to be happy. many people misinterpret what happiness means, like willy in death of a salesman.
- Explains richard layard's book entitled happiness, in which he discussed the results of several tests. the children were asked how happy they were on a scale of one to ten.
- Explains that children in the study were less happy because they compared their "gifts" to their peers and felt like they got the "short end of the stick." people brainwash themselves into believing they don't have everything that they want.
- Analyzes how willy compares himself to his brother ben, who is "success incarnate". ben left for the jungle at age seventeen with absolutely nothing. the process involves immense risk and self-denial.
- Compares willy to his father, an inventor who set out to provide for his family. he traveled to america and became a relatively wealthy man.
- Compares the loman's neighbors, charley and his son bernard, who started out relatively poor and are not the most popular people. they have a good family relationship and have taken advantage of the opportunities life has given them.
- Analyzes how willy ignores the importance of determination, honesty, and hard work in attaining the american dream.
- Analyzes willy's desire to attain the american dream, but he tries to achieve it through charisma. he hopes that if his boys are popular and liked by others, they will definitely attain it.
- Analyzes how willy's pursuit of immense popularity for his boys causes biff more harm than good.
- Analyzes how willy clings to a fierce belief that anyone well liked can make it big, despite his evident failure to meet his life goals.
- Analyzes how willy lies to himself when he kills himself, believing that biff will use the money from the life insurance to start a business. his naive perception of the american dream fails him and delusions lead him to take his own life.
- Analyzes how miller wants us to connect to the characters and their dreams. he uses the "average man" to provide at least one that everyone can relate to.
- Explains that americans most commonly define the american dream in terms of opportunity, freedom, and family.
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- Analyzes how arthur miller's "death of a salesman" depicts willy as an avid believer that greatness is derived from popularity and instills these values into his family.
- Explains that willy lowman had already achieved the prototypical "american dream" but due to his ambition he was unable to realize it.
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- Analyzes how willy's failure to understand the meaning of life and his misconception about the "american dream" causes him to teach his sons wrong about how to go at life.
- Analyzes how willy's false dreams and aspirations took a toll on the lowman family when he lost his job. he saw suicide as an outlet through his idea of success which was through money.
- Analyzes how willy lowman thought that by taking his own life it would make a hero out of him and he believed that in order to save the family through the insurance money, his aspirations of his sons died along with him.
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- Analyzes how arthur miller's "death of a salesman" is based on an obsession with success. willy lowman is confused and overly obsessed with personal appearance. the american dream is the belief that through hard work, perseverance and ingenuity one may find happiness through wealth.
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- Analyzes the negative effects of willy's regard towards wealth on his children.
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In this essay, the author
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- Analyzes how willy loman married linda and had two sons, biff and happy, who turned into hopeless dreamers. they fought almost every time they saw each other.
- Explains that willy's dream was to be a successful salesman who was remembered and talked about on his funeral day.
- Analyzes how willy's relationship with his son and his wife, linda, was affected by his disrespectful treatment of him. the dream went wrong when he put the pressure on his children to achieve success.
- Analyzes how the american dream drove willy lohman and the loman family crazy and obsessed with a false fantasy.
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- Analyzes how the "american dream" is prevalent throughout the play death of a salesman. willy loman's obsession with achieving success led to his psychological breakdown and suicide.
- Analyzes how willy uses flashbacks to reminisce about happier times in his life, but instead reminds himself of his failures in life.
- Analyzes how willy's affair ruins his relationship with his wife, linda, and his son, biff, thereby tarnishing his beliefs.
- Analyzes how biff reveals that not just willy, but all the family has been lying about their success. he begs his father to give up on his dream.
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In this essay, the author
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- Explains that the american dream is a difficult concept to describe because the dream is usually different for different people.
- Analyzes how life in america in the 1930s is illustrated as devastating and lonely especially after the stock market crash, which created the great depression.
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- Analyzes how the american dream is presented as flawed and unachievable in 'of mice and men'. candy joins in on george and lennie's dream of owning a piece of land, but realises by the end of the novel that his dream will not come true.
- Analyzes how curley's wife dream of becoming an actress was crushed when she decided to marry him. she doesn't get treated how she deserves to be treated by him, and he does this by not even mentioning her with her name.
- Analyzes how curley wasn't treating his wife the way he should have been. he was more concerned with his financial status, rather than worrying about her. the novel was written during the great depression.
- Explains that the novel 'the great gatsby' was written during the roaring twenties, which was also known as the financial boom.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how arthur miller's "the death of a salesman" depicts willy as an angry man who has worked his whole life and has nothing to show for it.
- Analyzes how arthur miller's "death of a salesman" compares and contrasts the way the american dream is defined and the steps one can take to obtain their "dream".
- Analyzes how the american dream is determined on luck or rather "bad luck" and how it relies on the fact that life is not always fair and instead rewards the dead boss’s son for being born into his family
- Illustrates how good luck, as well as bad luck can make or crush your dream. the american dream is supposed to be reliant on how well you are of a worker.
- Analyzes how biff from "the death of a salesman" offers some interesting thoughts to the idea of the american dream.
- Argues that the american dream is the journey and the hunt for something better.
- Analyzes how arthur miller's "death of a salesman" tells the story of the failed american dream.
- Analyzes how james truslow adams first defined the "american dream" by writing that life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, regardless of social status or birth circumstance.
1975 wordsRead More - What is the American Dream? Some believe in the 1950's vision created through television. Successful children, perfect families, and a happy stay-at-home mother are all associated with this version. Yet, everyone knows that the children are not always successful, there are family fights, and not every mother can be at home and happy. Many families have lifelong searches for the ideal American Dreams and never find even one. These types of families are seen as failures. One family in this type of search is represented in Death of a Salesman through Willy, Linda, and their sons.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the american dream is associated with successful children, perfect families, and a happy stay-at-home mother. however, many families have lifelong searches for the ideal american dreams and never find even one.
- Analyzes how willy loman represents the search of the american dream. he believes that the only answer to the success of his family is through his death.
- Analyzes how linda loman is the next character to represent her search for the american dream. she is content in what her family can or cannot accomplish.
- Analyzes how the loman boys represent the failure in the search of the american dream.
- Analyzes how the loman family represents all of the searches for the american dream in each of their own ways. their failure is exemplified by the success of charley and his family.
838 wordsRead More