The American Dream in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

"LitCharts | Death of a Salesman: Act 1 Summary, Analysis & Themes." LitCharts | Death of a Salesman: Act 1 Summary, Analysis & Themes. LitCharts, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is about a traveling salesman named Willy Loman who has hit a rough patch in his life. Willy seems to have a normal family, with a wife and two boys. His sons, Happy and Biff, while different, represent Willy in many ways. Willy always strived to be successful and struggled for acceptance, which also represents his sons personalities and outlooks. As Pamela Loos says, “Willy Loman fails to understand himself and esteems a career path that goes against who he truly is,” this keeps him from ever being happy with himself.

This when he began to sell himself to people so he would be loved and admired by people after his day has come. This ideology that Willy had messed with his family. For starter, his wife Linda thinks of her husband as a great salesman and husband. She has no idea that it is just a character that Willy has been playing for all those years. This ideology puts a gap between him and his son Biff that never gets fully put back together.

Through his death, Willy thinks he can achieve success and fulfill his dream. Arthur Miller provides us with a character who is both pathetic and tragic. Willy Loman spent his life chasing a false dream. His failure to live the "true" American Dream was what brought about his own downfall. ** Short Essay Two In Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman’s warped view of the American Dream caused tragedy in his family because he stressed the importance of popularity over hard work and risk-taking over perserverence.

His distorted perceptions of the American Dream ultimately ruined his life and the lives of his family. Sadly, Willy definitely failed as a father. He obviously favored his eldest son Biff over his youngest son Happy, and this constant neglect drove Happy to become more like his older brother as an adult in order to win his father’s approval. We can see this through his philandering behavior, something Biff was known for in high school, the golden years. Biff, on the other hand, had it worse because his father sold him lies about his importance in the business industry, which forced Biff to admire Willy and strive to be like him one day.

Empathy, Hubris , and Willy Loman’s tragic flow all lead him to his death that distend for him the beginning. He is unable to face reality and realize that he’s not successful in life or at his job; he remains living in a world where he thinks he’s greater than everybody else because he’s a sales man. He desires recognition in the play and when he’s conversing with Howard and talks about his admiration toward Dave Singleman, he states “And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?.” (SparkNotes) He thought a salesman could get him the greatest job in the world because Dave Singleman ... ... middle of paper ... ...ke mistakes. He gained the most important thing , his family’s respect.

Willy Loman is a failing salesman recently demoted to commission and unable to pay his bills. He is married to a woman by the name of Linda and has two sons, Biff and Happy. Throughout this play Willy is plagued incessantly with his and his son’s inability to succeed in life. Willy believes that any “well-liked” and “personally attractive man” should be able to rise to the top of the business world. However, despite his strong attempts at raising perfect sons and being the perfect salesman, his attempts were futile.

Likewise, “The Death of the Salesman” challenges Willy’s perception of the American Dream. Throughout the play the dialogue and actions of the Willy character illustrate desperate pursuit of the American Dream. "Death of a Salesman" is a play about a husband and a father by the name Willy Lowman. Willy has spent his entire life as a relentless salesman but has not been successful as he perceives. Throughout this play Willy believes that in order to be successful, it doesn’t just take hard work, but it takes a likeable personality, the ability to be popular and well known.

In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller describes Willy Loman as a tragic character who failed to succeed his dreams. Willy never becomes a part of the American Dream, because he is always following other people’s dreams but never his own. He chooses to become a salesman only because he is truly inspired by Ben and Dave Singleman’s successes. Willy Loman, a rather hard working man, might succeed his own American Dream in another career that he is capable of. The fantastic illusions that he himself creates due to the inspiration of others’ successes eventually lead to his failure as well as his sons’.

2012. . Moseley, Merritt. “Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.” The American Dream. Ed, Blake Hobby. New York: Info Rose Publishing, 2009, 47-55