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Death of a Salesman and the American Dream Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman is a masterpiece of writing and understanding the human mind and deals with a lot of problems in American society. He creates characters so vivid and real that it makes many people see the reflection of themselves either in Willy Loman or his wife Linda, or either of their sons Biff or Hap. In his play, Miller expresses his doubts about the idea of the American Dream, even though it only implies that any one can achieve great success provided he puts enough effort, work and dedication to his aim. Any person can start from a scratch and grow to prosperity using only his intellectual ability, hard work and devotion. Innocent as it sounds, however, it has another side to it and Miller shows how this concept, ingrained so deeply in minds of American people, can also lead to self-delusion, illusions and finally destruction of a personality.
Main character of the play, traveling salesman Willy is a dreamer who finds himself completely under the spell of the drive for success that is dominant in America. His is the story of a common man, who is completely taken over by the promise of possible happiness and is unable to see faults or realistically approach the idea, so eventually he ends up with his old house, old car, unable even to pay for fridge repair but what is most tragic, his spirit is also broken and defeated. He is working hard his whole life as a salesman and truly believes that all one needs to achieve success is to be well liked. Not only does he hold this opinion but he instills these hollow values in the minds of his two sons also. As a consequence, his sons, grown up men now, do not seem to gain much in their lives and that also leaves Willy bewildered, he cannot see what he ever did wrong.
All he wants in his life is financial happiness; this seems to occupy his personality so completely that he forgets about other really meaningful things morality, family values, virtue. The American Dream had a profound influence on Willy, and the society can be blamed for holding such beliefs and the business machine can be called cruel and inhuman and indifferent but what is really dramatic about the story is that till the very end Willy Loman can not bring himself to reconcile with his broken hopes, he still cant realize that his expectations for his life and the life he eventually gets are two different islands that cannot be brought together. Unable to face his failure, he retreats into imaginary world and seeks support of a real embodiment of the American Dream, as he thinks, his brother Ben. And even in his illusions he continues to deceive himself with wrongful image of Ben working very hard to get his money, while what really happens is that his brother gets his wealth quite easily and it is a matter of luck rather than of labor, training, perseverance or dedication. Willy Loman, having spent all his life in vain pursuit of the American dream, manages to bring it even into his death.
He chooses death consciously so that his family can get insurance money. Still, even at that point, money, wealth, financial prosperity seem to be the only things on his mind. He is so lost in his dream that he doesnt even want to try to understand why Biff is treating him without any respect or why Hap is leading such a useless life. In the article Arthur Miller and the Art of the Possible Steven Centola writes: Willy dies, but death does not defeat Willy Loman; as the Requiem demonstrates, Willy will continue to live on in the memories and lives of others. (Centola, 2005).
This is true as while Biff finally comes to realize the futility of living in a dream, Hap still believes in his fathers values, he says: Willy Loman did not die in vain He had a good dream, the only dream a man can have to come out number one man. He fought it out here, and this where Im gonna win it for him. (Miller, 1998) Thus he is destined to lead a useless life, trying for things that will never come true and being unable to face reality and change his approach to life, just like his father. In spite of the overall impression that Miller absolutely condemns American system with its set of values and dreams, this opinion can be doubted. Although the author does show the tragedy of a common man lost in a dream imposed by the society, he doesnt exactly express only the negative side of it.
After all, there is Charles and his son Bernard, who achieve success through hard work. Miller rather shows the contrast between failure and success in business world, between being a dreamer and a realist, living in the world of imagination or taking charge of ones life in a decisive and down-to-earth way. In the final run, it all depends on the personality indeed, there is a lot of room for failure as well as great success in America. The system is not the one to blame.
Willy can only blame himself for not becoming what he wanted to be. (Garrison) Death of a Salesman can be considered, perhaps, the greatest play written by Arthur Miller. It deals with problems that plaque the American society, and produced a great amount of critical literature as well as academic discussion about the effectiveness of the widely-spread message of the American Dream. But no matter whether it is thought of as a drama of the common person or a social tragedy induced by American business structure and ways of functioning or capitalism, Death of a Salesman remains a fascinating drama that ensures a moving and long-lasting impression on the reader. (Centola, 2005) Reference list: Centola S. Arthur Miller and the Art of the Possible, 2005 web Garrison C. The System and the American Dream. Death of a Salesman web Miller A.
Death of a Salesman (Penguin Plays), 1998
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Research essay sample on Death Of A Salesman And The American Dream
