Death Of A Salesman American Dream Essay

Although Death of a Salesman is not a direct critique of the American dream, Arthur Miller strives to show the damaging effects of the idea on the lives of the society. Throughout his life, Willy Loman has created a distorted image of the American dream, which proved to be the cause for his downfall. The protagonist believed that being well-liked, as opposed to hard work and ambition, is the key to success. The real tragedy is that Loman became so entangled in his dream that he ignored such values as love of the family. He instilled the idea in the minds of his sons and wanted them to follow its impossible standards. Abbotson in her works argued that while the Loman family did live according to Willy’s ideals, such dreams are highly ambivalent, …show more content…
Goyal argued that there are two versions of the American dream: the historical and modern . The historical dream was described by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America, and stated that all people should live richer and better, with equal opportunities to achieve success, while the modern one revolves around the business world. It was clarified that the key to success is hard work and on that basis the dream was built. However, the dream had changed and turned into the something completely different, which was exemplified in the play. Salesmanship gained popularity and it was used as a mean toward the success, neglecting the needs of the individuals and focusing on the profit, which meant selling everything regardless of its usefulness. The society’s high expectations of the American dream and Willy’s fixation of the concept were behind his wrong dream and eventually led to his …show more content…
These two men represent two strikingly different visions of wealth and success. Willy epitomizes the ‘corrupt’ vision of the dream, whilst Charley’s idea is the ideal one . A central theme of the play is how Miller portrays the society’s responses and interpretations of the American dream and the effects of those visions. Like Abbotson said, Miller sees many people’s lives poisoned by their desire to be successful , thus he introduces the characters of Charley and his son as role models and the solutions to the problem. Charley becomes the epitome of a fulfilled life, a person who knows the secrets of achieving wealth and success and has worked hard to gain financial security. His achievements in the business world have profitably influenced his personal life, hence the man embodies the idea that hard work is the key to happiness. On the other hand, Loman’s dream was intertwined with the cult of personality , which was often emphasized in his actions and speeches: it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it – because personality always wins the day . He equaled success with being well-liked and popularity, while forgetting about the most crucial thing: hard work. Charley’s way of living symbolizes everything the main protagonist has always wanted, and therefore the relationship between two neighbors reveals the misconception of Willy’s