Death Of A Salesman

To this day, the “American Dream” is a perception that men and women all over the world hunt for. The search for the American Dream can shrink the other parts of the men and women’s attitude and causes them to be completely unable to separate his wildest hopes from normal realities. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman goes beyond the principles and imaginings of American life today, as well as in 1949. Willy Loman is a dreamer with imaginings of great sizes, which causes him to lose his sense of reality, making it impossible to separate his wildest hopes from normal realities in the present. Loman’s description of the American Dream is that any man who is masculine, good looking, charming, and admired deserves success and will naturally accomplish
it. We find that there are many minor characters who accomplish the American Dream. Death of a Salesman reveals that the American Dream, while a controlling vehicle of ambition, can also turn a man into merchandise or service who’s only worth is his financial value.
The American Dream is defined as “the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American, and a life of personal happiness and material comfort as traditionally sought by individuals in the United States”.
Willy has a flashback, in Act I, of when he explains to his sons how to be successful in achieving the American Dream, according to his beliefs, “Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer. Willy Loman is here! That’s all they have to know, and I go right through”. Miller exemplifies the reasons why Willy’s visualization of the American Dream fails, showing that individual relations and thoughts you have with others cannot and will not promise you financial success. Willy believes he has reached the peak of the American Dream, since he is well liked and takes an interest in his business. Willy doesn’t realize that he is often ridiculed behind his back by the other salesmen, and often rejected by his customers, and suddenly, his world starts to fall under his
feet.
Willy’s equation of success with individual relations seems to fail him; as people do not “take” to him. It seems that Miller purposely has Willy’s customers dislike him to show the increasing machine-based growth of American society. Willy’s world is a world where professional relations have broken down and allowed physical things to overcome those relations. Willy mentions his successful neighbor Charley is “a man of few words, and they respect him”, showing that financial success is conditional to one’s control of civilization.
Willy has lived a life of abandonment and betrayal.
As a child, Willy’s father left, leaving Willy and his older brother, Ben, behind. Willy is left alone from the beginning of his life, with nothing of financial value. Ben travels to Alaska, leaving Willy alone. This causes Willy to lose himself in his inaccurate view of the American Dream. Willy develops a fear of abandonment, causing him and his family to adapt to his view of the American Dream. When Willy’s eldest son, Biff, leaves home, Willy starts to believe his has been betrayed by Biff. Willy was a supportive father to Biff, and supported his hopes and dreams to become a football star. Biff’s extended absence and unplanned return seems to destroy Willy’s American Dream. When Biff returns home, he continuously says he is trying to “find himself”. Willy believes that Biff may be heading towards success, but his hope is destroyed when Biff, along with his younger brother Happy, once again abandon Willy. Willy is not the only one who is left abandoned and betrayed. Willy’s wife Linda is also left alone while Willy is out chasing the American Dream. While Willy travels throughout the United States, Linda is left raising their sons alone. The boys then grow up and move out, and this leaves Linda alone in her own home. Throughout the play, Willy often mentions that life on the road is lonely. Willy lightens this loneliness by having an affair with a young woman. At some point during this affair, Willy and the young woman
are meeting in Boston, and Biff surprises his father with a visit, only to gather that Willy is a fake. Biff becomes ashamed of his father, and his father is no longer his idol. Biff then leaves home and drifts from one job to the next, slowly rebelling against anyone with power. Biff is showing that living in the American Dream can have its consequences.