Death Of A Salesman American Dream

It is the force that propelled the Europeans across the Atlantic Ocean to settle into the first American colonies, the Westward push that sent thousands of Americans to new territory atop cart and buggy in search of riches, the allure that drew people from farms into the city and sparked the industrial revolution: The American Dream. The term embodies the right of each and every American to freedom and to the opportunity for prosperity and success. The Death of a Salesman details the story of Willy Loman, an aging businessman dissatisfied with the realities of his life because they did not measure up to his expectations of wealth and accomplishment. His son Biff didn’t become an athletic superstar or follow in his footsteps and become a businessman.
Biff is the embodiment of masculinity in America. He is a charming young man with significant athletic ability. Willy dreams of seeing him play professional baseball after high school. However, after Biff fails Math, he is unable to graduate and never completes his education. Eventually, Biff moves to the Midwest and becomes a ranch-hand who tends to cattle and steer. Although he seems to enjoy his work, his father is disappointed in his son’s career choice and lifestyle. However, Willy maintains his unwavering belief in “the greatest country in the world.” He is unable to understand how his son, “a young man with such – personal attractiveness gets lost,” especially since he’s “such a hard worker.” These statements reflect Willy’s belief the notion that anyone who works hard in America will be successful. He even takes it a step further and implies that Biff has not only the ability, but the right to succeed. Such ideas reflect Willy Loman’s steadfast faith in the American dream, even as his own life does not reap the benefits of its promised spoils.
Biff Loman is a man caught between gaining the approval of his father and doing a job he truly enjoys. He does not understand why his hard work has not paid off, he doesn’t understand why he is still unhappy. Born in a different generation than his father, he struggles with his own shortcomings in the
He never fulfils his God-given right to the American dream, and this fact crushes his spirit, dissolves his desire to live. His neighbor and friend Charley, Bernard’s father offers insight into Willy Loman by saying:
Nobody dast blame this man. You don’t understand: Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there’s no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. And then you get yourself a couple spots on your hat and your finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream boy, it comes with the territory.
By saying this, Charley effectively mirrors the struggles of Willy with the common struggle of every salesman, and more broadly, to every dreamer. Willy begins to represent the spiritof everyone whose dreams have failed them, everyone who has been the product of the false hopes the promise of the American dream