Death Of A Salesman And The American Dream

Death of a Salesman Editorial The book, Death of a Salesman, is about a man named Willy Loman who only wants to have the “American Dream”. Willy’s life starts to fall apart and his dream vanishes. With all of his failure, Willy decides that his family would be better of if he were dead. I think that Willy was experiencing some depression and only wanted the best for his family. Willy Loman’s “American Dream” was to be a successful salesman in New England, have a house of his own, and raise a family. As Willy got older his “American Dream” began to vanish. Willy’s sales dropped, and he got fired from his job. Willy felt worthless and he also felt he was letting his family down. Willy and his wife, Linda, had two sons. Willy wanted
to make a better future for them, and he wanted them to be more successful than he was. Willy’s sons were both lazy, and were not able to get jobs. I believe that Willy’s “American Dream” vanished because he gave up. I feel Willy believed he was worthless and useless, so he just gave up on everything that was important to him. Because of the vanishing of Willy’s “American Dream”, he thought his life was not worth living. I believe that Willy thought he was more useful to his family dead than alive. Willy always wanted the best for his sons, Biff and Happy. Biff was very unsuccessful and lazy, but Willy had no job and no money to help Biff any longer. Willy committed suicide because he wanted to give Biff the insurance money to do something with his life. Instead of Biff, Happy uses the insurance money to become a successful salesman. So, by killing himself, Willy finally managed to accomplish what he had hoped for. With giving up and feeling like he couldn’t do anything, Willy Loman became a depressed man. I feel that Willy was raised with the belief that a man must provided for his family. When he couldn’t accomplish that, he gave up on his dream. Willy figured he was more help to his children dead than alive.