Death Of A Salesman Reality Analysis

At a glance, the American Dream can seem attainable to any and all that try. This façade of success deceives people into believing that they can accomplish more than their circumstances truly allow. The deception society has on people can inhibit their perception of reality in the same way it did to Willy Loman. Willy’s inability to recognize the actual reality of his situation is first seen during the scene where Ben is introduced. In this scene, Ben tells of their father’s success as a salesman and his own rapid success with diamonds in Africa. As a result of this “interaction”, Willy believes that either he or his sons will have a similar kind of success. The confused man does not take into account that Ben happened to be extremely lucky
in discovering the diamonds in Africa. He took a chance and it thankfully paid off for him. Due to a lack of risk taking and initiative, Willy and his sons will most likely not be as successful. Willy is unable to realize this fact and continues to believe that his American Dream can come true. Under the guise of dreams, Willy Loman supposes that he is well-liked by everyone he meets. Whether he is out selling or at home with his family, Willy refuses to see that he is not an incredibly well-liked person. The detriment of this illusion is shown in the scene where Willy asks Howard for a job in New York. Instead of the immediate positive response Willy expected to receive, he is essentially fired and left without an income. Howard’s reply derived from years of Willy not contributing to the Wagner Company. This lack in contributions led Willy to become disposable to Howard, who did what he thought was financially right. Will’s newfound unemployment proves that he is not as well-liked or successful as he assumes. The scene where Biff interrupts Willy and the Woman in the hotel room shows another point of illusion for Willy.
After this event occurs, Biff throws away everything he ever worked for in order to “punish” his father. He allows himself to fail math, to not go to college, and to abandon his family. Biff then goes to the South, where he works as a farmhand and eventually winds up in jail. He does all of this after realizing that all of the values his father had instilled in him were not even being lived out by his father. Everything Biff thought he knew appears to be a lie to him. In Willy’s mind, these values were true and he was simply showing his sons that they were both more than capable of being successful. By squandering his entire future, Biff shows that he is not capable and does not care enough to be a success. These three scenes from Death of a Salesman demonstrate Willy’s inability to face the reality that he is not successful like his brother, well-liked like his father, and able to make his sons successful. If Willy achieved any of the prior, he could have lived his American Dream. Many people are unable to attain their own American Dream due to greed, materialism, and carelessness in the world. Willy, being one of the victims of this world, was unable to rise above the circumstances he was given as
well.