Drowning In The American Dream

Drowning in The Dream

What is the American Dream? It is an amazing idea with tons of inspiration.It is a thought that in America anyone can become anything they want to be. The thought comes from “all men are created equal”, and "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."Both of which are written in The Declaration of Independence. This is what the Willy Loman believes, in the book Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. The main character, Willy Loman, is a positive thinking, smart, and inspiring old man. All Willy wants is to live the American Dream like everyone else.
Willy once aspired to live the American Dream, but realized that he could not in his old age. He then
decided to try to live his life through his sons, and tried to sell them into the American Dream.
Willy’s sons, Biff and Happy, always looked up to him when they were in high school. Willy’s attempt to get his sons to buy into the American Dream was not an immediate success. Biff would do anything for his father, and in his eyes Willy could never do anything wrong. Willy was a saint to him. Happy would also do anything for Willy. Happy really just wanted his father to pay attention to him, so he would say Biff was a star football player for his high school, and had several colleges looking at him. He had everything in line to become successful, and all he had to do was pass all of his classes during school. He was his father’s prized possession. Biff was not the smartest kid, nor did he really ever care about school. Biff and Happy’s cousin, Bernard, is a very intelligent person, and he lets Biff copy off of him for tests so that Biff could pass his
classes. Before the final exam, Biff was supposed to study with Bernard but blew him off and did not study.Bernard agreed to let Biff copy off of his final exam even though it is illegal. Biff ends up failing the exam even with copying Bernard’s test. He decided to go out to Boston and talk to Willy about failing math. Biff believed that Willy could talk his teacher into passing him. When Biff gets to Boston he realizes Willy has been cheating on his mother. This devastates Biff to the point where he will not even go to summer school and pass, and he will not go to college. This is where Willy Loman screws up in trying to make his son successful. Biff no longer can stand the sight of his father, and gives up on trying to pursue his football career and ultimately the American Dream.
Willy Loman and Biff never tell anyone about it though. Biff went from almost being a star football player, to becoming a no one and someone who becomes a hands-on labor person. Which, ironically is the exact opposite of what the American Dream is supposed to be. The American Dream is supposed to be something you work hard to achieve, but once you make it to the top then you can just coast off of other people’s work and your wealth. Had Biff just kept headstrong he would have probably made it into professional football, but instead he decided to give up on his dreams and become a ranch worker. Willy Loman on the other hand acts as if nothing ever happened in Boston, but acting as if nothing ever happened just makes things worse later on. He ends up losing his mind, and talking to his brother, Ben, who in Willy’s mind ended up living the American Dream. Willy aspired to be Ben, and to be every bit as fortunate as him. However, since losing his mind and his favorite son, Biff, giving up on him Willy has become somewhat of a nut-case. He has begun debating suicide, and has gotten fired from his job. He would not commit suicide at this point in his life. However, Biff and Happy decide to meet Willy at a diner, but then Biff got mad and left and happy left with two girls. This put Willy Loman over the edge. He realized that he had nothing
left in this world to live for. Willy didn’t even have any legacy left behind, no money to leave for his children and wife, and most of all nothing good that his kids would ever remember him by. Willy Loman ends up killing himself. The only thing left behind is the garden he planted before he died. No American Dream, or vast amounts of wealth, just a plain, simple garden.
The American Dream. What is the American Dream? It is a hoax. It is the most deceiving thought anyone will ever have. You can’t have anything you ever wanted. Not everyone was created equally. Some people are just destined to achieve little or nothing from the beginning. Too many people have attempted to live the American Dream, but all too soon realized they lived the American Nightmare.

Works Cited
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York: Penguin Books, 1986. "Who Lives The American Dream?" CBSNews. CBS Interactive, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.