What Is The Relationship Between Death Of A Salesman And The American Dream

The American Dream is unsurprisingly one of the most prevalent themes throughout American literature. From Huckleberry Finn (Twain) to Death of a Salesman (Miller), the idea is prevalent in most of the American classics. In Huckleberry Finn, the dream represents the ability to be free on the river away from the rules and racism of society, while in Death of a Salesman it represents a workingman's failure to achieve his goals. Both have opposing narratives regarding the dream, based upon the times in which they were written. This is a common occurrence in American literature as the dream evolves as time goes on and society changes. The American Dream of the early immigrants and settlers would have been one of freedom and space (Carpenter 5),
of new beginnings, while in 1950's America, it would have been to attain the middle-class lifestyle, of materialism (Long 1). The same path the dream follows in Huckleberry' and Death', respectively.

The ideals of the new world and the old world, have a heavy influence on the interpretation of the Dream in many works of writing.
As William Carlos Williams wrote in The American Grain "The problem of the New World was, as every new comer soon found out, an awkward one, on all sides the same: how to replace from the wild land, that which, at home they had scarcely known the Old World meant to them". This is a common theme in pioneer era literature. About how new settlers were going to mould this new world in their image due to it being “unspoiled, primitive, youthful” (Kroes 38) upon their arrival. This relationship between the old worlds and the new, play important roles in both Rip Van Winkle (Irving) and O Pioneers! (Cathers). In Rip Van Winkle, there is a heavy German folklore influence from the author Irving who himself had travelled to Europe. This is manifested in Rips Dutch community "having been founded by some of the Dutch colonists" (5) and with that the traditions and legacy of the old country "reminded Rip of the figures in an old Flemish painting"
(21).

In O Pioneers! the same can be said but from a Swedish perspective. The juxtaposition of the old and new worlds is prevalent in both stories. And they both mould how the American Dream is seen by their characters. As Jackson Turner wrote

American frontier is sharply distinguished from the European frontier – a fortified boundary line running through dense populations. The most significant thing about the American frontier is, that it lies at the hither edge of free land. […] The frontier is the line of most rapid and effective Americanization. The wilderness masters the colonist. It finds him a European in dress, industries, tools, modes of travel, and thought. It takes him from the railroad car and puts him in the birch canoe. It strips off the garments of civilisation and arrays him in the hunting shirt and the moccasin. […] In short at the frontier the environment is at first too strong for the man. He must accept the conditions which it furnishes, or perish, and so he fits himself into the Indian clearings […] Little by little he transforms the wilderness, but the outcome is not old Europe […]. The fact is that here is a new product that is American. At first, the frontier was the Atlantic coast. It was the frontier of Europe in a very real sense. Moving westward, the frontier became more and more American. As successive terminal moraines result from successive glaciations, so each frontier leaves its traces behind it, and when it becomes a settled area the region still partakes of the frontier characteristics. Thus the advance of the frontier has meant a steady movement away from the influence of Europe, a steady growth of independence on American lines. (199-227)

This idea of the Americanization of the characters growing as time goes on, is shared in Rip's story. Rip literally falls asleep "his senses were overpowered, his eyes swam in his head, his head gradually declined, and he fell into a deep sleep" (Irving 24), and wakes up in the United States "with something on the top that looked like a red nightcap, and from it was fluttering a flag, on which was a singular assemblage of stars and stripes—all this was strange and incomprehensible." (33) He had a literal American Dream. This plays into the notion that the new world can offer a fresh start, free of its European baggage, just as Turner wrote. Rips fantasy of escape through his imagination, of metaphors of his wife being England and him being the pestered colonies, came true. The American Dream personified - freedom and opportunity for all, even the lazy ones.

Rips version of the American dream is rooted much more in the idea of personal freedom and individual liberty.
The fact he has slept through the revolution is of little concern to him "the changes of states and empires made but little impression on him; but there was one species of despotism under which he had long groaned, and that was—petticoat government; happily, that was at an end; he had got his neck out of the yoke of matrimony, and could go in and out whenever he pleased, without dreading the tyranny of Dame Van Winkle" (61). This should make him the anti-thesis of the American Dream, as he is much more connected to his European heritage than the new Union and shows little enthusiasm to chase anything. But ultimately, his dream is the same dream but in a different form to the founding fathers. Rip wanted free of his wife and the stresses of life, possible allegories for Europe, the British and the Revolutionary War maybe, so he could be free to do as he pleased and simply live his life. That is the core of what many believe the American Dream to be. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness after all (Jefferson and Fink). This is the American dream, inspired by the old World, in the new World, on a personal scale. His freedom comes not from the revolution, but from the freedom he has to be himself at home "Having nothing to do at home, and being arrived at that happy age when a man can do nothing with impunity" (Irving
61).

Rip is also an emblem of the melting pot of people becoming one. When he returns from the mountain he is saddened to see that the Dutch Inn and the markers of their old world heritage such as King George pictures are gone, replaced by standardized union iconography, "all this was strange and incomprehensible" (33). Rip seemingly struggles with this, perhaps struggling to shed his former self to become an American, "He even ventured, when no eye was fixed upon him, to taste the beverage, which he found had much of the flavor of excellent Hollands" (24).

The influence of the old and new world is more prominent in O Pioneers. Mr and Mrs Bergson, for example, find it difficult to adjust to the new world from their life in Scandinavia "She had never quite forgiven John Bergson for bringing her to the end of the earth" (Cathers 21), and Mr Bergson's death is a prime example of the new world being ruthless if you aren't prepared to adapt "In eleven long years John Bergson had made little impression upon the wild land he had come to tame"(16). This plays into the idea that the American Dream requires dedication and hard work to succeed. The opposite of what Rip did, but exactly what characters like Alexandra do when they accept the idea of hard work and perseverance to achieve their goals "Alexandra did not find time to go down to her Neighbour's the next day, nor the next day. It was a busy season on the farm"(65)

This is epitomized by what the characters call The Divide. It's never really explained why it has been titled as such, but it invokes the idea that the land they live on is away from others. Harsher. The story is how they overcome this. These pioneers are able to turn it from a wasteland into working fields that sustain them. This is a metaphor for the transformation of the U.S itself, as well as the supposed journey the dream can take the believer on. This is because the divide is a metaphor for the journey between worlds. Both physical and mentally. The land is given semi-human like features; to want to "be left alone, to preserve its own fierce strength" (14), and far more important than the people who live there. This is playing along with the ideals of the new country itself. The idea that all men are equal, and America offers a fresh start, the country is the special place, not the people. The reason it is called the land of opportunity.

In conclusion the relationship between the old and new worlds in both Pioneers and Van Winkle is one of struggle. Both stories contain characters who struggle to relieve themselves of their former selves, their former heritage in favour of their new home. But both stories represent the gradual acceptance and realisation that the new world provides a better life. Be it through luck and magic in Rip, or through hard work and perseverance in Pioneers, the American Dream is realised in both stories one way or the other, when the characters learn to adapt.