Willy's American Dream

A Dream or No Dream In Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman he tells the story of a father, Willy, and his two sons, Biff and Happy. He conveys the story of their different American Dreams, although Willy and Biff have contradicting dreams for Biff. The play has many quotes that show their struggle of fighting for their American dreams to come true. Willy is less Willing than Biff to understand that his dream may not come true. This play, unlike the other books we have read, is about people who have American Dreams that do not happen for them, or the dreams people have for others that do not happen as well.
The quote, ¨I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you.¨ (Miller, 105) is saying that Biff and his father and himself are not the men who reach the American dream with success; they are instead average men who work hard but in the end get little recognition. Throughout the play they work to achieve goals but sometimes do not have the success they would like. Willy tries to be a leader and a role model, like the men who do reach the American dream, but he never is able to really achieve this goal.
There are numerous examples throughout this play, another is ¨I’m just what I am, that’s all.” (Miller, 106). Biff is saying this to say that he is not like the diamond in the rough, he is not the one in a million, he is just what
he is. He does not want to stand out anymore, he is just fine with how he is. He has worked hard to try and achieve with his father pushing him. This is Biff trying to discover who he is. His father tried to get his sons to both be salesmen but Biff was not interested in it. To say the least, Biff was his own, he did not want to be like other people.
Throughout the play we hear about how Biff is unsure of his future, he is not sure what he wants to happen with his life. “I don't know what the future is ... what I'm supposed to want.” (Miller, 10). It is like he is at a brick wall and cannot get any farther. In the play Biff’s father's dreams for Biff are different than his. Willy wants his son to be a well known rich football player or a business man, Biff on the other man has other ideas for himself. Instead of pursuing what his father wants for him he wants to move out west.
In the beginning of the book Willy is talking to Linda outside, he is saying different metaphors one of which is about the grass not growing and not being able to grow.
“The grass don't grow any more, you can't raise a carrot in the back yard. “ (Miller, 6). The grass and carrots represent Willy and Biff’s American Dream. At another point in the book Willy says “I've got to get some seeds, right away. Nothing's planted. I don't have a thing in the ground.” (Miller, 96). This is saying that Willy is planting his dream because he has nothing that has been planted for him, his dream never grew to what he wanted it to
be.
Willy is trapped throughout the book, he is trapped in his American Dream. His dream that he has had for himself and his son is trapped in a box, he cannot escape the reality of it not becoming what he had wished. “The way they boxed us in here. Bricks and windows, windows and bricks.” (Miller, 6). Another way of putting it is that he is stuck in a dark room full of something good. “The jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy.” (Miller, 107). He cannot escape his dream, he cannot escape that he cannot get out of the darkness for both himself and his son. Again, he is not a diamond in the rough.
In the end, they have no dream achieved, Willy dies without his being completed and Biff does not live up to the dream his father had in mind. Many novels we have read express the idea of having an American dream, but this play does not. It shows us that you do not need to have an American dream, your dream can change. In the case of this book, the American dream is just a dream they are hoping to come true, but in the end it does not. This play helps us to see the reality of life, the reality that not everything is going to go as you wish.