Death of a Salesman

The American dream is what most Americans desire. When thought of, the American dream consists of a owning a house, having money, and having a family.   Arthur Miller portrays the American Dream in his play the Death of a Salesman. The play follows Willy Loman who is becoming a senile salesman. Willy’s whole career was around establishing a stereotype of a dream. While Willy’s dream seems to contrast with the rest of the characters, through Willy’s flashbacks and conversations, we begin to see that Willy’s dream is similar to the other characters.
          Willy Loman’s depiction of the American dream was that financial success will be in the beholder of personal relationships. Throughout the play, Willy strived to be “well-liked” and tried to teach his sons that “the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (950). Willy believed that to be successful, a man had to be in the business world. This was proved during his conversations with Biff that condemned him of being a farmer. Another part of Willy’s American dream is the materialistic possessions. In the Loman household, things are often broken such as the stockings and the broken refrigerator. Willy becomes embarrassed by fixing things (even though he was always good with his hands) because he thought people were judging him on how much he fixed an item. Willy knows his dream failed when he walked into Howard’s office and tried to use his personality to get a job without traveling. Instead of getting the job, he gets fired.
          While Willy hopes his dream is taken over by his children, Biff has an opposing American Dream. Biff wishes to be in the West doing labor. Biff retaliates to the natural materialism that is building American successors. He believes that hard labor and a basic life will bring him happiness rather than selling. Biff wants people to see his personality rather than his success by saying that he saw “the...