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His job as a salesman is the quintessential 20th Century American Dream job. He swings like a pendulum between the two versions of the dream and often finds himself in a very unclear middle ground. Miller himself observed in a notebook entry "Life is formless
its interconnections are formed by lapses of time, by events occurring in separated places, by the hiatus of memory" (Miller, 130).
Willy's belief in the success promised by his somewhat confused version of the American Dream is not limited to himself he wants it for his sons and believes in them. One instance of this is the excitable discussion of the sale of the sports goods idea, when he says with enthusiasm, "I see great things for you kids" (Miller, 861). There is again irony in this situation, as Willy, who was their biggest champion was also by the commission of his infidelity, one of the biggest causes of their failure. The infidelity also leads to his own failure as the collapse of his family life is caused by his association with another woman and Biff's becoming aware of the situation. In essence, this heralded the collapse of Willy and Biff's respective American Dreams. Willy's separation between the two versions of the American Dream can be seen when he confronts his boss. Willy's current boss is the son of his old boss who Willy believes has made certain assurances to him. When Willy attempts to change his position in the company based on these assurances, he is fired. As the changing of the guard within the company represents the transition of the American Dream from 19th Century to 20th Century, we can see that this 20th Century version of the dream has let Willy down (NovelGuide) Willy appears complex and the meeting of the two dreams in him can be seen by others as strange. We get the clearest insight into his character during a speech by Charley in the Requiem: "Nobody dast blame this man. You don't understand: Willy was a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life he's a man way out there in the blue riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back that's an earthquake. And then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you're finished " (Miller, 903) Willy is no schizophrenic, but a man, blindly aware of some insufficiency, who searches for a key an actor in a play whose text he can neither clearly see nor completely understand (Miller, 133). If there is one thing that Willy holds true to, it's his belief in the American Dream. …show more content…
Some scholars assert that even his final act of suicide, by which his life insurance will support his family and help Biff get a new start was done to assure the future success of his family and by extension, of his own name (Ousby).
This paper showed by the citation of a number of examples and discussion on both the flaws and the highlighting points of the American Dream that it was represented in three different ways by three separate characters, Happy, Biff and Willy and that Willy Loman was torn between the two. Works Cited
1. Miller, Arthur. "Death of a Salesman." Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Aron Keesbury. Fifth Edition. Canada: Wadsworth Publishers, 2004. 829-904.
2. Miller, Arthur. "The Portable Arthur Miller" Massachusetts, London, 1971.
3. NovelGuide. 05/07/2006.
4. Ousby, Ian, "The Cambridge Paperback Guide to Literature in English" Cambridge, New York, Melbourne. 1996.
Willy's belief in the success promised by his somewhat confused version of the American Dream is not limited to himself he wants it for his sons and believes in them. One instance of this is the excitable discussion of the sale of the sports goods idea, when he says with enthusiasm, "I see great things for you kids" (Miller, 861). There is again irony in this situation, as Willy, who was their biggest champion was also by the commission of his infidelity, one of the biggest causes of their failure. The infidelity also leads to his own failure as the collapse of his family life is caused by his association with another woman and Biff's becoming aware of the situation. In essence, this heralded the collapse of Willy and Biff's respective American Dreams. Willy's separation between the two versions of the American Dream can be seen when he confronts his boss. Willy's current boss is the son of his old boss who Willy believes has made certain assurances to him. When Willy attempts to change his position in the company based on these assurances, he is fired. As the changing of the guard within the company represents the transition of the American Dream from 19th Century to 20th Century, we can see that this 20th Century version of the dream has let Willy down (NovelGuide) Willy appears complex and the meeting of the two dreams in him can be seen by others as strange. We get the clearest insight into his character during a speech by Charley in the Requiem: "Nobody dast blame this man. You don't understand: Willy was a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life he's a man way out there in the blue riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back that's an earthquake. And then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you're finished " (Miller, 903) Willy is no schizophrenic, but a man, blindly aware of some insufficiency, who searches for a key an actor in a play whose text he can neither clearly see nor completely understand (Miller, 133). If there is one thing that Willy holds true to, it's his belief in the American Dream. …show more content…
Some scholars assert that even his final act of suicide, by which his life insurance will support his family and help Biff get a new start was done to assure the future success of his family and by extension, of his own name (Ousby).
This paper showed by the citation of a number of examples and discussion on both the flaws and the highlighting points of the American Dream that it was represented in three different ways by three separate characters, Happy, Biff and Willy and that Willy Loman was torn between the two. Works Cited
1. Miller, Arthur. "Death of a Salesman." Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Aron Keesbury. Fifth Edition. Canada: Wadsworth Publishers, 2004. 829-904.
2. Miller, Arthur. "The Portable Arthur Miller" Massachusetts, London, 1971.
3. NovelGuide. 05/07/2006.
4. Ousby, Ian, "The Cambridge Paperback Guide to Literature in English" Cambridge, New York, Melbourne. 1996.