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Death Of A Salesman And The American Dream Essay

690 Words3 Pages

Across many of these plays, characters seem to have a tenuous relationship with truth. Who is delusional in your play? What are they deluding themselves about? Why are they choosing delusions over reality? What common themes can you detect? How is the decision to delude oneself related to attaining or failing to attain the American Dream? In the play Willy is the most delusional character, he has a fractured sense of reality and self-image. When he is in his false reality Willy confuses himself about the amount of money that he has, and how capable he is to provide for his family. When Willy talks to his wife about the money he is making he pretends that he has made a lot of money in his life, his family is always living above their means. In the first act Willy is talking …show more content…

Willy lies to Linda constantly, he is not making any money at all and has to borrow from others just to try and stay afloat. He pretends that the amount he brought home that week was not nearly the amount he is used to, when in reality he makes no money at all. This illusion of being able to provide for his family stems from his dilution that he can still work and sell merchandise. To Willy he is still a valuable salesman to Howard, but his mental state has since prevented him from being able to sell merchandise. His mental instability causes Willy to not be able to close any deals, meaning he is unable attain the American Dream. Through the play this is all Willy can focus on, so when Willy notices the toll the travel has taken on his health he attempts to reason with Howard for a better job in hopes he can salvage his dream. However, because of his mental state he is unable to convince Howard of anything and leads to him being fired. After many ramblings and attempts to get a salary from Howard “Howard, are you firing me… Howard, you’ve got to let me go to Boston!” (Miller 83-84). Willy is delusional and is

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