Death Of A Salesman Willy's Dream Analysis

In the Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, the main characters are constantly being impacted by Willy’s dream. The main aspect of this is seen in Willy; in his family, his job, and his life. When Willy talks to his wife, he is constantly harassing her and critiquing her. Willy’s dream is seen affecting his job when he reminisces about Dave Singleman, the salesman, and his view of success. Finally, the “Loman Dream” can be seen affecting Willy when he imagines Ben and his constant conversations with him throughout the book. Starting in Act One, Willy is seen talking to Happy and Biff about their career opportunity with Oliver. Throughout this conversation, Linda is constantly chipping in with optimistic comments. “Willy: Lick the world! You guys together could absolutely lick the civilized world. Biff: I’ll see Oliver tomorrow. Hap, if we could work that out… Linda: Maybe things are

Earlier in Willy’s life, when he was deciding whether or not to go try and find his father in Alaska, he met a man named Dave Singleman, and he set the picture of the perfect working man in Willy’s mind. “... I met a salesman in the Parker House. His name was Dave Singleman. And he was eighty-four years old, and he’d drummed up merchandise in thirty-one states. And old Dave, he’d go up to his room, y’understand, put on his green velvet slippers-I’ll never forget-and pick up his phone and call the buyers, and made his living. And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want.” (pg. 81). This view of the “greatest career a man could want” was the defining ideal of Willy’s life. He wanted to be so much like this man that he will “never forget”. In the end of WIlly’s life, he wasn’t exactly like that man, but he thought that if he could go with the amount of money that Dave had, and “that funeral will be massive! THey’ll come from Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire!” (pg.