ipl-logo

Epitaph For The American Dream In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

1794 Words8 Pages

The play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is known by many Americans as an epitaph for the American dream. It is about the life of Willy Loman, an aging and failing salesman, chasing after his ambitions to become the most popular and successful individual in his field of work. Surprisingly, the story set behind the curtains also mirrors the lives of many modern Americans today. The play, performed in the 1940s, dealt with how people’s expectations for perfection were insubstantial and impractical, and how these expectations bred dissatisfaction and doubt. Unfortunately, this mentality still persists in the current American society. Similar to the skewed ambitions of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, Americans are still in an insatiable pursuit of …show more content…

Ultimately, these aspirations lead to negative repercussions. First of all, the pursuit of perfection can be observed by the actions of a particular individual in Death of a Salesman. The main character of the play, Willy Loman, was a man with misguided life goals. A rather insecure person, Willy placed strong emphasis on his reputation and self-image. He wanted more than anything else to be a popular salesman well-liked by everyone around him – it was the perfect portrayal of himself. However, pursuing this goal came with a price. Since he was highly motivated to becoming a successful salesman, he rarely stayed at home. Instead, he spent most of his time travelling around the country to conduct sales. He became a workaholic, forcing himself to make sacrifices in his family life in order to seek his own ambitions. Therefore, Willy’s perfectionistic ideals led to his demise. Additionally, there has been research conducted to explore the correlation

Show More
Related
690 Words | 3 Pages

However, reality often challenges him, as Willy begins to find that selling becomes less and less successful, but Willy yet believes in his high statue, refusing to take any

Read More
1210 Words | 5 Pages

“The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (33). In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses foil characters to elucidate Willy’s flaws that ultimately prevent him and his family from succeeding. The contrast between Charley and Willy and Bernard and Biff serves to highlight how Willy’s obsession with achieving his version of the American Dream impacts both his life and his children’s. His poor values are passed on to his children producing even more failures. ¬¬¬¬Both Charley and Willy work as salesmen, however Charley represents what Willy desired to become – successful.

Read More
950 Words | 4 Pages

Based on Chesterton’s essay, it can be predicted that Death of a Salesman will explore the downsides of chasing success and the American Dream. The play has significantly focused on social class, income, and occupation, as the men in the Loman family all encounter issues with their jobs early on. Willy desires to be a better salesman, Biff’s work situation is unapproved by Willy, and Happy believes he is worthy of a higher position. All of these characters face severe obstacles in achieving these goals, which may lead to their

Read More
826 Words | 4 Pages

This leads to Willy’s demise because if Willy could have just admitted to his kids that he needed their help and that he isn't what he used to be, maybe he would not have had to end his life. “‘You named him Howard, but you can’t sell that. The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you’re a salesman, and you don’t know that.”’ (97)

Read More
243 Words | 1 Pages

In “Death of a Salesman” & “The Tragedy of Macbeth” by Arthur Miller, the character Willy Loman on the modern america, in the 1940’s as cars and appliances ar be made willy is constantly to maintain the best in family as he slowly starts to lose his mind in the world it’s clear that willy only cares about one thing is that it’s keeping up with the people around him. In the book Death of a Salesman Willy hallucinates about his brother and about his family in the past when they were doing so good with money. Willy Loman has a hard time between reality and illusion, so does lady macbeth’s husband.

Read More
924 Words | 4 Pages

Antigone is the play by Sophocles. It opens with the deaths of Antigone’s two brothers, Polynices and Eteocles. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, doesn’t allow Polynices to be buried on the ground because Polynices attacks his own city. Antigone thinks burying her brother is her duty, so she violates Creon’s decree and throws some dusts on her brother’s corpse. Creon is offended by her behavior and gives an order that is locking Antigone into a cave with a little food.

Read More
741 Words | 3 Pages

Ana Oceguera 12. 19. 16 AP English Death of a Salesman Character Compare and Contrast     In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the audience follows the dynamic between the members of the Loman family. The father of the family, Willy Loman is a self-deluded traveling salesman whose dreams of success do not match his reality. Prompted by his frustration due to the discrepancy between his unrealistically ambitious expectations and his reality, we watch as his mental health takes a turn for the worse,  and his story eventually ends in suicide.

Read More
1618 Words | 7 Pages

After World War II, the United States experienced a social shift, changing the way how Americans viewed themselves and others. One of the these changes was the way Americans perceived femininity and masculinity as women slowly left their traditional roles in search for better opportunities. Although the United States experienced an economic boom after the war, which fueled the spending habits of many Americans, the Depression in the 1930s had ended the American mentality of being optimistic and confident. During this time, men were perceived to be great providers as long as they were able to provide the basic necessities for their family but as the times changed to an era with a prosperous economy, men were pressurized to maintain the social standards and ultimately, an unsustainable style of living. Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman faces this problem as his failing career is unable to provide for his family in 1949.

Read More
1513 Words | 7 Pages

" (cite). This idea has positively influenced Americans and many people around the world. In Death of a Salesman it takes a different approach by showing how it can be destructive in many ways. Most times we can get stuck in this mindset that more success means a happier life and that it can make a person feel more accomplished yet in fact Death of a Salesman shows how it can make people feel less accomplished through Willy Loman. In the end, he doesn’t realize this until it was too late.

Read More
676 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout Death of a Salesman, each character struggles to achieve their version of the American Dream. Though, nobody in the play actually achieved their American Dream. Willy killed himself before he could even get the chance to prove himself. Major disappointments of the American Dream shown in the play is the difference of classes, the sense of excessive pride Americans have searching for their American Dream, and how Americans try so hard to fulfill their dream they tend to forget or not care about the tangible things around them.

Read More
307 Words | 2 Pages

Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller, is a book about an average man who struggles, but fails to achieve his version of the American dream. In his version of the American dream, he believes that true success is having the most material success. This is ironic because he already had the love and support of his family, which was all he truly needed. While striving to achieve his version of the American dream, he takes his family down with him and loses sight of what is truly important. All Willy ever cared about was how much material success he could gain.

Read More
904 Words | 4 Pages

Dreams can come true if you believe and never give up. The American Dream consists of a national idea that success and prosperity are things to continually strive for. There are many diverse opinions and reasons that people get idea that the American Dream is alive or dead. It is the different stories that are told as examples, that give viewers their opinions. People can twist words in ways that can make the americans hopeful that the american dream is alive, and change it into ways that the american dream is dead.

Read More
850 Words | 4 Pages

Willy’s American Dream The tragic play of Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller tells a story about an old man of 84 years old named Willy. Willy was captured by the American dream. He believed that hard work and ambitions could take him to a life of fame and popularity like the american dream was supposed to be. In Death of a salesman, the american dream reveals disappointment, failure and loss of hope. Thus showing that the american dream is not a great dream after all.

Read More
1581 Words | 7 Pages

About the cause of Willy 's death, critic like Bert Cardullo, in his article subtitled The Swollen Legacy of Arthur Miller, argues that: … The salesman figure that comes through is not of a typical grunt brought down by financial failure but of an exceptional invalid, in whom the stress of business only increased existing psychological imbalances ( ' 'Death of a Salesman

Read More
499 Words | 2 Pages

Willy wanted the 'Death of a Salesman' like Singleman - "and by the way he died the death of a salesman" [Willy concerning Singleman: Act 2]-. And he struggled to achieve that dream, only to tragically kill himself. Which reaffirms Miller point that a tragic hero is a character " who is ready to lay down his life... to secure one thing".

Read More

More about Epitaph For The American Dream In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

Open Document