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Failed American Dream In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

1803 Words8 Pages

The award-winning play, The Death of a Salesman was written in the year 1949 by Arthur Miller, a famous American playwright who is responsible for other plays such as, The Crucible and All My sons. The play tackles the theme of a failed American dream, through its main character, Willy Loman leads a miserable life because he has a rather mediocre job and the dreams he had as a young man have not come true. Through Willy, the audience gets a clearer picture of a failed American dream as well as a successful one. This paper gives detailed illustration of the importance of Willy Loman's character to the play Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman is truly a "Low man" as he chooses to focus on his fantasies instead of his reality as it is. In the first act of the play, Willy is getting home from a business trip. The audience learns that Willy had crashed his car on his way home, and from his wife Linda, it is apparent that it is not the first time that …show more content…

Firstly, Willy is a boastful man who constantly brags to the people near him. Willy Loman is clearly not a successful man; however, this fact does not stop him from constantly bragging about things he had hoped to achieve or things he feels he should have . A mature man is humble and less voluble about his successes. Secondly, Loman, despite his age and experience, believes that success is a matter of luck, popularity and chance, not hard work. He idolizes his older brother, Ben, who had been lucky enough to stumble into his diamond fortune in Africa. He also instils in his sons the notion that if one is liked, they have achieved success . The audience definitely expects more from Loman as he is an experienced old man who should be able to know the truth about success. However, Loman imparts values that are not only immature but also idiotic in his sons. This makes the three of them constantly lose at the game of

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