The Influence Of The American Dream In Death Of A Salesman

Decent Essays
In life, people’s experiences influence themselves to make them feel as a success or a failure. Depending on the character of the person he or she can turn the negative influences and make something positive out of it. In the play Death of a Salesman, Willy experiences events in his life that makes him feel inadequate, which eventually leads to his death. According to Miller, Willy feels like failure because he can’t achieve the “American Dream”, his sons haven’t become successful, and his neighbor is wealthy. To begin with, Willy feels like a failure because of the influence of not achieving the “American Dream”. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the American Dream is the ideal by which equality of opportunity is available to any American, …show more content…
His sons Biff and Happy Lowman are both in there thirties and still live with their parents while struggling to find a well paying job. While in high school, Biff was a gifted football player who had a bright future ahead of him with scholarships coming left and right. Unfortunately, Biff did not have sufficient credits to graduate due to the fact that he failed math class. Not only does this make Willy feel like a failure of a father but Biff getting fired from every job because of stealing adds to the matter. Willy’s younger son Happy does maintain a job as an assistant to the assistant manager but never gets promoted. Living in the shadows of his older brother Biff, he hides his frustrations by becoming a womanizer. He often puts his job and family life into jeopardy from being consumed by the desire of being with women. Willy observes that his sons don’t live up to his expectations, which makes him wonder if he was a positive role model to his …show more content…
His neighbor Charley, a rich business owner, is everything Willy aspires to be. He often becomes jealous of Charley and treats him in a brutal manner at times. Not only is Charley living the “American Dream” but his son Bernard is a successful lawyer that any father would be proud of. Willy is constantly reminded of not being able to achieve the same success as Charley since he is his neighbor. When Biff was in his glory days in high school, Willy would make fun of Bernard for being a total “nerd” and often disrespect Charley. Now that the tables have turned Willy is in need of Charley’s help, even asking him to pay for his insurance. In the end he comes to the realization that Charley was his only true friend he’s ever had and feels terrible that he has to ask him for money in order to

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