Theme Of Appearance Vs Reality In Death Of A Salesman

The American Dream, deemed to be the greatest opportunity for prosperity and affluence in the world, and regarded by the masses as the ideal standard of living, is the quintessential lifestyle many yearn to live. However, many overlook the associating sense of delusion and deception that corresponds amongst it, resulting from the excessive fantasizing of prospective wealth, and this mindset is truly apparent in the novel, Death of a Salesman. The novel was written in 1949, the pinnacle of the hysteria surrounding the American Dream, an era prevalent with people striving to fulfill their lifelong ambitions of opulence. It portrays the Lomans, a run of the mill family influenced by the temptations of wealth and extravagance epitomized by The …show more content…
Biff Loman, the eldest child, is excessively boasted by his family to bear prodigious and exceptional talent in football, even classified by Willy as “one of the greatest football players in the country” (Miller 75). Despite the acclaim from Willy, in actuality, Biff subsequently relinquished any opportunities associated with football by virtue of his inferiority, contrasting with the dominant figure his family perceives him to be, justifying the absurdness in assuming that Lomans consist of elite members of society. Moreover, the illogical beliefs the Lomans believe regarding their elite status within society is also revealed through their erroneous assumption of association with established members of society. Despite the termination of his job twelve years ago, Biff nevertheless speculates his prominence within society in his affiliation with his renowned and affluent former boss, even deducing that “if he’d have stayed with [him] he’d be on top by now! Because [he has] got a greatness in him” (Miller 67). In spite of Biff’s self-commends, his preposterous speculation is exposed to be inaccurate and far from the evident reality, the truth being his prior boss was