Set in the 1940s in Brooklyn, New York, Arthur Miller’s novel, Death of a Salesman, portrays the life of Willy Loman, a deluded salesman in his sixties, and the people around him. Willy lives with both of his sons’ Happy and Biff and his wife Linda. Willy believes that he has achieved the American Dream, which is the idea that all U.S citizens have an equal opportunity of becoming successful and wealthy through their hard work and determination. His belief of achieving this American Dream causes him to not realize where he stands in society and eventually forces him to mistreat his family as a result. Willy tends to live in his world where he is different from everyone and thinks of this American Dreams as something he has achieved and is
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To begin, Biff is an outcast from Willy, he wishes to grow up and have his own farm. This is how Biff sees himself when he grows up, but Willy does not want that for his son and instead wants him to follow in his old man’s footsteps as a salesman. Willy does not understand that being a farmer makes Biff happy and usually a dad would want to see their son happy. Instead, Willy denies his son’s happiness and wants him to be like his dad, a deluded man, who believes he is living the American Dream. In the novel, Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy states,” How can he find himself on a farm? Is that a life? A farmhand?”(Miller,16). Willy wants his son to make more money than his old man, which is why he wants him to become a salesman because he believes that Biff can sell really quick, but he does not understand that living on a ranch makes his son happy and allows him to enjoy what he is doing. Biff states,” With a ranch I could do the work I like and still be something”(Miller, 26). What is blocking Willy’s view of allowing his son to do this is his view of the American Dream. The belief that his son could make enough money to become rich one day instead of letting his son be happy working a job. To end, Willy mistreats Biff as a result of his view of the American …show more content…
To begin, the American Dream is the idea that all U.S citizens have an equal opportunity of becoming successful and wealthy through their hard work and determination. This is something Willy believes he has achieved in his head, but instead of having this dream as a goal, it is more of an obstacle for Willy. First, it blocks Willy’s view of reality as he believes he is someone unique when in reality he is a dime a dozen. As a result, this causes Willy to lie to his kids and say that he is so popular that he gets benefits, when in reality he does not. Not only does the American Dream block Willy’s view of reality, it blocks his view of his family. Linda supports Willy no matter how bad he mistreats her. He rudely interrupts her and does not allow her to offer up her opinion sometimes because he comes home from working countless hours to try to achieve the American Dream and he seems annoyed when his wife tries to talk to him. On the other hand, Biff, Willy’s oldest son, is also mistreated by Willy. Biff wants to work a job that makes him happy, which is working on a farm, but Willy does not want that to happen as he does not believe his son will make enough money to become rich. All in all, American Dream is more of an obstacle to get over than a goal to try to
To begin, Biff is an outcast from Willy, he wishes to grow up and have his own farm. This is how Biff sees himself when he grows up, but Willy does not want that for his son and instead wants him to follow in his old man’s footsteps as a salesman. Willy does not understand that being a farmer makes Biff happy and usually a dad would want to see their son happy. Instead, Willy denies his son’s happiness and wants him to be like his dad, a deluded man, who believes he is living the American Dream. In the novel, Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy states,” How can he find himself on a farm? Is that a life? A farmhand?”(Miller,16). Willy wants his son to make more money than his old man, which is why he wants him to become a salesman because he believes that Biff can sell really quick, but he does not understand that living on a ranch makes his son happy and allows him to enjoy what he is doing. Biff states,” With a ranch I could do the work I like and still be something”(Miller, 26). What is blocking Willy’s view of allowing his son to do this is his view of the American Dream. The belief that his son could make enough money to become rich one day instead of letting his son be happy working a job. To end, Willy mistreats Biff as a result of his view of the American …show more content…
To begin, the American Dream is the idea that all U.S citizens have an equal opportunity of becoming successful and wealthy through their hard work and determination. This is something Willy believes he has achieved in his head, but instead of having this dream as a goal, it is more of an obstacle for Willy. First, it blocks Willy’s view of reality as he believes he is someone unique when in reality he is a dime a dozen. As a result, this causes Willy to lie to his kids and say that he is so popular that he gets benefits, when in reality he does not. Not only does the American Dream block Willy’s view of reality, it blocks his view of his family. Linda supports Willy no matter how bad he mistreats her. He rudely interrupts her and does not allow her to offer up her opinion sometimes because he comes home from working countless hours to try to achieve the American Dream and he seems annoyed when his wife tries to talk to him. On the other hand, Biff, Willy’s oldest son, is also mistreated by Willy. Biff wants to work a job that makes him happy, which is working on a farm, but Willy does not want that to happen as he does not believe his son will make enough money to become rich. All in all, American Dream is more of an obstacle to get over than a goal to try to