Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman presents two opposing views of the American dream, one from the eyes of Willy Loman and the other from the eyes of his son, Biff Loman. Over the course of one day, Willy’s concept of success is expressed through his failures to attain it throughout his life, while Biff’s perspective is dynamic and throughout the day he comes away with a different idea entirely of what it means to be successful. Biff’s eye-opening moment comes as he recognizes the true reality of the world because ultimately, Miller is not trying to present two equally valid ways of life and thinking. No, instead Miller reveals that it is Biff who will live in reality with the knowledge that the “American dream,” seen as a concrete and universal goal, is unattainable, but it is a dream that his father died believing in. According to Arthur Miller, the American Dream is a fantasy that Willy Loman
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Biff starts the play in a similar situation as Willy. He wants to get in step with his father’s concept of the American Dream, and his meeting with Oliver is meant to set him down the “right” path. However, just as Miller demonstrates through Willy’s unhappiness that that path does not exist, he demonstrates through Biff that if Biff will allow his path to diverge, he will find his own right path. And that’s the key: it’s his own right path, not the right path. At one time in American history, the American dream was to move out west and get rich off the land. In Willy’s time, the American dream was to be well-liked and financially secure, which Willy sees as being a salesman. What Willy doesn’t see is how much the American dream has changed and will continue to change. He sees only one American dream, but Biff is the eyes of reality. Not a harsh reality, in this case, because what he sees is possibility. The possibility to do something other than follow in his father’s footsteps to a dream that is not his and to a life that he will not truly
Biff starts the play in a similar situation as Willy. He wants to get in step with his father’s concept of the American Dream, and his meeting with Oliver is meant to set him down the “right” path. However, just as Miller demonstrates through Willy’s unhappiness that that path does not exist, he demonstrates through Biff that if Biff will allow his path to diverge, he will find his own right path. And that’s the key: it’s his own right path, not the right path. At one time in American history, the American dream was to move out west and get rich off the land. In Willy’s time, the American dream was to be well-liked and financially secure, which Willy sees as being a salesman. What Willy doesn’t see is how much the American dream has changed and will continue to change. He sees only one American dream, but Biff is the eyes of reality. Not a harsh reality, in this case, because what he sees is possibility. The possibility to do something other than follow in his father’s footsteps to a dream that is not his and to a life that he will not truly