Willy Loman’s version of the American Dream seems very simple at first, he believes that if someone is well-liked enough, if someone tries hard enough, and they do the right job, and have the right family, everything will go right for them in return. They will achieve the American Dream, and have enough money, their family will be happy, and they will be well-liked and unable to do anything wrong. And for a short while it seems it does, in the flashbacks, before everything falls apart because of his choices and his son’s general unhappiness with his life. Willy’s whole, long life is devoted to earning money and being concerned about appearances and his own happiness, yet it is never really enough for his own delusion, much less his life and his family.
The American Dream throughout the entire play, when put on every living member of that specific family, is just a setup for disaster. The wife is disrespected and has to watch her husband fall to pieces striving for something he isn’t capable of, even if she believes in him fully. The younger son, though more of a success in the eyes of his family, is unsatisfied with his success, and it will never be enough, even though he has achieved happiness. The oldest son, though he grew up celebrated and pumped up to think he can do …show more content…
His son Biff puts that into words as he realizes this about himself, as well as his father. Biff breaks down everything he was ever taught and everything that his father believes about himself in the paragraph “I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash like all the rest of them! I’m one dollar an hour illy!...I’m not bringing home any prizes any more, and you’re going to stop waiting for me to bring them home!”
The American Dream throughout the entire play, when put on every living member of that specific family, is just a setup for disaster. The wife is disrespected and has to watch her husband fall to pieces striving for something he isn’t capable of, even if she believes in him fully. The younger son, though more of a success in the eyes of his family, is unsatisfied with his success, and it will never be enough, even though he has achieved happiness. The oldest son, though he grew up celebrated and pumped up to think he can do …show more content…
His son Biff puts that into words as he realizes this about himself, as well as his father. Biff breaks down everything he was ever taught and everything that his father believes about himself in the paragraph “I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash like all the rest of them! I’m one dollar an hour illy!...I’m not bringing home any prizes any more, and you’re going to stop waiting for me to bring them home!”