Willy Loman And The American Dream

Every American seems to have a different view of the country they call home. One person may tell a foreigner the problems they see in their country and what needs to be done to improve, but more often than not, an American will tell you they live in the most wonderful country in the world, and while it has its issues, the positive aspects outweigh the negatives by far. In Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman and Allen Ginsberg’s poem “America,” you see two very different approaches of two life long American citizens explaining what it is like to live in a country like the United States, but unlike many citizens, they see the faults within their country and the areas that are needed for improvement.

In Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman, Miller focuses a lot on the American Dream but he does not necessarily directly represent the concept of the American Dream or even critique it, but instead challenges the effects. Miller seems to be uncertain with the idea of the American Dream, which is seen through some of the concepts that are brought up in his play Death of a Salesman. You see Miller’s interpretation mostly though his characters. The most obvious character being the protagonist of the play, Willy …show more content…
They show examples of a culture that has become so obsessed with making money, waging war, and fostering a stifling conformity that people forget to take a step back and rethink. Being an international student living in the United States, I get the chance to listen and experience America from many different peoples point of views and surprisingly, a good number of students I have spoken with have presented their frustrations with their home country just like Miller and Ginsberg. This shows that a country that may be so influential and prevailing to the rest of the world, does has its issues that even its citizens are demanding