Death of a Salesman: A Story of Misinterpretation of the American Dream

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Death of a Salesman: A Story of Misinterpretation of the American Dream
Death of A Salesman by Arthur Miller is a tragic but realistic representation of the life of a middle-class American, Willy Loaman. It explains how corporatism, capitalism, and materialism destroys this family's dreams. By portraying poverty, false dreams, and the final death of Willy Loaman, Miller attempts to expose the wrong interpretation of the American dream by everyday American and its consequences. For the same reason, scholar Christopher Bigsby claims that Willy's desire for promotion, high salary, intelligent and successful kids, and a perfect housewife is a reflection of this false interpretation of American dreams that compel one to pursue only material wealth and disregard all moral and ethical principles (Bigsby 114). The bitter reality, which completely contrasts Willy's American dream, is that Willy Loaman's long career as a salesman earns him only welfare and false hops. Willy finally loses his job, his son Happy and Biff prove unsuccessful, and his wife keeps reminding him of his failure. Finally, under the immense family pressure and the grief caused by the shattering of his American ideal, Willy commits suicide, culminating in the bitter consequences of the false interpretation of the American dream life. The following paragraph provides substantial textual evidence to substantiate this claim.
The protagonist Willy Loaman represents a typical American middle-class man who attempts to gain material wealth and family satisfaction at the cost of moral and ethical standards. Despite his dissipating career, Willy indulges himself in obtaining the misinterpreted notion of the American dream; for the same reason, he keeps enjoying reveries of past events to fortify his hopes for a materially wealthy future. In the first Act, Willy expresses his failure indirectly by pointing out the obstacle on his way to promotion in the following way: ": If old man Wagner were alive, I'd a been in charge of New York now!" (Miller 4). This statement reveals his failure to obtain a promotion and the excellent salary he always dreamed of. Despite his attempt to get a promotion, he finally gets fired from the job by his boss Howard (Miller 105). These failures of professional life and Willy's continuous denial of these facts reveal the bitter reality that his interpretation of the American dream was wrong and misleading.
In the same way, Willy keeps reverting to past events to stay away from the bitter realities of the present. For instance, in Act, he dreams of his materially successful sons, Happy and Biff visiting him in Boston when he is on a road trip. Moreover, Willy remembers the past event when his neighbor Charley informs him about Biff's failure in mathematics. Nevertheless, Willy does not take this news seriously and shuns the notion of Biff's failure since it does not fit well with his excellent idea of the American dream (Miller 50). This aspect of Willy's character reveals that he continues to stay in his false interpretation of a successful life since his interpret...