...The American Dream' is based on the 'Declaration of Independence': 'We believe that all men are born with these inalienable rights - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' (Thomas Jefferson, 1776). This 'dream' consists of a genuine and determined belief that in America, all things are possible to all men, regardless of birth or wealth; if you work hard enough you will achieve anything. However, Miller believes that people have been 'ultimately misguided' and Miller's play, Death of a Salesman, is a moving destruction of the whole myth. The origins of the American Dream seem to have been rooted in the pioneering mentality of the 18th and 19th century immigrants, most of whom came to America because of a promise of a new and better life. In particular, the opportunity to own one's land. But land 'ran out' and so cities developed and massive variations arose in wealth, which meant that this 'American Dream' changed from being a potential reality, into being a dream, like the name implies. Most of Miller's plays are directly or indirectly about the American Dream, because ultimately this dream wasn't going to succeed as lots of people wished. Death of a Salesman written in 1949, is a moving destruction of the whole myth. To be hard working, honest and have ambition were the ways of the American Dream. This lead to success, wealth and in due time - power. But this dream for everyone developed, and encouraged greed, selfish behavior, pride and rivalry between one another...
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...characters past to provide insight into Willy’s behaviours and beliefs and thus reveal how Willy has been victimized by the American Dream. The concept of developing a protagonist’s character by depicting formative experiences is one that offers an excellent approach to analyzing Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman. By juxtaposing scenes of the protagonist’s present with scenes from Willy’s past, Miller provides insight for Willy’s behaviours and beliefs. Through lighting and sound techniques, Miller recreates significant moments in Willy’s life that shape him. Miller’s staging...
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...The American dream has stood to be each person’s idea of success. The American dream is usually associated with 1940’s America depiction of the ideal family, as can be depicted from television shows such as Leave it to Beaver. However, this is one aspect and shallow analysis of the American dream that is not appropriate for all reaching to achieve their American dream. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Miller succeeds in portraying this through the characters Willy and Biff. Their conflict represents two varying perspectives of the American dream, and this very struggle leads to the conclusion that the American dream is rooted in the pursuit of a better life. Throughout Death of a Salesman, Miller portrays two ideas of the American dreams and it is definite that they are “American dreams” as they both deal with success and that character’s idea of success. Though, this is where characters’ views differ and conflict with one another. Willy’s American dream is to have his children succeed and to leave his imprint on the society which he was unable to succeed in doing so in a life long career as a salesman. Furthermore, Willy lived in the ideology that being “well liked” was far more important and and necessary than being a Bernard type of person and make a living based on his studies. Willy’s belief and encouragement of this ideology upon his sons influenced Biff immensely. As a result, Biff did not put the effort into his studies that would have enabled him to pass...
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...Death of a Salesman As all Americans can attest to, the American Dream is a benchmark that is strived for one’s entire life, as one is constantly trying to find their purpose and figure out how best to achieve prosperity. In Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman spends his entire life identifying how he can achieve his personal American Dream. Willy strongly believes that fame is accomplished by being attractive and well-liked, and that it depends very little on one’s work ethic. This is precisely what Miller warned against when he stated that “it’s a mistake to ever look for hope outside of one’s self”, as Willy carries the false conception that if he is well-liked by others, he will realize his American Dream. In Death of a Salesman, Miller uses flashbacks like these as alterations of time that allow the reader to understand why the characters actions led to tragedy, and how Willy’s fate can be avoided if one uses hard work and dedication, rather than popularity, to attain their individual American Dream. Willy’s deranged perception of success is mainly shaped by Ben’s influence, because Ben had the opportunity of becoming rich through his personality and presence, which is exactly what Willy is striving for. Willy frequently immerses himself in flashbacks, in which he converses with Ben, and allows Ben to convince him to the point where he even tells himself “that a man can end up with diamonds on the basis of being liked.” In contrast, Charley attempts to break...
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...Washington 1 Jalyn Washington English 101 Professor Macy 12 April 2015 The Dream The American Dream has many definitions. There are many different answers to describe Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. The American Dream in the late 1940s was to have the “perfect American household”(The American Dream). This was to have a house in the suburbs, a steady job, being married, having a few kids, and keeping up with the Jones’. Death of a Salesman is a harsh criticism of the American Dream. The American Dream in Miller’s play is depicted as the ability to become prosperous by being well liked, the ability to start from nothing to something, and pursuing others dream. It also depends on which character is asked: Willy Loman, Ben, and Biff’s American Dream. Willy Loman’s American Dream is the ability to become prosperous by popularity. Willy believes that personality, not hard work and innovation, is the key to success. Time and again, he wants to make sure his boys are well-liked and popular. For example, when his son Biff confesses to making fun of his math teacher’s lisp, Willy is more concerned with how Biff’s classmates react. Biff says he crossed his eyes and talked with a lisp (Miller 1770). Willy giggles and asked him did the kids like it and Biff responds with “They nearly died laughing!”(Miller). They all make fun of Bernard at the beginning of the movie. Willy marks Mr. Bernard for getting his stuff together and says “Oh well he won’t ever amount to anything...
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...addresses Willy’s inability to change or accept responsibility for the mistakes he made. He is unable to acknowledge that he is an average man in America living an average life. Even with the love and support from friends and loved ones, he still feels an immense amount of regret about decisions he made in the past and spends a large amount of time retreating into the past and reliving moments where he felt successful. The three themes within the play are denial, contradiction, and the desire to live the “American Dream” by being liked and successful. Denial is portrayed in many of the characters. Willy is in denial about the amount of success he has achieved as a salesman. He is unable to accept the fact that he is nothing but a mediocre salesman and even has to take out a loan from his friend in order to pay his bills. Later in the story Happy begins to display some of the very same characteristics that Willy does. He is seen to exaggerate his job position in order to appear more successful than he is, leading to a fight with Biff. Willy makes several statements about how “easy” it is to live the American Dream and even makes the statement “Certain men just don’t get started till later in life. Like Thomas Edison, I think. Or B.F. Goodrich. One of them was deaf (Act 1)” when discussing why Biff has not been able to figure out his life. The entire play is riddled with contradiction from the very beginning. Willy is extremely unstable and Linda seems to go along with Willy’s fantasies...
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...is so important in a boy’s childhood, Willy’s life has a strong influence in Biff’s decisions. A father has a different connection than a mother, (in this case Linda) and relate uniquely. A father should know when to play an active role in his son’s life, or when to stay passive and let him make his own decisions and learn from them. In this case Willy’s parenting style doesn’t allow Biff to grow independent, learn moral lessons, and realize the importance of education. The first theme that their relationship highlights is the ‘American Dream.’ Willy has always had his mind set on the idea that if you are well liked you can succeed. He also saw being a salesman as the best job you could get. ‘Bernard can get the best marks in school… you are going to be five times ahead of him.’ Here we see that Willy is teaches his boys his reading of society that being well liked is more important than a good education. However, later in the play Miller makes it obvious that this is not true. ‘How do you like this kid? Gonna argue a case in front of the Supreme Court.’ Miller through stage directions, makes Willy happy for Bernard’s success, but shocked and pained by the fact that he succeeded, in contrast with what he said in act I. This expression on Willy’s face reminds the audience of Willy’s philosophy. When Willy asks Charley how he did, Willy is even more confused. ‘My salvation is that I never took interest in anything.’ We realize that Willy’s parenting has been poor, as he has failed...
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...November 10, 2012 English P5 Death of a Salesman Essay Like Father Like Son In Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, Miller reveals what happens when a dream, especially the American dream, dies, as seen through the life of Willy Loman, a pathetic, self-deluded salesman. The play follows the family through painful conflicts, significant issues such as national values, and the price of blind fate while working toward the ‘American Dream’. The major problem woven into the plot discusses how Willy, insufficiently, attempts to be able to die ‘the death of a salesman’, both wealthy and comfortable. In this play, the American character is criticized because the play emphasizes how children are a result of their parents modeling by including examples such as how Biff and Happy, the unsuccessful children, believe that lying, cheating, and stealing are tolerable because of the example Willy set for them. Furthermore, through Willy’s shallow contemptuous personality, the reader clearly sees that he finds lying, cheating and stealing acceptable. This shows not only in his actions and words, but also through his sons who imitate his values. As Happy, Biff, and Willy are conversing, Biff mentions that he practices with a new football. When Biff is asked where it came from, he simply says, “Well, I borrowed it from the locker room” (Miller 29). This statement combines both lying and stealing, because as Biff tries to cover the fact that he stole the ball. Willy does nothing...
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...Death of a salesman The American Dream can be described as a belief in freedom that allows all citizens of the United States of America to achieve their goals in life through hard work. Today, in America it generally refers to the idea that one's prosperity depends upon one's own abilities and hard work. In the American mindset your societal role is not definitive but can change according to one’s effort. Those are values, which European settlers have kept and passed on to generations since the beginning of USA. This is exactly, what Willy Loman tries to live up to in Arthur Miller’s tragedy “Death of a Salesman” from 1948. One of the first problems which occurs in the play is, when we as readers find out, that Willy has tried to put his whole life into his sons, Biff and Happy, and they reward it just turning their backs on him. Willy still hopes, that Biff can go all the way one day, and become a businessman like his father. But hope became weakened one day after Biff flunked math. Biff was heading towards Boston to make his father help him, but instead he finds him with another woman. This makes Willy feel guilty with good reason, and he thinks that he is responsible for Biff’s choices in life and his failure to become successful. Another problem which Willy faces is that he is aging and his temperament is getting uncontrollable. Because he is getting older, he can’t do the same things as he used to. He can’t drive his car all day long anymore, and he is not making enough...
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...After watching Glengarry Glen Ross I noticed that there seemed to be a similar message within Death of a Salesman. The broadest aspect being the negative effects of capitalism. Although represented in entirely different ways, the two stories both have the same underlying idea. It is clear that both stories show that capitalism renders the ability to not only be a moral person, but creates a void from having a family and relationships. In Death of a Salesman, Willy’s relationship with his family slowly deteriorates and inevitably his job is what leads him to the demise of his family and his life. The pressure to succumb to capitalism and to be a salesman is all that he grasps onto in fear of being seen as a failure or unsuccessful in society. In Glengarry Glen Ross, the film mostly took place in the office, representing that these men have no life outside of their work. In search of “The American Dream” each of the characters seemed to have lost what it is that they were essentially working towards. Instead they invest all of their time and energy into being a salesman that they don’t have time to invest into making a family. So as one story tells that capitalism destroys families, the other depicts it as a barrier from non-business relationships and keeps people from obtaining a family. The irony of it all is that by complying to this business world, these characters all feel that they are achieving this ideal life, but in reality it takes over their lives and becomes their...
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...the article “How Extroversion Became the Cultural Ideal,” the salesman occupation, which Willy longed for, was not a common job selection until the 1920s, the time when the character to personality shift began. To cope with the rise of personality, Americans became salesmen more to sell themselves to others rather than to sell the company products. Willy represents this depiction of salesmen because he was convinced that the occupation would make him “likable” or would give him a charismatic personality, leading to a successful life similar to Dave Singleman. Willy idolized Dave Singleman as a salesman and desired to achieve the exact success that Dave had in life. Once Willy became aware of this “American dream,” he “realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want” because it was how an individual would reach that “dream” (Miller 81). Interestingly, Willy states, “In those days [of Dave Singleman] there was personality in it… Today, it’s all cut and dried, and there’s no… personality” (Miller 81). Willy claims that personality was nonexistent in his current life; however, his career as a salesman was solely based on personality, becoming and “selling” the extrovert that others favored. Perhaps the reason for Willy’s lack of “personality” in his life is because he was attempting to possess the personality of Dave Singleman that led to success. The article states that an individual “either embodied personality qualities or they didn’t.” Instead of embracing the personality...
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...The American Dream 1. In text no. 2, Arnold Schwarzenegger has written a comment in the U.S. News & World Report. The American dream is interpreted as something you make yourself worthy for. Schwarzenegger came from Austria to the States in 1983, hoping to fulfill his dreams, instead of becoming a police officer like his father. Schwarzenegger succeeded, especially in his acting-career, but also in his political career. Today he is the governor of California. But there wasn’t anything given to him for free. According to this text, he had to work very hard to accomplish these achievements. In line 13 he writes that “Hard work and determination” was what it took for him to be successful. Schwarzenegger is very humble, when it comes to moving and adjusting to a new country, and he claims that it’s important that immigrants give something back, when they receive so much. Text no. 3 is an article from Yahoo! Finance. It has a much more negative/pessimistic point of view about the American Dream and the time we live in. Anya Kamenetz, the author of this article, supports her opinions on surveys and studies. For instance she found out that once people earn more than $50,000 a year, their level of happiness does not rise with the money they earn, as it should, according to the general idea of the American Dream (page 7, line 17). The last text is called “Is the American Dream still possible?”, and as the name of it indicates, it’s written with doubtfulness. David Wallechinsky...
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...Critical Response 1. The article "Keeping the Dream Alive" by Jon Meacham main subject is based on the American Dream. In this article, the author is talking about the American Dream. He says back in the post war era (WWII) life was much different than it is today. Back then people were better, richer, and happier. People made more money, the unemployment rate was a lot lower and overall life was a lot better. 2. The purposes the writer has for presenting this argument are pretty simple. He is trying to make a point that the American Dream began centuries ago. Immigrants who migrated to this great country had a dream in order to make their dreams a reality migrating to America would be their goal. It was more easily seen to succeed in America than in their country. 3. The position the writer takes would have to be looking back in history and creating an idea of how it must have been how people struggled to come to this great country. He also must had quite a good amount of research done to make his article approved. 4. The writer mostly supports ideas mainly with facts every piece of information was taken from pieces of history. Every fact he states was very well put together research was his main focus for this article. He had to look back and try to make a comparison of todays history relevant to way back. Seeing the some changes were made but people still kept the goal of the American Dream. 5. The evidence the writer presents to support the position he states would...
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...English 1520 16 May 2013 American Education In the article “American the Illiterate” by Chris Hedges he argues about the growing concern on the American people. In the argument he states that Americans everyday are less and less dependent on their ability to read and write. He explains how society over all is more dependent on image based information. In his first couple of paragraphs he describes this growing epidemic. How literacy affects us as a country and as a nation over all. He brings evidence and proof about his argument from various different creditable sources. He explains that illiteracy is such a minor priority to most Americans that doing things like their taxes or electing a new president doesn’t require them to be experts in illiteracy. Bringing in emotional story and a good slogan with words like pro-life, hope, maverick, war on terror. The American people are easily manipulated and are reeled in to the fight between truth and lies. He explains that America is so blind when it comes to signing a contract, policy agreement, or a legal document. Most if not all the time they barley even start reading. It’s hard to admit but at the end even I agree with Hedges logic. Every time I download a new software or log into my bank account never have I set there and read the agreement start to end. Just the other day I was reading the fine print in my insurance contract and I was amazed at some of the things that we assume are covered like roadside assistance. I always...
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...century, America was looked upon by the world as the superpower and dream continent where people’s visions came true. America became the melting pot of world and all the cultures of the world met here. There was a thirst for fame, power and money. This opened a door of commercialisation of the society. Many people became greedy and inhuman in their pursuit of fame and money. A famous essayist, Bacon is of the view, “Certainly fame is like a river that beareth up things light and swoln, and drowns things weighty and solid.” (Of Praise 133) Instead of a healthy competition and right path towards success, many were blinded by the materialistic aspect of life. American society also saw mushrooming of commercilisation and competition among the section of people, who were ready to sacrifice anything and everything for power and fame. This destroyed their family life and career. One of the most dominant beliefs of American society goes by the name of “the great American dream”. This concept is based on the doctrine of self-help, which assumes that a person having self-confidence and self-initiation can rise from a lower to a higher position. This doctrine is mostly highlighted by referring to famous personalities like Benjamin Franklin and John Garfield, who became role models for the posterity. Though many benefited by aiming high goals in their lives, a section of people attached false notion to the American dream. They became fervent believers of the romantic concept that anyone...
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