Death Of A Salesman
...OF A SALESMAN: THE QUEST FOR SUCCESS
What is the "American Dream?" How does one define success? Many people hold different views on how to obtain true happiness. One common view is the accomplishment of something yearned. A majority of individuals desire love, compassion, and a family. On the other hand, there are those concerned with self-image, material items, and the fact that money can indeed buy true happiness. In Arthur Miller's play DEATH OF A SALESMAN [published by Ted Buchholz (1993)]--the story of a sixty-three year old man named Willy Loman striving to achieve the "American Dream" and his family who suffer as a cause--contains many examples of trying to achieve material success. Willy's ultimate dream concerns following in his brother Ben's footsteps and rising to be a successful salesman. Willy Loman wanted success so badly that he lost a realistic sense of himself. He wished the same for his sons, Happy and Biff. Yet his struggle for popularity, authority, and money for success caused his downfall. Unfortunately for Willy, most of his dreams were illusions. He was unable to come face to face with this fact. Willy Loman's definition of success warped his view of himself and that of his sons.
Willy Loman's definition of success pertained to being popular and holding high authority within the business and corporate world. Often lost within his memories the reader gets a glimpse of Willy's meaning of the "American Dream." The audience first witnesses this as he speaks with Biff and Happy about their friend Bernard:
Bernard can get the best marks in school...but you are going to be five times ahead of him...Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. (1258)
Willy believes education is not important for...
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