Willy Loaman
...the American Dream is that people are capable of succeeding. Success, though, requires one to work hard and be dedicated to both his/her professional life and family life. Yet, the illusion of the Dream is that attaining material prosperity defines success. Failing to acknowledge the importance of hard work in achieving the American Dream is another aspect of the illusion. Willie Loman, in "Death of a Salesman", has lived his life in pursuit of the American dream. Willy is fascinated by accumulating things. His desire for goods makes him want objects that he neither needed nor could afford. Willy Loman's warped view of the American Dream caused his failure to achieve the true American Dream and a tragedy in his family because he stressed the importance of popularity over hard work and risk-taking over perseverance.
Willy's main problem is his inability to forget his part and his fear of facing his realities. By ignoring the present, Willy fails to deal with reality. He has a tendency of living in the past and thinking of the future. He always thinks that if he had done something differently then this could have happened, or things will get better as time passes. His habit of distorting the past, never allows Willy to realize what is going on right then and there in the present. At one time, when Willy goes off down memory lane, he "says" to Biff and Happy, "America is full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys
the finest people
there'll be open sesame for all of us, cause one thing boys: I have friends. I can park my car in any street
and the cops protect it like their own" (31). Willy makes this distortion of the past in order to make himself believe that he has achieved the American Dream. At times when doing this was not possible, Willy looks to the future and thinks he can still achieve it then. For instance, he has this...
View Full Essay
