The Representation of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
The tendency to ascribe to the wrong ideals in pursuit of material wealth and social success is a common phenomenon in many societies. In the U.S, the quest for success is captured under the American Dream, a set of ideals that guarantee equal opportunity for the prosperity of individuals and family due to hard work in a free society. Essentially, a variant of the American Dream might exist in other societies of the world. However, Americans are more likely to pursue such a goal due to the historical portrayal of the U.S as the place where dreams of becoming wealthy can be achieved based on each person's effort.
Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman is the American Literature's archetypal of the American Dream narrative. In the play, Miller uses dialogue, metaphor, and character roles to illustrate how a misguided pursuit of the American Dream can affect a family.
Representation of the American Dream in the Play Miller's play is set in 1949 in the American cities of Boston and Brooklyn, New York. It shows the tragic life of an American family man, Willy Loman, whose narcissistic obsession with the pursuit of capitalistic success leads to his death and almost tears his family apart. Willy Loman is a travelling salesman whose life is troubled by his misguided preoccupation with fallacious values to success and his blind pursuit of the American Dream. In his deluded state, he believes that being likeable would lead him to success.
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Although set in the 1940s, the experiences features in the play are still relevant in the present. In many capitalistic societies in the world, material wealth is considered as the symbol of success, just like in the play (Eisinger 95-105). Miller uses the play to critique the validity of an American Dream guided by the pursuit of material wealth alone. In the play, Loman ascribes the false values of success and prosperity; wealth and popularity would give him happiness. In his desire to be happy, Loman seeks to please the society, become popular and be liked by many people. To achieve both material wealth and popularity, Loman becomes a travelling salesman despite lacking the necessary skills. He would ultimately fail[Zhe07].
Further, Loman makes several poor decisions in his life that lead to his ultimate failure as a salesman and as a family man. Firstly, Loman projects an image of success to the people he interacts with in the hope that they would like him. Believing that his charisma is equal to success, he brags to his sons, that “.....they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England" (1-706). In his misguided interpretation of the American Dream, he envisions a success story borne out of his charming personality. He tries to instill the same in his sons, “And when I bring you fellas up, there'll be open sesame for all of us, cause one thing boys: I have friends" (1-706). Loman desires to lead a pompous lifestyle reminiscent of the past and modern celebrities.
Loman's life choices also reflect the American society's biases in selecting occupations. Eisinger observes that the play depicts how the current American society lauds only careers that guarantee societal class and proper remuneration (95-105). For instance, in the play Loman regrets not going to Alaska with his brother Ben, who left at 17 and had amassed massive wealth by the time he was 21. Ben boasts that by the time he was coming back West, "by God I was rich" (715). However, when Ben asks Loman to come work for him in a timberland out in the North, Loman rejects the job offer. He does not want to work in the North with his boys.
To Loman, being a salesman was the best job that would make him popular, just like Dave Singleman. He admires Singleman, who, “at the age of eighty-four, (could travel) into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people” (1-724). To Loman, both Ben and Singleman represent the reality of the American Dream because they were prosperous and well-liked. Loman describes Singleman as a man who "died the death of a salesman," having lived pompously and making many friends.
As a result of his erroneous life choices, Loman fails to achieve his desired success. At sixty years, he still doesn't operate from a fixed location, he lacks a permanent occupation, and his delusional perception of success is his only motivator. Loman also projects his the wrong perception of the “American Dream” to his son. In Loman's opinion, anyone who was too preoccupied with work was boring. When discussing Bernard with his son, Biff, he describes Charlie's son, Bernard as annoying and assures his son that being liked was crucial to succeeding in business.
WILLY: That's just what I mean. Bernard can get the best marks in school, y'understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y'understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him ... the man who creates personal interest is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want (Miller 1.711).
The economic hardships in the 1940s also had an "enormous toll among ordinary people," according to Murphy (771). Many ordinary people lost their farms, savings, homes, and businesses (758). Their pursuit of the American dream frustrated by unforeseen circumstances. The Loman family is affected by the prevailing economic challenges in the nation. Loman loses his job and with it, his dream to succeed in life. He also refuses to accept that in the time, hard work is the primary driver of success. Biff initially seeks college scholarship by joining the high school football team, but fails to get it when he performs poorly in arithmetic. Happy follows in his father's footsteps and attempts to become a salesman in the city, but his career fails to take off. Ribkoff observes that due to stunted dreams, the three men pursue what that the American society regards as the avenues to easy wealth and fame (48-55).
Similarly, in his pursuit of societal approval and recognition, Loman, just like many Americans in the past and present prioritizes the quest for wealth and disregards family values. In his work, he travels to famous destinations and gets accommodated in plush hotels. He becomes unfaithful to his wife and is discovered by Biff. However, Loman is not remorseful about the affair but only regrets being caught.
As the play approaches the end, each of the three men realizes the fallaciousness of their dreams, acknowledging that they would not become wealthy and famous in their current circumstances. Loman, Biff, and Happy have to make fundamental choices to turn their lives around. For Loman, the only way out is through death so that Biff can use the insurance compensation to set up his dream business. In death, Loman envisions an achievement of his dream to be popular as he explains to Ben:
WILLY: Because he thinks I'm nothing, see, and so he spites me. But the funeral- (Straightening up.) Ben, that funeral will be massive! They'll come from Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire! All the old-times with the strange license plates-that boy will be thunderstruck, Ben, because he never realized-I am known! (736) However, during the requiem, it emerges that the funeral was not a grand affair. Consequently, Biff and Happy realize that their father misguided them into following the wrong dreams. Miller thus uses Loman's death to depict the end of a fallacy and an awakening to the reality.
In the play, Death of a Salesman, Miller shows how a misguided pursuit of the American Dream can affect a family and cause catastrophic failures. Essentially, anyone can identify with several aspects of Loman's family and their anguish. Miller depicts Loman as an ordinary family man with a desire to succeed by becoming wealthy and popular. However, he makes various wrong choices as a salesman and as a father like choosing the wrong career. Unfortunately, Loman is unwilling to pick himself up and lives in the comfort of his illusions of success and prosperity.
Although set in the 1940s, the play still maintains relevance in the present day society. Loman's misfortunes can presumably befall any other person in the present day. Interestingly, despite his wrong choices, Loman emerges as a victim of a society that ascribes to a fallacious notion of material wealth and popularity as the benchmarks to prosperity.
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