![]() ![]() In trying to achieve the "dream," Willie becomes distanced from his wife, Linda, who is completed devoted to him. Much of success is attributed to Miller's facility in portraying the universal hopes and fears of middle-class America. There are only disappointments, "missed opportunities" and "compromised ideals." There is no American Dream, Miller demonstrates, for the average man. As Willie continues to fall apart, it only supports Miller's assertion of the emptiness of the dream. This illusion drives Willie's downward spiral in the play. ![]() The promise of wealth and happiness is an illusion. For Willie, the dream that his brother Ben realized is what Willie wants, but all we know is that Ben was materially successful. AMERICAN DREAM IN DEATH OF A SALESMAN MOVIEThe American Dream is like a false façade on a movie set: underneath the surface, there is nothing. In reality, Willie's American Dream is a "myth." He believes that this dream can be achieved through "material wealth," but it cannot be, and because of Willie's tunnel vision, he loses touch with those around him-losing sight of what really makes a man "successful." Through his main character, Willy Loman, Miller examines the myth of the American Dream and the shallow promise of happiness through material wealth. Willie believes that he, too, should be rewarded however, this play is not about achieving that dream, but failing to realize it. His brother Ben is a perfect example, having owned large sections of forest land and a diamond mine when he was alive. He believes that if one works hard enough, he will be rewarded. The American Dream is what Willie Loman is trying to achieve. Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is an anatomy of the American Dream. In this, Miller is able to suggest that the only chance for happiness is for individuals to actively resist or redefine the matrices of their lives so that happiness and "being something" is not defined by material reality. ![]() The anatomy that lies underneath the veneer of the American Dream is one of impossible success and inevitable failure. Miller is able to construct Willy as a representation of someone who follows all of the expectations laid out in the American Dream, and yet fails in his endeavor. It is here whereby the play operates as a dissection into the anatomy of the American Dream. In the end, Miller recognizes that money and the construct of success according to the American Dream is incapable of providing happiness to the individual. From his own childhood and in witnessing the failure of his father in business, Miler understood that the American Dream predicated upon wealth and continual acquisition of money is one doomed to failure. He recognized Willy's failures in his own father. Miller draws from personal experience in this regard. I think that Miller's work is an anatomy of the failure inherent in the American Dream. Describe how Death of a Salesman is an "anatomy" of the American Dream? ![]()
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