Broken American Dreams in 'Death of a Salesman'

                                         Introduction

                   The twentieth century was a time of great change and development for the American Drama, and this development parallels the development and prosperity of the nation itself. However, twentieth century drama characterized by dramatization of novels and melodrama plays of high qualities. It was until 20th century that pure American drama appeared. In 20th century Realism continued to be - a primary form of dramatic expression, even as the experimentation and the production of plays became increasingly interesting. Such famous American dramatists are Eugene O' Neill, Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller reached profound new levels of Realism, using individual characters and their situations on the state of American society in general. The playwright Arthur Miller is one of that generation. Miller's main achievement of the play "Death of a Salesman" which won many awards. Many critics described it as the greatest American tragedy and Miller gained eminence as  man whose drama examine the coast of blind faith in the 'American Dreams'.

                        American Dream in Death of a Salesman

  Willy Loman, Happy Loman and Biff Loman

                    He is 60 years old and he has not achieved nor fulfilled the dreams that he had for himself or his family. The sales firm that he is working for does not pay him salaries any longer but pays him commission. For 34 years in the firm they have used him and discarded him. This has lead to Mr. Willy taking the frustration on his family. Linda , his wife shares with her husbands longings for success but she cannot bring herself to tell him that those dreams are not possible to achieve at his age. The story of Willy Loman shows what happens with the American dream fails to materialize and subsequently dies. Willy Loman saga indicates what happens to an individual when American dream dies. The denial of the part of the dreamer usually leads to internal and external sufferings. This signifies the modern way that the American looks at the dreams through savings and hard work to which Willy thought he could be successful in it. His lack of fulfillment is as a result of his two sons Biff and Happy who are in their mid 30s but neither seems to have put their life in order. The death of the American dream in him is seen by the way the sons are living.

                     The father wants Biff to make it big but Biff seems incapable of taking up a white collar job. He engages in a monologue where he tells himself that he has always made a point of not wasting his life but every time he comes back home he inertly knows that he has wasted himself. He sees himself as failure headed the same road as his father. To him the American dream is to live a simple, quiet and fulfilling life that has less focus on financial gain and materialism not the working in a 9 - 5 office job that emphasize money, car  and a house. At the end of the play we see Biff finally seeing the truth and the realization that he is not a "dime a dozen" nor "a great leader of men" something that infuriates the father. Biff has a steady job but keeps promising his parents that he is going to settle down and get married bit the contrary is true. In spite of marrying his goal seems to be that of sleeping with as many women as possible. He was a star football player in the high school and he illusioned it to remain the same but he failed in math and was not allowed to continue his graduation. HE was even jailed for once for stealing the suit. He never struggled to understand what he wants in his life. He was suffering from alzheimer syndrome, which was detected later. 

                   At last, Willy cannot let go off his old scoured dreams, so he attempts a suicide so that his family could get money from the insurance corporation which they can use to start a new life. This represents one of the ways that the American society uses to get rich quick and hence achieve the American dream through massive pay out of the insurance compensation law suits.

                                     Linda and Charlie 

                   Linda is Willy's wife while Charlie is Willy's neighbor who has a successful sales firm. The two are the vice of reason in the play as Linda is the arbiter of peace in the family as she is the mediator between the sons and father. The conflict between them is their failure according to their father to find a good job, settle down (own a house and a car), and have a family. She is the protector of Willy whom she understands as tried and at the end of his rope - life which is rising up a zero to her she views freedom has an escape from debate and the total ownership  of the material and wealth that symbolizes success and stability what in today in America is used to judge ones attainment of the American dreams. Willy's obsession on the American dream has weighed heavily on her living her internally conflicted, she has managed to keep her emotional stability intact. She foresees the tragic end of her husband with clarity. Charlie has on several occasions tried to set Willy on the path to success. His successful firm indicates that he has achieved the American dream. His assessment of Willy's situation is logical and rational. He recognizes Willy's financial failures and offers him a job although he doesn't like him much.

                                      Bernard and Uncle Ben

                    Bernard is Charlie's good son who was a childhood friend of Biff. He was hardworking always studied and eventually became a successful lawyer. This is another clear example of the American dream being attained through hard work and maximization of an opportunity basing on ones capability those results to a better life. Willy find this success difficult to deal with. We see Bernard arguing a case at the end of the play. Uncle Ben is Willy's dead brother who went to Africa and made it big in the diamonds mines of Africa. He was a rich and successful that showed him to have attained the American dream.

                                              Conclusion

                    The 'Death of a Salesman' is an attack on the idea of the American dream, showing that it is not always successful i.e. it has a darker side. It also shows that common people also suffer from downfalls which are just as steep as those of people with high status. When people live in the failure of their dreams to materialize, it in most cases becomes detrimental to themselves. 'Death of a Salesman' is an antithesis of the happy endings to the fulfillment of the American dream.