Topic > Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman as an Example of the American Dream

The play Death of a Salesman can be considered one of many examples of the "American Dream" and the hard work to achieve success in literature American. In the show, readers read about and discuss the Loman family and the hardships they experience. Along with this, readers learn about the family's aspirations to succeed and their never-ending efforts to achieve the “American Dream”. Despite this, each member of the Loman family seems to struggle to achieve their desired success. Furthermore, Willy Loman, the protagonist of the play, shows external and internal conflicts throughout the story. Unfortunately, Willy is suicidal and kills himself due to his chaotic life. Ultimately, the major themes that plagued Willy's grief led to his death. However, as you get into the book, you learn that it wasn't just Willy's economic struggles and personal problems that influenced his grim death. The "American dream", father and son relationships, abandonment and betrayal are the main themes of Death of a Salesman that contributed to the death of Willy Loman. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At the beginning of Death of a Salesman, Biff talks to Happy and says, "Because Daddy makes fun of me all the time." This small excerpt from the work tells readers that the relationship between Willy and the boys is tense and communication is necessary between them. Relationships between father and son had declined over the years and this outcome became apparent to Willy and ultimately contributed to his death. However, the relationship between father and son did not crumble until Biff and Happy were in high school. Willy always taught kids in school that being popular and well-liked was the key to a bright and successful future. Unfortunately, this affected Biff and Happy's behavior and school ethics which resulted in Biff not graduating. That summer, however, Biff has the opportunity to go to summer school and retake his math class, but discovers that his father is having an affair when he goes to visit Willy in Boston. This meeting destroys their relationship and upsets Biff, who never ends up going to summer school and graduating, leading to Biff's unhappy and miserable life. Furthermore, Willy never raised the boys to be mature and respectful men. This idea relates to Happy's life and shows through Happy's comedy that he is a womanizer and disrespectful towards women. According to Death of a Salesman page 9, Happy is talking to Biff about his first meeting with a woman and describes her as a pig. Later in the book he argues with Biff again and claims that he slept with his boss's girlfriend. At the end of the second act, Happy and Biff leave Willy at the restaurant where they were supposed to have dinner, feeling embarrassed in front of Miss Forsythe and Letta. “No, that's not my father.” Happy's statement essentially denies Willy after finally having enough of Willy's troubled mind. Throughout the show, all of Willy's misdeeds affected his relationship with Biff and Happy and led to his downfall. Willy felt like a failure and finally realized all the mistakes he had made in raising his children. With nothing left to fix or able to change what he had done, the main theme of the relationship between father and son became part of Willy's reasoning that he wanted to commit suicide for the better. encounter experiences of abandonment and betrayal. This main theme can be found within the work and readers can see how this factor played a role in the death of.