The Collapse of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman...

Prosperity, job security, hard work and family union are some of the concepts that involves the American Dream, generally speaking. Some people think this dream is something automatically granted; or in contrast, as in the story â€Å"Death of a Salesman† written by Arthur Miller, as something that has to be achieved in order to be successful in life. The play takes issues with those in America who place to much stress on material gain, instead of more admirable values. American society is exemplified with Miller’s work and demonstrates how a dream could turn into a nightmare. Arthur Miller’s, â€Å"Death of a Salesman†, is a play that portrays the author’s life and the psychological problems that brings the collapse of the American Dream for this†¦show more content†¦First, his body is not as young and energetic as it used to be. Second, he is no longer able to financially support his family. For him, this is an humiliation because having a tumbling career was not seen as a successful life to others or, even worse, he is not giving the right image to his family as the producer of economic wealth . â€Å"A man’s descent to failure is horrendous to contemplate† (Klinghoffer); therefore, Willy Loman tries to hide the truth to his family for a while until it is obvious to them. Moreover, his life is surrounded by a self doubt of his identity, because he lives for what he was and not for who he is now. He does not accept that he is growing old fast. The dreams that he has in the car of the past represents the desire to be young and the reality of the unwanted present. Loman thinks that killing himself is the only way left of showing his masculinity; but instead, it is a very coward way to escape from the family and economical problems he has. In a deeper view, what Willy Loman cannot accept is that when we â€Å"buy† the â€Å"American Dream† we usually don’t see the small print of the contract. We are born, we study, we work, we have a family, we raise our children, we get older and we eventually die. This is the cycle of life; but within this cycle of life there are more cycles. For example, when we get older new and younger people can do the same job fasterShow MoreRelatedThe American Dream as It Relates to Death of a Salesman1185 Words   |  5 PagesThe American Dream as it Relates to Death of a Salesman The theme of the American Dream is extremely prevalent in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman. It is so prevalent that there are literally hundreds of different to ways to analyze how the theme is used in the play. One interesting perspective is that the different characters in the play represent different versions of the American Dream. 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