Essay on "Willy Loman - Illusions of the American"

Essay 3 pages (1446 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Willy Loman - Illusions of the American Dream

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman came out in 1949 during a postwar period of exceptional prosperity and optimism. Belief in the American Dream was at an all time high. The American Dream is the idea that anybody willing to work hard can have it all, a house in the suburbs, a new car, a new refrigerator, and all the latest technology. Someone willing to strike out on his own with an adventuresome spirit, nerve, and luck can still become a millionaire. This myth includes the promise that the children will do even better than their parents and enjoy better social and economic conditions. Willy Loman believes whole-heartedly in the American dream. Willy is so completely caught up in pursuing his version of the dream that he loses sight of everything else. The dream is just that: a dream. Everybody can't be rich. Willy cannot be successful because his vision of the American Dream is a recipe for failure. In this paper we will explore this recipe for failure through the comparison of two characters, Willy and Charlie. Both are fathers with sons about the same age, but their views of the world, raising sons, and the nature of success differ.

Willy is already a "has been" when the story opens. He never made it big. Although he might have been happy working as a carpenter, he rejected this kind of work because he wanted to do better than his father had. In other words, he aimed for money, not for work that would be fulfilling. He traveled all over the New England states to earn a living, but despite his efforts never had money to spare. The family didn't go hungry and they weren't poor, but like most people they struggled to make their payments and keep up with the bills. Willy feels like a failure because he never struck it rich. He blames himself for not having nerve enough to go to Alaska and find gold like his Uncle Ben (who ended up in Africa with a diamond mine), who tells Willy, "...when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. He laughs. And by God I was rich." Willy says to his boys, "You see what I'm talking about? The greatest things can happen!" Willy is filled with admiration for this uncle who "never kept books." To Willy, Ben's strike-it-rich, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, wheeling and dealing is the essence of the American Dream. If he had gone with Ben, he would have been a millionaire, too. Luck would have chosen him.

Charlie has a different view of the world. When Willy tells him, "If I'd gone with him to Alaska that time, everything would've been totally different," Charlie says, "Go on, you'd froze to death up there." Charlie is more practical. He sees how things are with Willy (too old to travel anymore and can't earn a living), so in addition to loaning Willy money, he offers Willy a job, but Willy won't take it. Charlie says, "You want a job?" And Willy answers, "I got a job, I told you that." Willy is in denial.

Saving face is more important to him than solving the problem; plus, if he admits he's washed up, then there is no more hope that he can achieve his vision of the American Dream. So he has to pretend he's doing okay. Charlie sees the situation more clearly. Instead of denying a problem, he tries to find a solution. To him actions speak louder than words -- it's more important to do something than to brag about it (or pretend you did it). Thus, when Willy marvels that Bernard is going to argue a case before the Supreme Court and "never even mentioned it," Charlie says, "He don't have to -- he's gonna do it [italics added]."

Charlie isn't caught up in dreams like Willy is. He sees earning a living more concretely. He tells Willy, "The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you're a salesman, and you don't know that." Willy says, "I always tried to think otherwise...I always felt that if a man was impressive, and well liked, that nothing -- " Charlie, in other words,… READ MORE

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