Dreams play a vital role to the development of plot and character within Death of a Salesman; it drives the main characters with their need to obtain their aspirations to a point of obsession that dominates their lives. This never ending pursuit of a non-existent perfection is what leads Willy, Biff and Happy and those around them into a false idea of happiness. They believe that wealth and reputation are the path to success, unfortunately this road leads to only poor and selfish choices leaving everyone unsatisfied and full of regret. Willy’s dreams for himself and his sons set the stage for the novel’s sequence of events. They are the reason that Willy cannot seem to find success, and when he cannot meet his high expectations for himself, he lies and cheats in order to keep the unachievable ideal alive instead of being satisfied with less than perfect.
He is obsessed with this ideal of greatness and an “American Dream” that is completely unattainable due to his imagination. He wants to leave a legacy of being known as the best salesman in town. He also wants his sons to follow in his exact footsteps while obtaining much wealth. His downfall arises directly from his continued misconception of himself as someone of more success that he has. His pathological visions of being successful and his ungrateful acceptance of his own American Dream push him to cause arguments within his family, envision suicidal thoughts and ultimately take his own life.
He is never satisfied with what he has and once he acquires what he wants he moves onto another dream. Such as after he changes his name and starts a new exciting life he dreams of being rich and powerful, then his dream is to win over a lost love and even after he has won over Daisy he still wants more from her which she is incapable of giving. Through Jay Gatsby’s tragic story, Fitzgerald is suggesting that the American Dream is unattainable if rooted in greed. Hickey suggests that he is also implying a warning to not future generations, “The Great Gatsby might be interpreted as a warning not only to Fitzgerald’s generation but to future generations as well. Beware of pursuing that “orgiastic future” with too much fervor; one might well be destroyed by it, just as Gatsby is.” (Hickey
During the early 20th century immigrants swarmed to America, chasing a dream that was often out of reach. Even individuals already living in America strived to attain the unattainable. A myriad of individuals of different sex, creed and nationality all in search of the American Dream, were all too often confronted with an American nightmare. Shattered hopes and dreams have always been the result of unrealistic goals, and the myopic views of society. Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck is a novel which exposes the fallacious nature of the American Dream and shows readers how specific individuals of society are personally impacted.
Only after realizing just how fake his whole life was, was Biff finally able to be freed from this prison created by a capitalist society. Willy Loman’s state of false consciousness is that he believes in a version of the American dream that is no longer applicable to modern day America. Like many out there, Willy Loman covets the possibilities of success that define the American Dream, with the firm belief that such success could be only achieved through charm, style and popularity. In fact, he says that “[…] the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, in the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want,” (25).
Instead they inherited, cheated and participated in illegal dealings to achieve the wealth they now have and a false sense of achievement of the American dream. Four characters in particular stand out a great deal, Tom and Daisy Buchanan have squandered their pursuit of the dream through the way they treated people and acted. Next is Jay Gatsby a man who gave up hard work and an honest way of living to further himself towards a corrupted dream. Lastly Jordan Baker is construed
Willy’s reaction symbolizes his betrayal to his family, and his failure of the American dream. Willy never acknowledges his failures to others. Charley offers him a job, but he refuses because of personal pride. Accepting a job from Charley would establish personal failure. Even when asking for a raise, he lies to his boss and say’s his boys are doing well knowing they cannot provide for him.
Comparing chapter one (act one) of ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘Death of a Salesman’ Both ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘Death of a Salesman’ explore the idea of the American dream. Also, they both show the difference between society’s living standards and the classes; old money and new money are significant with this. Fitzgerald strongly emphasizes that Nick Carraway is infatuated with Jay Gatsby and his wealth. He describes Gatsby as being “some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life” connoting that he is living the life of the ideal American dream. This differentiates from the characters Linda and Willy in ‘Death of a Salesman” where they are living in a “small, fragile-seeming home” and the in detail yet minimal use of furniture.
This leads to Willy fatal flaw in Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy – his hamartia throughout the play – his self delusion. He is obsessed with living the American Dream, with being successful, with materialistic success and being well liked – the whole American Dream. He fails to see that he is the opposite. As Fletcher says in Death of a Salesman ‘ Miller dramatically presents the complex moral world of mid-nineteenth century American values and beliefs’. Juxtaposed to this is his older brother Ben.
Willy, even as an adult, still struggles to become the “virtuous” and “great” man that a tragic character is defined by. Willy is not viewed as a “virtuous” man with good intentions because he ends up cheating on his wife with a mistress while he is on the road. Willy is also not viewed “great” like the business man he wanted to be as he has to lie and cheat his way around corners to get himself by. “Business is