Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman and the American Dream - Book Report/Review Example

13 American Literature Honors Mrs. Newmyer 10/27/2009 Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” and the American Dream Death of a Salesman (1949), by the American playwright Arthur Miller has been one of the most celebrated plays in the American literature and the play has been greatly acclaimed for its treatment of the theme of the American Dream through its protagonist Willy Loman. The portrayal of the American Dream in the play made both the playwright, Arthur Miller, and the protagonist, Willy Loman, household names. In the play, the delusions of Willy Loman, a washed up salesman, make him believe that he is still highly dexterous and diligent, and a number of such delusions, which he no longer held toward the end of the play, are the basis of the arguments that Death of a Salesman is an important work dealing with the American Dream. Willy Loman strongly holds in the play that the promise of the American Dream is to be well-liked and very well-known by everyone. “Death of a Salesman presents a rich matrix of enabling fables that define the myth of the American dream. Indeed, most theatergoers assume, on a priori level, that the principles Willy Loman values – initiative, hard work, family, freedom, consumerism, economic salvation, competition, the frontier, self sufficiency, public recognition, personal fulfillment, and so on – animate American cultural poetics… Although Willy Loman, inspired by a mythologized Dave Singleman and a desire to build a future for his boys through hard work, endorses such values, it is an endorsement foisted upon him less by personal choice than by a malevolent universe whose hostility mocks his every pursuit.” (Bigsby, 61-2) That is to say, the American Dream represented by Willy Loman is something imposed upon him by a malicious universe whose hostility mocks his every pursuit and there is less personal choice in his acceptance of this pertinent theme. Therefore, in reflective analysis of the American Dream represented by Willy Loman in the play by Arthur Miller, it becomes lucid that the protagonist does not live up to his expectation of the American Dream and his fascination for the superficial qualities of attractiveness and likeability is in disagreement with a gratifying understanding of the American Dream. In the play Death of a Salesman, the protagonist Willy Loman strongly believes that the American Dream is the ability to become flourishing by sheer charisma and he fails to come up to his expectation of the American Dream. To the character, the key to success is merely personality, and not hard work and innovation. Therefore, Willy is greatly concerned about bringing up his boys ‘well-liked’ and ‘popular’. For example, Willy anxiously asks about the classmate’s reaction, when his son Biff confesses to him about making fun of his math teacher’s lisp. “BIFF: I Crossed my eyes and talked with a lithp. / WILLY: (Laughing.) You did? The kids like it? / BIFF: They nearly died laughing!” (Miller, 96) Thus, the protagonist understands the American Dream as the ability to become prosperous by sheer personality and his version of the American Dream never works out in the play. If mere personality could help one in achieving success, as the protagonist’s notion of the American Dream suggests, his son’s popularity in the high school must have helped him achieve prosperity in life. Instead, Biff grows up to be a vagabond and a ranch-hand, in spite of his charisma in the high school, and the protagonist’s notion of the American Dream proves to be utter failure. Similarly, Willy’s own career proves how he was mistaken in understanding the American Dream as a result of one’s personality, and he merely gets fired when he attempts to make use of his “personality” to ask his boss for an increase in the salary. Thus, Willy Loman’s strong belief that the American Dream is the ability to become flourishing by mere personality proves to be wrong and he fails to come up to his expectation of the American Dream. In Death of a Salesman Willy Loman believes that the American Dream is to be well-liked and very well-known by everyone, but a reflective character-analysis of Willy Loman confirms that he does not live up to his expectation of the American Dream. All through the play, the Loman family keenly struggles to get hold of the American Dream and the protagonist, having worked hard all his life, is waiting for the society to help him achieve the American Dream. However, the basic issue concerning the protagonist’s notion of the American Dream is that he purely assumes that mere personality can do the magic for an individual more than hard work or innovation. Willy Loman is a true representative American who believes in the great national dream of every American. He is a salesman who, after thirty-five years on the road, has never achieved the rewards and recognition of the society and he is driven to despair by his failure in a system that seems to guarantee success. “Measuring his worth by the volume of his sales – Miller never lets us know what Willy sells because, essentially, he is selling himself – Willy obviously withdraws from the crises and the disappointments of the present into memories of the past and into imaginary conversations with his brother Ben, his symbol of success.” (Gray, 704) Therefore, the playwright presents the protagonist as a person who is selling himself, i.e. his own personality or charisma, in order to achieve the American Dream and Willy ultimately does not live up to his expectation of the American Dream. In his play, Arthur Miller presents Willy Loman, the epitome of the American Dream in the play, as a middle-aged salesman (sixty-three year old) who is not able to earn a living, and the author’s treatment of the character clearly suggests that he is not able to live up to his expectation of the American Dream. His motivations of the American Dream become extinct at the end of the play when he attempts to suicide by breathing in gas from the water heater or by crashing his car. In fact, the actions by the protagonist by the end of the play suggest that he admits his inability to live up to his expectation of the American Dream. At the end of the play, when Willy kills himself by crashing his car, in order to help his family achieve the life insurance money, one realizes that the character of Willy defines as well as criticizes the concept of the American Dream. “The tragedy of Willy Loman, however, is also the tragedy of American societys pursuit of the American Dream, which the play both defines and criticizes… The masculine mythos of the American Dream as personified in Willy Loman has three competing dimensions: the Green World, the Business World, and the Home.” (Stanton, 67) Thus, the tragic hero of Miller’s play, Willy Loman, dedicates his whole life to the American Dream and he wastes his entire life trying to become happy, successful and free. Willy Loman believes that the American Dream requires one to be well-liked and very well-known by everyone and this belief turns out to be just an illusion for the success. In reality, Willy Loman does not live up to his expectation of the American Dream, which guides him to end his life by crashing his car. The American Dream has been an unambiguous goal of many Americans, which means something different to everyone, and Willy Loman’s version is greatly divergent from most others. Arthur Miller makes a critical analysis of the American Dream in his Death of a Salesman, by portraying to the readers a few days in the life of the wrecked salesman, whose version of the American Dream focuses more on being popular and gaining economic successes than on achieving something that will make him happy. In a profound analysis of the character of Willy Loman, one realizes that the character has never been part of the American Dream all through the play, because he fails to follow his true dreams and aspirations. The playwright clearly suggests in his play why the protagonist was unable to achieve the American Dream. “In text and performances, Miller insists on maintaining the dram’s essential contrariety: ‘An air of the dream clings to the place, a dream rising out of reality’, though reality ensures that Willy never fulfills his dreams, and his dreams never fully square with reality.” (Bigsby, 66) That is to say, Willy was not able to fulfill his dreams, because his dreams were never fully in tune with reality. Thus, Willy chooses a career in the play which will make him money, although not much in reality, rather than a career which he could enjoy. In other words, the character fails to be part of the American Dream because he tries to become successful and wealthy rather than dedicate his life for something corresponding to the ultimate joy of his life. In conclusion, the character of Willy Loman in Miller’s Death of a Salesman is obsessed with the outward qualities of attractiveness and likeability, rather than with the more gratifying understanding of the American Dream. He strongly believes that the American Dream requires him to be well-liked and very well-known by everyone. However, a reflective analysis of the character of Willy confirms that he does not live up to his expectation of the American Dream. Works Cited Bigsby, C. W. E. The Cambridge companion to Arthur Miller. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1997. P 61-2. Gray, Richard J. A history of American literature. New York: Wiley-Blackwell. 2004. P 704. Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem. New York: Penguin Classics. 1998. P 96. Stanton, Kay. “Women and the American Dream of Death of a Salesman.” Feminist Rereadings of Modem American Drama. Jane Schlueter. (Ed). Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. 1989. P 67. Read More