Dreams and Danger in Arthur

Dreams and Danger in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and Tennessee Williams' the Glass Menagerie

Parents can often inflict more damage on their families when they most not to. Two dramas that illustrate how this can happen are Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and Tennessee Williams' the Glass Menagerie. Willy Loman ruins his family by believing in and spreading dreams and lies for the better part of his life. He passes this trait onto Biff, who finds himself a wayward adult when it comes to dreams and goals. Amanda Wingfield does similar damage with their far-fetched dreams but she pushes her family away instead. She wants so badly for things to work out for the best that she refuses to accept truth that would make everyone's life easier. Both Willy and Amanda drown themselves in lies and dreams in hope of strengthening their families, only to cause the unraveling of their families.

Both drama introduce us to parents that contribute to their children's destiny. In Death of a Salesman, Willy is basically a blind fool and his family suffers from the fact that he cannot face reality. In fact, Willy cannot face several realities. The biggest and perhaps the most important reality that Willy cannot face is the fact that he is not a successful salesman and even at a mature age, he might be better of attempting to do something that he is actually good at doing. However, Willy could never fact the fact that he was a failure and so he continues to live a lie. He tells his family that one day he will "get an advance, and I'll come home with a New York job" (Miller II.1070-1). In addition, he is convinced that someday, he will never have to get "behind another wheel" (II.1071). He not only believes his own lies but also tells them to his family. Because he is not a success, his family must do without. Willy also works many hours and this causes him to be on the road when he should be home with his wife. His eyesight is failing and he is tired behind the wheel of the car. He is so beaten down by life that he has nothing to give his family at the end of the day. In the Glass Menagerie, a Amanda also has difficulty facing reality when it comes to her children. She refuses to believe that Laura is crippled. She tells Laura that the concept of her being crippled in "nonsense" (977) and that she simply has a "little defect -- hardly noticeable" (977). Amanda contributes to the unraveling of her family because she insists on living in a fantasy life. She lives in the past and seems to enjoy thinking about her life when she was younger and life had more to offer.

Both stories include parents that influence the way their children think. In Death of a Salesman, Biff is terrible effected by is father's ways. In fact, he grows up to inherit Willy's most negative traits. For example, he is not compelled to do anything with his life. He drifts from job to job and has no direction. He admits that he has had "twenty or thirty different kinds of jobs" (Miller 1038) and none of them have helped him discover what his talent truly is. He becomes aware of this with growing frustration and finally tells Willy, "I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody! That's whose fault it is!" (1108). Here we see how parents can influence their children even when they do not mean to do so. Willy never meant for Biff to turn out the way he did but it was Willy's attitude that drove him to his frame of mind. In the Glass Menagerie, Amanda has a negative effect on Laura and Tom because she has a problem facing certain realities. She believes in the most unlikely things happening and this is most obvious when she tells Laura to remain at the table and stay "fresh and pretty for gentlemen callers" (971) because, even though Laura is not expecting any gentleman callers, sometimes "they come when they are least expected" (971). In this scene, she is deliberately planting an idea in Laura's head that someone will show up out of the blue and ask for her hand in marriage. Even Laura knows that the likelihood for this occurring is small. Even when Jim enters into the picture, Amanda puts all of her faith into him marrying Laura without knowing anything about him or his feelings. Tom needs to find an escape from his mother and he does so by leaving home as often as possible. His greatest escapes are going to the movies and spending time of the fire escape. The pressure of taking care of the family proves to be too much for Tom as he tells Amanda that if he were thinking of himself as much as she accused him of doing so, he would be like his father, who is "gone! As far as the system of transportation reaches!" (981). Tom is plagued with the dread of what kind of life he lives with his mother and sister along with the pressure to care for them since he is the only man in the family. This pressure causes Tom to drink excessively and escape to world that does not exist in the movies.

Willy and Amanda do not intentionally set out to be detriments to their families. They have the best intentions but that is simply not enough. In Death of a Salesman, Willy has good intentions, but he chooses to believe the lie that things will get better for him tomorrow. He tells his wife, "The trouble was that three of the stores were half-closed for inventory in Boston. Otherwise, I woulda broke records" (1046). He admits, "people don't seem to take to me" (1047) and they laugh at him. He also states that the people he works with "just pass me by. I'm not noticed" (1047). He knows the truth but he simply cannot bring himself to believe it. In the Glass Menagerie, Amanda accuses Tom of being a "selfish dreamer" (1024) but it is her constant nagging that drives him over the edge. Amanda cannot deal with the truth about Laura so she chooses to believe that her prince charming will magically appear and take care of their family for the rest of their lives. These parents do more harm than good to their families because they cannot face certain truths about their lives.