Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller's Play Death Of A Salesman (1949)

Thematic Analysis

One of the central themes in the Author Miller's play, Death of a Salesman, is the concept of the American Dream. The concept of the American Dream has been one of the fundamental beliefs of the American community since the country's inception. The basic concept is fairly egalitarian in nature and states something to the effect that if an individual truly devotes themselves to improving themselves and their situation, then they will ultimately find prosperity through their hard work. This prosperity is possible because there are few truly limiting factors that can prevent someone from reaching their goals in the U.S. of lore and whatever obstacles that are present can be overcome through dedication and resourcefulness.

James Truslow Adams was among the first to explicitly refer to the American Dream in his book The Epic of America, which was written in 1931 in which the author stated that the American dream is:

"that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position. (Adams)"

This passage embodies the essence of what was thought to be the core concept of the development of the American Dream and that was being able to overcome the circumstances of birth to reach their full potential in lives.

Despite the attractiveness of this concept, the reality is that it often does not hold in practice and many people are unable to achieve their ideal perception of this dream. Author Miller is definitely an individual who is skeptical of the American Dream and this is one of the central themes that runs throughout the Death of a Salesman. While characters such as Willy Loman have been able to make such basic achievements through their charisma, it is not clear how this strategy will pan out in the long run. In fact, Willy does not even believe that hard work is really part of the equation. Rather he believes that success is achieved largely through relationships and personality. However, the play indicates that this strategy doesn't work out in the end as neither Willy, or his son Biff, are able to make their careers work.

However, Willy's older brother is more of the embodiment of the American Dream than his younger brother. He starts with nothing and is able to make something of himself. However, he strategy is much different than his younger brother and he is more of the tough and tumble type that is at least a bit wild. Although the rages to riches version of the American dream may be rather uncommon, through Ben, Miller portrays that in order to achieve this level of personal growth that one must be rather ruthless in the process. He will do anything to best anyone, as we see when he fights Biff. This serves as a broad contrast to his brother who is selling the unidentified products with his personality.

Biff originally believes his father to be the hero, but quickly changes his mind after realizing that his perspective on his father was wrong. This revelation occurs after Biff discovers his father cheating on his wife and quickly realizes that his father's opinion in not right. Biff comes to develop his own version of the American Dream which involves being outdoors and appreciating nature and working with his hands. This is clear in a conversation that Biff has with Happy about his life choices:

"There's nothing more inspiring or -- beautiful than the sight of a mare and a new colt. And it's cool there now, see? Texas is cool now, and it's spring. And whenever spring comes to where I am, I suddenly get the feeling, my God, I'm not getting' anywhere! What the hell am I doing, playing around with horses, twenty-eight dollars a week! I'm thirty-four years old. I oughta be makin' my future. That's when I come running home (Miller 16)."

Unit 2: American Dream Comparison

The concept of the American Dream might be one of the most interesting and most controversial of all the perceptions of on the American way of life and its ideals. The first section presented some of the aspects that Arthur Miller attributed to the American Dream as portrayed by multiple figures in his play. The same themes pervade many other works of fiction as many authors have tried to display the concept of the American Dream in a variety of different ways through different perspectives. It is often the case however that concept of this dream are conflated with the trappings of prosperity and the excesses that materialism, or the quest for materialism, can bring to the individual. As such, it is often displayed as a sickness, more so than any ideal to be prized.

Probably one of the best examples of another perspective on the American Dream and its ability to corrupt the individual is provided by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. The setting for Fitzgerald's story is one of the scenarios in which the American Dream was at its theoretical potential at the height of all the excesses that were in full display in the 1920s. This period is commonly looked at as one in which there was a level of greed that dominated the public sphere. Whereas Arthur Miller used more of a common everyday kind of person to display the effects of the ideal associated with the American Dream, Fitzgerald used more of the extreme representation of this concept.

The Great Gatsby is a love story, but one that is set in an error of unprecedented material excess and the greed that drives these achievements. In this period there was a mix of old wealth from previous generations of aristocracy as well as up and coming entrants to this social class by industrialists, stock market success stories, and speculators who beat the odds. Gatsby, the central character, is trying to craft out his own interpretation of the American Dream and gets carried away in the process with his own successes. The new wealth was portrayed as vulgar and without taste and the established families were a contrast that had manners and class.

One of the greatest examples of the corrupting power of the American Dream in both stories can be illustrated by the attendance of the funerals after the main characters pass away. In the Death of a Salesman, Willy believed that he is well liked as bases much of his strategy for success on his personality. Despite his own personal opinion of himself and his status among the people he knows, nobody comes to his funeral. Linda: "But where are all the people he knew? Maybe they blame him ... "(Miller 137). At best Willy was tolerated by the people he knew and had very few relationships in which people actually liked him.

The Gatsby's funeral had roughly the same theme that ran through it.

" The minister glanced several times at his watch so I took him aside and asked him to wait for half and hour. But it wasn't any use. Nobody came." (Fitzgerald 182)

Although thousands of people attended Gatsby's parties, he still didn't have any close relationships either. Many of his closest associates did not even show up due to various factors and it was clear that he did not have many real friends.