American Dream in Death of a Salesman and The Great Gatsby

The American Dream as a Central Theme in Death of a Salesman

One of the central themes in Arthur 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 American society since the country's inception. The basic concept is fairly egalitarian in nature, holding that if an individual truly devotes themselves to improving their situation, 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, and whatever obstacles 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 1931 book The Epic of America, in which he stated:

"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 American Dream: the ability to overcome the circumstances of birth and reach one's full potential in life.

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 vision of the dream. Arthur Miller is clearly skeptical of the American Dream, and this skepticism is one of the central themes running throughout Death of a Salesman. While characters such as Willy Loman have achieved basic success 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 truly part of the equation. Rather, he believes that success is achieved largely through relationships and personality. However, the play demonstrates that this strategy does not ultimately work, as neither Willy nor his son Biff are able to make their careers succeed.

Competing Visions of the Dream: Willy, Ben, and Biff

Willy's older brother Ben is more of an embodiment of the traditional American Dream than his younger brother. Ben starts with nothing and is able to make something of himself, though his strategy differs sharply from Willy's — he is the tough-and-tumble type, at least somewhat wild and ruthless. Although the rags-to-riches version of the American Dream may be rather uncommon, through Ben, Miller suggests that to achieve this level of personal growth one must be willing to be ruthless in the process. Ben will do whatever it takes to outdo anyone, as seen when he spars with Biff. This serves as a broad contrast to his brother Willy, who relies on an unidentified product line sold on the strength of his personality alone.

Biff originally believes his father to be a hero, but quickly changes his mind after discovering that his perspective was mistaken. This revelation occurs when Biff discovers his father's infidelity and realizes that his father's worldview is fundamentally flawed. Biff ultimately develops his own version of the American Dream — one that involves the outdoors, an appreciation of nature, and working with his hands. This vision is expressed clearly in a conversation 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 gettin' 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)

The Great Gatsby and the Corruption of the American Dream

The concept of the American Dream may be one of the most interesting and most controversial of all perceptions of American ideals and the American way of life. The themes introduced through Miller's characters pervade many other works of fiction, as numerous authors have tried to portray the American Dream from a variety of perspectives. It is often the case, however, that the concept of this dream becomes conflated with the trappings of prosperity and the excesses that materialism — or the quest for materialism — can bring to the individual. As such, the dream is frequently depicted as a sickness rather than an ideal to be prized.

Perhaps the best example of another perspective on the American Dream and its capacity to corrupt the individual is provided by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. The setting for Fitzgerald's story is one in which the American Dream was at its theoretical potential — during the height of excess in the 1920s, a period commonly associated with a level of greed that dominated the public sphere. Whereas Arthur Miller used everyday figures to display the effects of the ideals associated with the American Dream, Fitzgerald employed a far more extreme representation of this concept.

The Great Gatsby is a love story set in an era of unprecedented material excess and the greed that drives such achievements. The period saw a mixture of old wealth from previous generations of aristocracy alongside up-and-coming entrants to the social class — industrialists, stock market success stories, and speculators who beat the odds. Gatsby, the central character, attempts to craft his own interpretation of the American Dream and becomes consumed by his own success in the process. The new wealth is portrayed as vulgar and without taste, in sharp contrast to the established families who are shown to possess manners and class.

Conclusion

This analysis focused first on the original concept of the American Dream as its origins suggest it was intended. It then examined Arthur Miller's treatment of the dream as illustrated by multiple characters in Death of a Salesman. Miller uses at least three characters to illustrate their own conception of the dream and what constitutes success in their lives, drawing on everyday figures who become consumed by their ideals of achievement. This is then contrasted with Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, which portrays the same ideas in their most extreme form. Both authors ultimately suggest that the American Dream is an unsubstantiated ideal that leaves those who pursue it empty and without meaning — a conclusion best illustrated by the funerals in both stories and the absence of mourners at each.

While the American Dream may fascinate many, it often does far more harm than it does good. Most people naively view the American Dream as something inherently positive and worth pursuing. But as these two enduring works of American literature demonstrate, the single-minded pursuit of material success tends to corrode the very human connections that give life genuine meaning.

References

Adams, J. The Epic of America. Simon Publications, 1933. E-book.

Fitzgerald, F. The Great Gatsby. E-artnow, 2015. Complete Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Miller, A. Death of a Salesman. Pearson Education, 2007.