" The American dream has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development. ...Epitomizing the democratic ideals and aspirations on which America had been founded, the American way of life ...developed for the benefit of the simple human being of any and every class." J.T. ADAMS - The epic of America (1938)

Playwright Arthur Miller's " Death of A Salesman" could be described as a study in the American Dream ideology, a system that at times is indescribably brutal and at other times benevolent. Willy Loman is a product of this ever increasing capitalist society, obsessed with making it, measuring success by popularity and material wealth and unfortunately impressing these misguided principles upon his family. He is by no means a tragic hero but a victim; a naive and ineffectual man for whom we as the reader feel pity.

For Willy Loman, to be liked, and well liked at that was the definitive criterion of life success. The American dream of affluence and fortuity became Willy's dream, and once for the Lomans, it almost became reality. Now in his mid sixties, Willy accepts that in fact he has l

ived his life in vain, never achieving nor succeeding but remaining a mediocre shadow of his aspirations. It is this sudden insight that spurs him into a fantasy world of reflection, afraid to face the future.

It is only through Willy's failure as a salesman that his innate desire for the outdoors is exposed. At the end of the play, Charley mentions, "... He was a happy man with a batch of cement ... so wonderful with his hands ... he had the wrong dreams, all wrong.".

The American dream was not the Loman nightmare. Willy's dream was. In the end, the decision is up to the individual.

"... I'm staying right in this city and I'm gonna beat this racket ...he had a good dream. It's the only dream a man can have - to come out number one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I'm gonna win it for him."

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Approximate Word count = 946
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)