Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Play Analysis

“The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, as well as an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers.” (Wikipedia 1). The American dream is a well known set of ideals where hard work and family bring happiness, but it is disproved in Arthur Miller's text Death of a salesman. Miller argues that the American dream is irrelevant to a person's overall contentment through the use of his characters Willy, Biff, and Happy. This is shown through examples such as Willy striving to achieve the American dream for his entire life, and being miserable in the process, and through Happy living the American dream and still being unhappy.

To commence, Willy Loman has been striving to achieve the so-called American dream for his entire life, and is miserable the entire time. First, near the end of the first act, Linda tells Biff and Happy that over the past while, Willy has been attempting suicide, since he believes that he is worth more dead that alive. Linda tells the boys, “He tried killing himself”, followed by “The insurance inspector came… all these accidents in the last year- weren’t- weren’t- accidents” (Miller 58). These two quotes in sequence prove that Willy has been attempting suicide over the past while, and is doing so because he believes that he is not worth anything alive. Willy has been working his entire life to pursue the American dream, only to be left miserable at the end of his life, attempting to kill himself, which is evidence to how the American dream is irrelevant to someone's contentment, and even proves that pursuing this dream is miserable. To continue, part of the American dream is having a strong family, with children, all living happily ever after, but even Willy can’t live up to this, since he is cheating on Linda; “She’s nothing to me, Biff. I was lonely, I was terribly lonely” (120). This quote refers to when Biff catches Willy in a hotel room, with another woman. This quote ultimately proves that even Willy, who is trying to pursue the American dream, contradicts himself, and cheats on Linda, which breaks the “rules” of the American dream. Not even Willy Loman, who is so very devoted to living the dream, can bring himself to live such a miserable and degrading lifestyle.

Next, Happy Loman, the younger of two brothers, is living the American dream in the text, trying to follow in his father’s footsteps, but is miserable anyways. To begin, this is evident when Biff is confused as to why Happy is not content, saying, “Why? You’re making money, aren’t you?” (23). Happy then responds to this, telling Biff, “All I can do now is wait for the merchandise manager to die. And suppose I get to be the merchandise manager?... he just built a terrific estate on Long Island… He can’t enjoy it once it’s finished. And I know that's just what I would do. I don’t know what the hell I’m workin for” (23). This conversation is important because it shows how Happy has a great job, and is making good money, which is a big part of the American dream, yet he is still unhappy in his life. He knows that he is working towards nothing, and is just working to die. To add on to the last point, after Biff tells Happy that he wants to move out to the country and start a farm together, Happy says, “That’s what I dream about, Biff. Sometimes I want to just rip my clothes off in the middle of the store and outbox that goddam merchandise manager” (24). This quote proves that Happy does not even want to be living this American dream, and it proves that Happy would rather go live on a farm with Biff and make next to no money than work his office job for the rest of his life. This comes back to the point that the American dream is irrelevant to contentment. Lastly, similarly to the previous point, again Happy tells Biff that he wants to get out of his office job and start a business; “I got an idea… I thought of a great idea to sell sporting goods.... You and I, Biff… We train a couple weeks, and put on a couple of exhibitions, see?” (63). This idea comes up time and time again in the text, because Happy is simply not content in his life living the American dream. He is always looking for a way to get out of the office job, and live a happier life doing something that he likes.

In conclusion, Arthur Miller proves that the American dream does not bring a person contentment in their life, but merely does the opposite, leaving a person miserable. This is shown through Willy striving to achieve the American dream for his entire life, and being miserable in the process, and through Happy living the American dream and still being unhappy. Miller proves that the American dream is an extremely misleading concept that is outdated and extremely overrated. Living the American dream does not leave a person content and fulfilled in life, but rather leaves a person depressed and miserable.