Arthur Miller and the American Dream

As Voltaire once said, Each player must accept the cards invigoration deals him or her but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to cajole the game. Similarly, my grandfather compares people to decks of cards. He believes that for each per intelligence, different cards are missing from the deck, accordingly giving each person different abilities. In this example, sine qua non is literally in the cards. Though an unsuccessful salesman, Willy Lomans infallible belief in his dream shows that he never considered the salesman card was missing from his deck.The notion of the American dream falls back on the blind optimism and faith of Americans. In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur milling machine, Willy Loman futilely chases the American dream, which is an unattainable, impossible fantasy to moth miller, utilize to show the blind faith in Americans, and depicted as a character flaw rather than attribute in the protagonists of the play. To beg in, the tone of the novel focalise by Arthur Miller is a critical and cynical attitude towards the idea of the American dream.A widely accepted definition of the American dream is the perception that by dint of hard work, one can achieve a life of personal and material happiness. Moreover, the representation of the American dream in the play is at odds with the general belief that hard work generates success. Willy tells his sons, Be liked and you will never want (33). If this were actually the case, his hard work combined with being well-liked would look at been the recipe for personal and mercantile happiness.Though Willy Loman is constantly working, his obsession with the superficial qualities of being liked contrasts with the more tenacious and rewarding understanding of the American dream. Miller shows us just how unbelieving he is in the American dream when he wrote the plot of Death of a Salesman, in which the protagonists chase unattainable desires. Through Millers crit ical take on the American dream, he is trying to portray that Americans are blindly faithful and optimistic Miller openly criticized much(prenominal) a principle. Happy says on page 23, Youre a poet, you know that salt lick?Youre ayoure an idealist Making Biff an idealistic, underachieving son of a daydreaming failure adds to the irony of the American dream in the play. Another example of the authors perspective was the way in which Miller suggests that the idea of the American dream hinders people from enjoying the success they have already achieved, in Willys case, having a loving family. The Lomans were optimistic during situations where it was unwarranted their expectant accession to failure and disappointment is more proof of Arthur Millers disapproval of the American Dream.Because Arthur Miller believed the American Dream was chased in vain, he envisioned it as a character flaw rather than an attribute in the protagonists in the play. Willy Loman, the protagonist (as well as his own antagonist), brought himself to his own demise when he could not discern his own life from his Dream. Millers antagonistic approach towards the various get-rich-quick dreams Biff, Happy, and Willy entertained also shined through at the impossibility of their execution. His antagonism towards facets of the American mentality watchs through in the self-destruction of Willy because of his all-consuming dream.For the same reason, Biffs longing for the symbolically free West showed that Willy instilled his blind faith and materialistic desires in his sons dream as well. Biff asked Happy with enthusiasm, Listen why dont you come out West with me? (23). Although intending to come to terms with his own life, Biffs longing for the West is glorified by his fathers undying faith in his own Dream. Biff and Willy Lomans dependency on their fantasies show another, more negative, aspect to having dreams.Death of a Salesman is one of the foundational texts describing the American dre am. Arthur Miller wrote the play in the mindset of an adversary to the American dream. Death of a Salesman displays Millers disapproval for the American dream and blind optimism, and displays chasing a dream as a weakness rather than a strength. In the play, Arthur Miller shows us that although it is important to teach of success, it is equally important to prepare for failure. In a game of cards, you can have all the scheme in the world, but fate is in the draw.