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WILLY LOMAN & HIS "AMERICAN DREAM"
Miller's American masterpiece Death of a Salesman, first presented on
the stage in New York City in 1949, represents a successful attempt to
blend the themes of social and personal tragedy within the same dramatic
framework. Yet the story of Willy Loman is also one of false values
sustained by almost every publicity agency in the national life of the U.S.
Willy Loman accepts at face value the over-publicized ideals of material
success and blatant optimism, and therein lies his own personal tragedy.
defeat illustrate not only the failure of a man but also the failure of a
door-to-door salesman. Miller's ability to project this story of his
class hero into the common experience of so many Americans who sustain
themselves and their families with ignorance and unrealistic goals, makes
Death of a Salesman one of the most significant in American theater within
For Willy Loman, life's accomplishments and sources of pleasure are
simple. This statement provides an excellent judgment on his life, due to
"leading a very average existence as a traveling salesman which he believes
will enable himself and his family to
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attain the "American dream" (Jacobson, 250). For twenty-five years, Willy
has been working to pay off the mortgage on his modest home, and once that
is accomplished, he will attain a sense of freedom or the "American Dream".
This goal, in light of the economic/social conditions that existed at the
time in which the play is set, presents a perfect picture of his ultimate
aim in life, clearly outlined by dollar signs and a sense of ownership, two
key points to personal success as far as Willy is concerned.
The key thing which leads to Willy's depression, however, is his
inabili...