Arthur Miller and the American Dream

As Voltaire once said, Each player must accept the humour life history deals him or her but once they are in hand, he or she al adept must decide how to play the cards in recount to win the game. Similarly, my grand let compares people to decks of cards. He believes that for each person, divergent cards are missing from the deck, accordingly giving each person different abilities. In this lesson, fate is literally in the cards. Though an unsuccessful salesman, Willy Lomans infallible belief in his fantasy 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 trust of Americans. In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur milling machine, Willy Loman futilely tags the American dream, which is an unattainable, impossible fantasy to miller, used to show the blind faith in Americans, and depicted as a character flaw preferably than attribute in the protagonists of the play. To begin, the tone of the novel set by Arthur Miller is a critical and cynical attitude towards the fancy of the American dream.A astray accepted definition of the American dream is the perception that by dint of spartan work, one can achieve a life of personal and clobber happiness. Moreover, the representation of the American dream in the play is at betting odds with the general belief that hard work generates success. Willy tells his sons, Be liked and you leave alone never want (33). If this were actually the case, his hard work combined with beingness well-liked would welcome been the recipe for personal and materialistic happiness.Though Willy Loman is constantly working, his obsession with the petty 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 c ritical take on the American dream, he is trying to portray that Americans are blindly penny-pinching and optimistic Miller openly criticized such a principle. Happy says on page 23, Youre a poet, you know that Biff?Youre ayoure an idealist Making Biff an idealistic, underachieving son of a castle in the air 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 undertake to failure and disappointment is more proof of Arthur Millers disfavor of the American Dream.Because Arthur Miller believed the American Dream was chased in vain, he portrayed it as a character flaw rather than an attribute in the protagonists in the play. Willy Loman, the protagonist (as well as hi s declare 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 hostility towards facets of the American mentality comes through in the self-destruction of Willy because of his all-consuming dream.For the same reason, Biffs longing for the symbolically gratuitous West showed that Willy instilled his blind faith and materialistic desires in his sons dream as well. Biff asked Happy with enthusiasm, Listen why jadet 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 America n dream. 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 evenly important to prepare for failure. In a game of cards, you can have all the strategy in the world, but fate is in the draw.