Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman Essay

In reality, does the struggle for the American Dream make someone happy? Throughout the play, the characters are trying to figure out how to be happy and to have peace of mind. The American Dream can motivate us to work hard to get a good education to help us with our future career. However, the American Dream can sometimes motivate someone to just achieve greatness in the eyes of other people. Also, it is easy to get caught up in buying the things which we believe will make us happy. Sometimes, once people achieve fame and wealth, they might realize that they are never satisfied. Never being content leads to not having peace of mind. Peace of mind is much more valuable than popularity and money.

The "Death of a Salesman" play portrays a realistic look into a single man's mind as the characters show both the good and the bad of real, everyday life. Throughout our lives, each person thinks back to different times in our childhoods as well as to experiences as we grow older. Maybe this reminiscing makes us laugh and gives us a mental break from the stress of daily life. By looking back on certain events in our lives, we can give ourselves a boost by realizing what we have accomplished in those situations or by learning from our mistakes or from others' mistakes. It might have been something that we persevered through or an achievement of character. Whether it was an emotional or physical challenge, by thinking through those situations it helps us to push forward and refocus our goals.

Throughout the play, the main character, Willy Loman, struggles to find happiness through his journey for the American Dream. "Death of a Salesman" takes a look into the mind of a common man, represented by Willy. Just like everyone else, Willy works to meet the basic needs of his family. Then, Willy becomes so overwhelmed with stress that his goals become distorted and he cannot find happiness in anything. Finally, Willy gives up all hope in the end because he could not enjoy life along the path to achieving the American Dream.

From the beginning to the end of the play, Willy is constantly working hard to provide for his family. Sometimes, even though he works hard, he cannot make enough money to pay the bills. He then resorts to borrowing money from his neighbor, Charley, in order to make it appear to his wife, Linda, that he is making a respectable profit. "I will not have you mending stockings in this house! Now throw them out!" She, of course, realizes the family's finances. Willy also is probably feeling guilty for buying new stockings for his mistress. Part of his problem is that he still believes he is a good salesman. He thinks that he is an essential part of his company, but he has progressively become no better than a novice salesman. Willy says this to Linda in a conversation about his job, "They don't need me in New York. I'm the New England man. I'm vital in New England." Willy offers advice to Biff for his own career by saying, "The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want." In reality, Willy is not vital to his company. He has lost his talent to sell and does not want to admit it. Another instance of this is when he says to Biff, "I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman!" Willy believes that he is special and that he is not just another ordinary person. One minute he thinks he is indispensable to the company, and the next minute he thinks that he has not done anything worthwhile in his life.

Due to Willy's steady, hard work yet poor income, he is slowly becoming more and more exhausted. He says, "Figure it out. Work a lifetime to pay off a house. You finally own it, and there's nobody to live in it." This is a sign that he is being drained by life and that he is becoming depressed. Along with that, he says, "To suffer fifty weeks a year for the sake of a two-week vacation." These are examples where his life is going downhill and showing that he is exhausted from the pursuit of the American Dream.

Though Willy has worked hard all of his life, he still is not happy with his life and what he has accomplished. A sign of Willy having a mental breakdown or having a stress disorder is when he contradicts himself. An instance where he does this is when he says, "Biff is a lazy bum!" and then comes back to say a few moments later, "Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such - personal attractiveness