How Is The “American Dream” Represented In The Character Of Willy Loman In “The Death Of A Salesman”?
Arthur Miller’s most loved play (but not the most performed because that is The Crucible) is called The Death of a Salesman. Its conceit is to look at the American Dream, something that Miller was fascinated with. The character of Willy Loman is a hard working American, who a wife and a nice house and two good kids, he is living the American Dream that anyone can make it. However, this is not really the case and Willy Loman’s character and the plot of the play show us what it is really behind the American Dream. Willy is having an affair, when his son finds out it nearly kills him, but this shows the sleaze behind the dream of wife, kids, house and car. Also, no matter how hard he works, how well he sticks to his principles, he is in the end, sent off the glue factory (metaphorically) because he no longer fits the needs of the company, he has become surplus to requirement. The American Dream is a coy, friendly, euphemism for Capitalism and the first casualty of Communism is the individ
