Dreams in Death of a Salesman Essay

daydreams ar part of either mans nature. To fantasy is to live a brio that you forecast for yourself in the future. These dreams whitethorn or may non be realiz subject besides will always drive people toward them. People may take these dreams seriously like Willy Loman but to most people to acquire their dreams would be to achieve the impossible. Dreams can be rattling dangerous if they are the tho driving forces behind a persons motorcareer and lead them, not to hope but to want for things beyond their reach. This is the slip-up in Death of a Salesman.The driving force behind Willy Loman passim the Death of a Salesman, is the idea that he can achieve the American Dream. He wants to stool the material things in life and to agree the best of everything he wants lots of money, a big house, and a agreeable family and, To come bulge the number-one man. He sees Ben as the epitome of mastery, he longs to be as successful as Ben or even as successful as Bernard, always asking Whats the secret? or else of being discouraged from this by Linda she is tolerant of him, constantly backing down, decent to the end. Even in his plans of suicide, she is scared to contradict him, instead replacing the no-good hose every evening when he comes home.Happy idolises his engender and buys into the American Dream. Right until the end, he believes he actually is somebody. When Biff points out, Youre one of the two assistants to the assistant he still tries to convince himself of his importance. He is very like his fetch in his need for success, when he looks where in that location is no success he has to make it up. Both of them believe they have to lie to people to make themselves likeable. When Willy dies, instead of understanding how futile his dream is, Happy vows to fight on for Willy continuing his battle. Biff, however is less strong-willed and prefers simple pleasures. He doesnt want to be told how to live his life and doesnt want to follow certain r ules.He wants to be able to whistle in the elevator. He loves The work and the food and the metre to sit and smoke. He doesnt want to beg and suck up and make money he would altogether spend to beg and recoil less. However Willy doesnt understand this and believes that Biff is simply, A lazy cigarette. He is sure that Biff could succeed in the city if he moreover tried. Both Willy and Happy feel they have to cover up Biffs lack of success Willy boasts to Bernard that Biff has being doing, very big things in the West and Happy in much the equivalent way tells Stanley how Biff is a big cattle man. They completely subscribe to the American DreamA major part of the do work is the time that Willy spends living in the past daydreaming and reminiscing. He is constantly revisiting the parts of his life that have shaped him to the person that he is. In this way the audience unravels the story of Biffs childhood, Bens success and Willys affair with The Woman. This seems to be the pa rt of his life he most regrets, as it is the time he revisits the most. At several moments end-to-end the play, The Womans laughter is heard from offstage, usually at generation that Willy sees what has become of his life, for example when he sees Linda mending her stockings.These flashbacks are played out to the audience like scenes in real life and often simultaneously they are only indicated by the actions of the actors. During dream sequences, the actors pass by dint of the boundaries of the walls as though acting on a completely different stage, but during sequences in the present the actors obey the imaginary lines of the walls, entering and leaving by means of the doors. This helps the audience to distinguish between times. Often during flashbacks a certain parentage is heard on the flute this is his fathers flute. Ben tells Willy about their father and how they used to sit around a fire and listen to their father play.Ben is idolised by Willy for his success and wealt h but at the alike time distrusted by Linda. She seems to be reserved in her affection for him as opposed to Willy who treats him as a hero the moment he walks through with(predicate) the door and she is disinterested when Willy reminisces about Ben years later. We dont disturb Ben in person at any time throughout the play, only through Willys dreams, so we are only aware of him through Willys estimation of him. Willy remembers him as a go-getter and a attracter of men. He is shown to be motivated only by money as seen in his final conversation with Willy. He is not concerned with Willys wellbeing, only by the large sum of money he would crystallize from the insurance payoff, twenty thousand that is something one can feel with the elapseLinda is the only member of the Loman family that has no dreams, all she wants is for Willy to be safe and well and the boys to respect him. Happys uttermostfetched idea of setting up business on their own carries even Biff away. Linda merel y encourages. She is well-provided to live with Willy even if they have no garden or the car breaks down or the fridge fails. Arthur Miller seems to see her, not Ben, as the real hero of the play. This is reflected in the gentle respect he gives to her in his writing.This play is a strong message against the principle of the American Dream. Willy Loman is constantly striving to achieve the dream, but drives himself crazy. Biff seems to be the only character in the Loman family that is able to set himself aside from this dream, wanting only to be able his own man. Although I believe dreams to be an important, if not essential part of life, I also believe that contentment is far more important. If you cannot be happy with what you have, you cannot possibly hope to be happy with what you wish for. Willy Loman dreams of becoming a great man, dreams of the great man he was and dreams of the great man Biff can be, he just fails to interpret that they are great men.