The Pursuit Of Happiness In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

The Pursuit of Happiness
The American Dream is acquired through hard work and sacrifice and allows normal people in society to believe that material prosperity is what defines success. The aspiration to achieve the American Dream is the catalyst to believing that material possessions are more important than spiritual values. Hard work and vigor is essential in being prosperous in life, and excellence must be preserved in oneself. The spirit, the will to excel, and the will to win is what one must give every bit of effort toward to acquire the dream. The American Dream remains a beacon of hope, but can be harmful if this dream is not controlled. The desire to achieve the American Dream can thus result in mental deterioration, and can cause one
Willy embraces, “The whole wealth of Alaska passes over the lunch table at the Commodore Hotel...that a man can end with diamonds here on the basis of being liked!” (Miller 86) Willy Loman uses the physical manifestation of diamonds as a notion to support his son Biff, and illustrate to Biff what one has the possibility to attain when they are truly successful. Willy views life through a materialistic lens and Willy genuinely wants Biff and Happy to have the same grit and passion, as Ben contains. Willy aspires Biff and Happy to be as prosperous as Ben, and Willy attempts to immerse himself in Ben’s material success, through diamonds. Willy strives to be the backbone for his two sons, and wants to depict what the sweet blossom of success contains. Willy remarks to Biff that, “thousands of people will be rooting for you and loving you,” (Miller 86) as a means to nurture his son Biff and prove that Biff encompasses the set of qualities to be successful. Willy Loman focuses on tangible wealth and fosters materialism, in which Willy believes that one’s possessions are the epitome of success, hard work, and the will to excel. Willy merely yearns for the betterment of his family’s conditions, and harnesses internal anxiety when his kids do not fulfill the wishes that Willy desires. Willy creates an elusive dream for his
Using characters and symbols, Miller and Hansberry showcase the unsound tangents within the American Dream, and its indisputable focus on physicality to define wealth and status. The two plays expose the reality of the American Dream and its negative influence on the common man. The American Dream is often the aim in the common man’s life, although it is the root cause of deterioration when one bases wealth and riches as the end goal. The American Dream encompasses opportunity for prosperity, and the chance to to move upward in status, regardless of race, gender, or social class at birth. When the American Dream is associated with materialism and physical comfort, instead of family and spiritual values, an individual can become greedy and hopeless. The American Dream has often been referred to as a “fruitless pursuit” in that it causes individuals to only focus on material objects, wealth, and leave behind important family values, being loyalty, honesty, and morality. The faults enclosed in the American Dream are far more detrimental to the common man as it promotes material prosperity, and accentuates the idea of tangible wealth. At the heart of the American Dream, it is vital that the common man finds light in family and nurture core values, rather than chase