Dreams in Death of a Salesman Essay Example

The play of Death of a Salesman is intertwined with many themes that help bring it together to make it the profound piece of writing it is. Out of the many themes, the one that seems to have the most importance is the theme of dreams. The play is filled with daydreams, dreams full of hope and aspirations, and dreams that go astray. The dreams of the characters are what carry on the storyline of the play. The creation and deterioration of dreams is what Death of a Salesman is about. The theme of dreams is more important than the theme of honesty in the play. Honesty still plays a big role in the lives of the characters. This shown through the play as Willy passes his ideals of “getting successful by any means”. The main reason why the Loman men are being dishonest goes back to the important theme of dreams. The Loman men will do whatever they can to achieve their dreams of success. An example of this is how Willy taught Biff that it was alright to steal if it leads to success, Biff learns this at a young age and eventually faces the consequences of his actions. At one point in the play Biff steals a ball from school, Willy awards Biff's dishonesty by saying, “Sure, he's gotta practice with a regulation ball, doesn't he? Coach'll probably congratulate you on the initiative.” Even though Biff steals to get his dream, his is still honest about stealing and he never keeps it a secret. Willy his entire life cheats to achieve his dream. He sleeps with a secretary to boost his sales, he is also dishonest about how is work is going. Happy cheats his way to achieve his dream by taking bribes when he's not suppose to. All the dishonesty in the Loman family is based on achieving their dreams of success.

The theme of dreams is more important than the theme of sex in the play. The theme of sex is still present between the characters, but it is not what keeps the storyline rolling. Sex is a destructive theme in the play, an example of this is when Willy took his sexual