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American Dream Happiness

Decent Essays

The American Dream has multiple definitions, but the most common is equality, freedom and opportunity to achieve whatever it is they strive for that no other country in the world offers. The American Dream is the pursuit of happiness to push people past their own limits in order to have a successful life and be a leader in their community. Stated in the Declaration, the American Dream is “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” which is what most people wish for in life. In a nutshell, The American Dream is simply defined as opportunity. In the heart of Arthur Miller’s extraordinary play, Death of a Salesman lies the idea that anyone can become successful and accomplish the ultimate American Dream. Willy Lomen is a dreamer in extreme proportions. He believes the road to success is through charismatic personality, not good intensions or hard work. His idea of success involves materialistic things, or being more financially successful than the neighbor next door. He is extremely optimistic to the point where it disturbs his mind and disrupts his ability to distinguish between reality and false reality. In act one he states, “I have thoughts, I have such strange thoughts.” Willy gets so lost in his flashbacks that he is unable to identify …show more content…

However, they are more realistic than Willy. Ben, Willy’s adventurous brother, goes off to Alaska and finds an extreme amount of financial success by discovering a diamond mine. Willy is taunted by Ben’s voice for the remaining part of the story for not joining Ben on his journey to Alaska. Ben is the character who taught Willy that becoming successful involves being good looking, likable, and well known. This idea is hammered into Willy’s mind which causes him to overly criticize himself and his work. Charley’s son, Bernard, accomplishes the American dream by being studious when he was young and later becoming a well known, successful

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