Illusion Verses Reality in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Essay

Illusion Verses Reality in Death of a Sales objet dart by Arthur Miller Death of A Salesman, by Arthur Miller, is a play that tells the layer of a traveling salesman, Willy Loman, who encounters frustration and failure as he reflects on and experiences his own life. Willys quest for the American moon leads to his failure because throughout his life, he comes the illusion of the American Dream and not the reality of it. His mindset on perfection, his obsession with success, and his constant reminiscence of the past and foretelling of the future, all sum up to his defeat in the end. The reality of the American Dream is that people ar capable of succeeding. Success, though, requires ane to work hard and be dedicated to both his/her professional life and family life. Yet, the illusion of the Dream is that attaining material prosperity defines success. weakness to acknowledge the importance of hard work in achieving the American Dream is another aspect of the illusion. By ignorin g the present, Willy fails to deal with reality. He has a inclination of an orbit of living in the past and thinking of the future. He always thinks that if he had done something differently then this could deal happened, or things will set up better as time passes. His habit of distorting the past, never allows Willy to realize what is passing game on right then and there in the present. At one time, when Willy goes off down memory lane, he says to Biff and Happy, America is all-inclusive of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys?the finest people?there?ll be decipherable sesame for all of us, ?cause one thing boys I have friends. I can park my car in any lane?and the cops protect it like their own (31). Willy makes this distortion of the pa... ...ind. Willy Loman portrays a common man, who lives a life that is purely an illusion. Although Willy has good intentions, his tragic flaw is that he focuses only on the appearance of the American Dream and never on the reality, the work ethic, or how to achieve it. Willy brings about his own downfall, his defeat, because he tries to pursue this superficial idea. Miller includes this theme of the American Dream in his fond criticism in an attempt to portray the deviation in the determine of orderliness. For instance, materialism and technological advances, causes the American Dream to change as measure changes. The salesman is a position that has declining importance at the time. He shows that an individual?s values are based on what community has established. Yet, as society changes, the values one has may not, causing conflict between the society and the individual.