Dreams

This is a recurring theme with “Death of a salesman,” as Willy tries to achieve it throughout the book. The American dream of working and earning plenty of money is what Willy desires. But the belief in how to get there is different between Willy and Ben. Where Willy believes that respect and likeliness of a character will be much more rewarded than how much he is able to sell. But his theory does not seem to apply to any of the characters within the book. For example Biff is well liked by many but still struggles to obtain the American dream. In contrast Ben, an already successful business man obtained his dream through action and hard work. Ben “went into the jungle” to get his dream. Willy and Ben are both brothers therefore it is a juxtaposition of the characters how one is successful and rich (Ben) whilst the other is stuck in America and struggles to find enough cash to pay for the car insurance (Willy). Though we see how Willy keeps on having visions of Ben and his success, we still see Willy holding strongly to his ideals. Even through various speeches that Ben has had with Willy about “action” and taking the dream, Willy is still holding on to his belief that being well liked is still the most important aspect of capturing the dream. As well as Charley, who is able to give a similar speech but in the end he was able to crack Willy’s ideals of how to get the American dream. Willy believed in his own ideals because he had little to offer apart from reputation and his likeliness. With the trouble of selling Willy had nothing else to believe in apart from what he had. Willy’s motivation within the play is his dream, how it is fueling him to look for an opportunity to become rich fast. This ambition is reflected within his son Biff, and we are able to see this when Happy has an idea to set up his own company. This is a get “rich quick scheme” which does not work because they were not able to receive enough money to start it up. But when Biff goes to see Oliver for the money, he does not remember Biff. This therefore contradicts the idea of how being “well liked” will help to gain the dream. Instead we go back to the idea of exploration and hard work, just as what happened to Ben. He was able to go into the jungle and come out rich, but he had to work hard to get through the jungle. Though he was lucky that he found this opportunity, but his hard work is rewarded. This contrasts Willy and how he is unlucky, and does not seek out luck in order to fulfill his dream. See pages 66-68 (Where Willy refuses to believe that exploration will help, and instead trusts Biff to fulfill the dream. ‘A man can end with diamonds here on the basis of being liked!’” Willy not only dreams of his own success but also of his sons. But they ultimately also fail to meet Willy’s expectations to fulfilling this dream. And we can see this through Biff, where in high school he was a successful football star, and very social. Hence showing potential to obtaining success, but without hard work he flunked maths, and failed to graduate. This then can foreshadow Willy, and how he was able to be well liked, but then failed in being a salesman and therefore was not able to succeed in his dream. We can see a contrast between families where the Loman family struggles to obtain their dreams; their neighbors Charley and Bernard are very much successful, in a way where they have a large business which generates a lot of money for the family. Though ironic how Willy used to “mock” Bernard for studying hard, since we can now see which of the two theories about dreams is more successful, the one that Willy believes in or the one Ben believes in.
 * Memorable quotes:**
 * Willy:** Biff is a lazy bum! (This shows that Biff is a not hard working man, and this could symbolize why he failed, in such a way that he had flunked math)
 * Willy:** (talking about Biff) I’ll get him a job selling. He could be big in no time. My god! Remember how they used to follow hi, around in high school? When he smiled at one of them their faces lit up. (Willy’s dream of his son growing up and becoming successful. Though not through hard work but through “smiles” and being well liked)
 * Ben:** When I was 17 I walked into the jungle, and when I was 21 I walked out. And by god I was rich. (This shows how Ben through pursuing his dream, found an opportunity within the jungle. The length of time that he was in the jungle could show us how hard working he was, where he spent 4 years looking for what he wanted.)
 * Ben:** Never fight fair with a stranger. You’ll never get out of the jungle that way. (This quote could symbolize how unfair and harsh someone has to be when pursing the American dream.)