- Economic forces
In ‘The Death of a Salesman’ by Arthur Miller, the economic forces have a great role to play when it comes to the achievement of the American dream. Miller associates the American dream with business success and the ability of one to own a car, a house and give a good life to his family (Miller, 2007). Successful business in the play means having a white collar job and Willy, Biff and happy do not have that. These are characters that are talented in other sectors such as athletics for Biff and carpentry for Willy, and they had the chance to live fulfilling lives if they had followed their talents. They are however corrupted by the society’s perspective of the American dream and they instead choose to get into the white collar jobs that did not fully represent their true selves.
- Rugged Individualism
Ben in ‘The Death of a Salesman’ by Arthur Miller is the true definition of rugged individualism. This is a character that took the risk and left his comfort zone and went ahead to become a successful business man that his brother Willy admires. Though it is not properly explained in the play about his business, it is clear that his aggression and lack of fear in life was the basis for his success. This is exemplified in act 1 where he explains to Biff saying ‘one should never fight fair with strangers’ (Miller, 2007). This is an indication that he understands that risk is something that one has to endure in order to become successful.
Short Paper
Both external and internal forces have a great role play in the achievement of the American dream. People are always influenced by the things that are around them and their beliefs and I can affect their chances of being successful. The society is an external force that greatly influences an individual’s chance of achieving the dreams in life. In the play, Willy is a character that influenced by the society to become a salesman because this was a job that the society approved of. Willy felt that he had to follow the principles that are set by the society even if they did not suit him and it is what led him to abandon his carpentry talent leading to his failure in achieving his American dream.
Internal forces also greatly affect Willy’s chances of success. Willy’s belief that he needed to prove himself in the society led him to make bad decisions in his life. He was scared of being a failure and so his motivation to get a better life for himself and his family led him to look for short cuts in life. One great mistake he made is having relations with another woman while his wife was at home taking care of things at home and his son Biff came to know about it (Miller, 2007). This action not only destroyed Willy’s life but also that of his son Biff who always looked up to his father as a mentor and a role model. His actions led to his failure and that of his son Biff to achieve the American dream (Miller, 2007).
Benjamin Franklin’s advice to Willy is that ‘Lost time is never found again’ (Franklin, 2011). Through this advice Willy would have learnt the need to critically analyse the sales job once he had done it for a few years and realized that he was wasting his time. This would have prompted Willy to go back to his carpentry job where he had already established that he was better compared to sales job. If Willy had chosen to go back to carpentry, he would have become a successful business man in his home town and he would have had time to spend with his family thus realizing his American dream.
References
Franklin, B. (2011). The way to wealth: Advice, hints, and tips on business, money, and
finance. New York: Skyhorse Pub.
Miller, A. (2007). Death of a salesman: Certain private conversations in two acts and a
requiem. Brantford, Ont: W. Ross MacDonald School Resource Services Library.
