Ren Wiles
1
Character Analysis
Throughout the history of American literature, common theme is the American
Dream. My belief is that authors write about their dreams, and often dreams that
appear unobtainable. And other times, they write about the American Dream to reflect
what they see in society. They can use their work as a tool that shows us our flaws.
Regardless of why the author wrote what they did, we can all relate to them. We all
have a dream, and those dreams are reflected on the pages of American literature.
In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller captured the American Dream of Willy
Loman, a father and businessman, as he went on the pursuit of success and respect
form his colleagues and sons. He dreamt of being one of the best-known salesmen of
his time. “You and Hap and I, and I’ll show you all the towns. America is full of beautiful
towns… And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England… I have
friends…”(Miller, 31). But this dream slowly became more and more unobtainable, as
Willy’s case of dementia got worse and worse. And because of his mental state, his
ability to sell goes downhill, which eventually leads to him getting fired. Because of all
these things happening, Willy’s dream is never met, for he gets so overwhelmed that he
eventually commits suicide, so his family can get his life insurance money. “Linda: He
was so wonderful with his hands. Biff: He had the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong.”
(Miller, 138).
In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller also captured the dreams of a young man,
who all he wants is to make his father proud. Biff was the high school football
superstar, and his dream was to play football, have a wife, and be really popular. But all
of that went away when he failed math, and later realized that he didn’t know what he
wanted to do for a career. He later decided to try to go into the business world, like his
father, and open a sporting goods store with his brother, Hap. “I’m takin’ one play for
Pop. You watch me, Pop, and when I take off my helmet, that means I’m breakin’ out.
Then you watch me crash through that line.” (Miller, 32). Now Biff seemed to have it
going pretty well for him, but it all came to a halt when he failed math. He went to his
father for help, but caught Willy cheating on his wife instead. Because his father was
his idol, Biff lost confidence in Willy, and himself. That’s why he couldn’t “find himself”.
But Biff never did “find himself”. Instead, leaves to go back west (this time hoping to
take Hap with him, but Hap declines) in search of a job. “I am not a leader of men,
Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who
landed in the ash like all the rest of them! I’m one dollar an hour, Willy! I tried seven
states and couldn’t raise it. A buck an hour! Do you gather my meaning? I’m not
bringing home any prizes any more, and you’re going to stop waiting for me to bring
them home…Pop, I’m nothing! I’m nothing, Pop. Can’t you understand that? There’s
no spite in it any more. I’m just what I am, that’s all.” (Miller, 132-133).
Ren Wiles
2
Both of these Loman strive for popularity, respect, and a successful careers. But
they strive to please different people. Willy wants to impress his boss, wife, and sons,
while Biff wishes to impress his father, brother, and peers. But it goes to show that the
apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, because in the end, both men run from their
problems. Biff moves away, while Willy commits suicide. Miller showed the struggle of
the stereotypical American family of that time, just a bit exaggerated. I think that
anyone can relate to one of the Lomans. Whether it’s Happy, Biff, Willy or Linda, these
four characters are the embodiment of the American dream.