Illusion Verses Reality in Death of a Salesman by Arthur...

Illusion Verses Reality in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Death of A Salesman, by Arthur Miller, is a play that tells the story 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 Dream leads to his failure because throughout his life, he pursues 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 contribute to his defeat in the end. The reality of the American Dream is that people are capable of succeeding. Success, though, requires one to work hard and be dedicated to†¦show more content†¦For instance, he has this dream of having a big, spectacular funeral. In the end when Willy dies, at his funeral, Linda says, Why didn?t anybody come?Where are all the people he knew? (137). All his life, he holds on to this fantasy, but he never faces the reality of how he could have made it come true. It is his vision of the people of the past that lead Willy to follow a particular path, leading to his demise in the end. The success attained by Willy?s role models, his father, Dave Singleman, and Ben, is what he envisions to be the American Dream. He only visualizes the end product, being successful, and not the process they may have gone through to achieve that success. Willy?s father sold flutes and made that his living. In an encounter with his thoughts of the past, Willy listens to Ben, his brother, who refers to their father by saying, Great Inventor, Father. With one gadget he made more in a week than a man like you could make in a lifetime (49). Willy assumes that by being a salesman, like his father was, he is automatically guaranteed success, and that it wasn?t something that he would have to work for. Material success, such as money, luxury, and wealth, and popularity are his goals and his definition of success. On the other hand, self-fulfillment and happiness through hard work is not. By only focusing on the outer appearance of the American Dream, Willy ignores the