The American Dream The American Dream is a belief in the freedom that allows all United States residents to achieve their goals. Historian and writer James Truslow Adams coined the phrase "American Dream" in his 1931 book Epic of America: “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” (Adams 1931) In Death of a Salesman we see a number of characteristics that seem to define the myth of the American Dream. Especially the principles that Willy seems to value: “initiative, hard work, family, freedom, consumerism, economic salvation, competition, the frontier, self-sufficiency, publicrecognition, personal fulfillment” (Bigsby 1997:60) and many more, which seem to all animate the American cultural poetic. America was seen as the land of opportunity so people were encouraged to work hard in order to achieve the American Dream, failure to achieve this must then indicate a failure in personality and not a failure in the system. “It has often been said that what kept the United States from revolution in the depths of the Great Depression was the readiness of Americans to blame themselves rather than the system for their downfall” (Miller 1987:113) This attitude is reflected in both Willy and Biff, who blame themselves for their lack of economic success and popularity. In addition, the social attitudes that Willy displays frequently were very common at this time of writing and thus were very relevant, Willy had fallen for the myth of the American Dream with his unquestioning faith in capitalism which also occupied many people’s thoughts following World War Two.
How does Arthur Miller depict the American Dream in Death of a Salesman? It may be that Willy’s idealized view of The American Dream was a factor in Biff’s failure. Discuss both why you agree or disagree with this claim.
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