Without material wealth, no one can be successful in Willy’s idea of success. For Willy, a person can only be categorized as successful and accomplished if he has gained material wealth successfully. Willy gives utmost importance to material wealth and for him, all dreams can be met with material wealth only. He preaches his sons about his false principles as well such as: “Be liked and you will never want” (26). Willy has induced himself that to accomplish something in the corporate world one is to be “Well liked”. His conviction that “Personality wins the day” can be placed in disparity with Charley’s view that “All you have is what you can sell”. He sticks strictly to his set principles such as his principles of keeping personality as a source of attraction, being well liked and so on and his set principles stand in difference to people who have succeeded to a limited extent. Willy is unable to understand the society and its needs and also he is unable to comprehend the transformation that is required for a business world. According to Bigsby (1984), it is generally believed as an American myth that any person who is hard working and wishes to have a comfortable life and material accomplishment can get it with his own struggle and devotion. The notion of “American Dream” or “Success myth” is significant considering the dreams of Willy Lowman. Willy also regards Singleman’s funeral as a model as he says: “When he died hundreds of salesman and buyers were at his funeral” (63). Considering Singleman as his model who succeeded in the same society, Willy declines Ben’s offer to work in Alaska. Because of his being a well-known personality, he was facilitated with loyalty, aid and love from the surrounded society. According to Bigsby (1984), the society of Dave Singleman contained societal associations and affection. Dave Singleman like Willy was a salesman but for him, the society was in a different state and was quite accommodative. According to Willy, Ben was rewarded and so should he but he has mistakenly not realized the changing society in which, he lives. Ben, Willy’s brother gained material success by owning forestlands and diamond mine. These characters are his ideals as they have succeeded and gained material accomplishment (Abbolson 1999). The character of Willy Lowman follows certain principles, which he has designed for himself by following certain other characters such as Dave Singleman and Ben but here he is unable to analyze the changing society.
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The reality of American dream in actuality is exposed in the play with the representation of the character of Willy Lowman. Willy Lowman struggles and tries to achieve success through his set principles and rules but he is unable to gain that success and his failure comes to the forefront at the end of the play.
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American dream as portrayed by American government is success for all who ever excels but Willy Lowman, the protagonist of the play fails to achieve that success in the course of the play. Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller is an anatomy of the American dream.