Elusive American Dream in Millers Death of a Salesman and Steinbecks

The Elusive American Dream in Millers close of a Salesman and Steinbecks Grapes of Wrath The American dream of victor through vexed work and of unlimited opportunity in a vast rude actually started before America was officially America, before the colonists broke out-of-door from England and established an independent country. That dream has endured and flourished for hundreds of years as a result, American writers naturally turn to it for subject matter, theme, and structure. In examining its lure and promise, they often find, not surprisingly, that for those who fall short, failure can be devastating beca routine material success is a part of our cultural expectations. Americans are judged and judge themselves on somebody success or failure as indicators of their per word of honoral worth. Indeed, two whole kit and boodle of fiction, Death of a Salesman and The Grapes of Wrath, are good examples of these ideas, for they illustrate the repercussions of the belief in the America n Dream and what happens when the dream proves elusive. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Lomans illusions are based on his belief in individual success, plainly his ideas about how to attain that success are impractical and unrealistic. Willys stimulant in Act I that some people accomplish something (15) is wry because he yearns for this to be true for himself and Biff, but it is not true for both of them. Willy thinks hes vital in New England (14) and would be in charge of New York now (14) if his original boss was still alive. However, although Willy is enamor by these illusions, the reality is that he is not a successful salesman and is fired. He also thinks Biff should be making good money and blames his sons failure on his laziness. But it is Willy who has se... ...d a the country (129), and that is the capitalistic system, which is suppresent to make life better for everyone. Steinbeck creates a connection betwixt the rotten grapes and the moral decay among the businessmen because of their greed, a vice that is toxic condition the American promise by bringing great hardship with short hope for a better future. In conclusion, both of these works use the deep personal loss of their characters to represent the greater dilemma posed by an American Dream that is elusive and, at least for them, never fulfilled. Hopelessness, despair and disillusionment are the result of what both authors portray as a ruthless, often dehumanizing capitalist system that seeks profit at every cost. WORKS CITED Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York Penguin Books, 1976. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York Penguin Books, 1999.