Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Many times, reading modern literature, you will hear reference to the "American dream". What the various authors and/or readers will have to decide is whether or not this is a real goal. There are many arguments that the “American Dream” is a figment of the imagination. There are others who believe this is an achievable goal. One of the discussions that takes place is what the true definition of the “American dream” is. There are beliefs that money and power are the ideal things to strive for. Still others believe that personal success is really difficult to measure and that there is no benchmark. In the comedy "Death of a Salesman", the main character Willy Lohman thinks that success is measured by how many people know you and how much they like you. This success, combined with all the material possessions he has acquired, makes him feel complete in his pursuit of his dream. In Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" we are given an example of what ails this country in its so-called "quest." ” for the “American dream”. This example would not be the desire to succeed or the constant pursuit of perfection, but rather the lack of fortitude in trying to reach those heights. While this is certainly a rampant problem in today's society, it is not just a modern affliction. Miller shows us that families faced the same problems in the 1940s and 1950s. As noted in Sparknotes, "The show examines the cost of blind faith in the American dream." (1) Although there is no concrete way to prove when this began, we can assume that it predates the twentieth century. Simply speaking, being lazy is not a new idea. The first glimpse we see into the Lohman family ethos is in the first act where......middle of paper......Beyer, William. Text and criticism by Arthur Miller “Death of a Salesman”. Ed. Gerald Weales. New York: The Viking Press, 1972. Charters, Ann and Samuel Charters. Literature and its writers. 4th ed. Boston/ New York: Bedford/ St. Martin's 2007. "Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman Study Guide: HistoricalContext." Bookrags. March 12, 2008 http://bookrags.com/studyguide-deathsalesman/hist.htmlGarrison, Craig M. “The System and the American Dream, Death of a Salesman.” Playwrights. March 12, 2008 http://playwrites.net/salesman1.html "Review Notes: Death of a Salesman." Revision notes. March 12, 2008 http://www.revision-notes.co.uk/revision/16.html “SparkNotes: Death of a Salesman: Context.” Notes of sparkle. March 12, 2008 http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/salesman/context.html