The first man to coin the term American Dream was James Truslow Adams, in which he describes the dream of a place where everyone would have equal opportunity, whatever the predetermined life. factors. By giving a name to this ideology, Adams gave many Americans a goal to pursue, especially in difficult times, such as when "Death of a Salesman" was written and takes place. This theme and many others are found throughout Miller's play and in the characters of the story. Through Miller's depiction of the American dream in "Death of a Salesman," we can see the alienation and otherness that Willy possesses; which, in turn, draws attention to many of the socioeconomic problems present in the 1940s American family and home. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay. Arthur Miller uses the American dream throughout the play, particularly through his characters. Willy Loman is the reality of the American dream, with his belief in the simplicity of economic prosperity, he asserts: “Be loved and you will never want again.” Take me, for example. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer,” demonstrating his unquestionable belief in the American dream. Willy continues to firmly believe in this idea throughout the play without realizing that he is actually living the American nightmare, where, in his attempt to achieve his dreams, he destroys everything he has built. Willy uses several methods in his efforts to live the American dream, all of which backfire and plunge him into the American nightmare. He begins by taking a labor-intensive job that requires many hours of travel, hard work, and making people like him, which separates him from his family for long periods of time. This element of Miller's story plays on an aspect of the American dream that many believe in: ". . . the American dream has become the pursuit of material prosperity - people work longer hours to obtain bigger cars, fancier homes, the fruits of prosperity for their families - but have less time to enjoy their prosperity ", which Miller uses more and more as Willy strives to live his dream. Another aspect that Miller uses is Willy's bond, like many, Willy will stop at nothing to become the best salesman and obtain the material prosperity that the American dream promises him, but this action is only one of many actions that push Willy into the American nightmare. . The final push is Willy's steadfast attitude and belief in the American dream, which leaves him working an old job that isn't suited to all the new changes around him. Willy finally begins to realize the horror he is experiencing: “Funny, you know? After all the highways and trains and dates and years, you end up being worth more dead than alive” (Miller p. 71) and his realization is a dominating aspect of the American nightmare, that all hard work and the efforts made to succeed are of no use. Miller used Willy's constant plight for the American dream in which he ends up living a nightmare in which he becomes estranged from his family, friends, and colleagues in his pursuit of success through an unachievable method. Willy's alienation is another theme Miller uses in "Death". of a salesman,” which shows in everything Willy does. Miller begins to show Willy's alienation through the many scenes of the family talking about Willy behind his back, where his inability to hear what they are sayingcorrelates with Willy's inability to sense his otherness in relation to those around him; however, slowly Willy begins to realize the alienation he has created for himself through his flashbacks and visions. He dreams of the days when his family was happy to see him come home and his business partners ran to meet him, all of which was destroyed by his own actions and continues to be destroyed by his constant episodes. Willy began to alienate himself by driving out his family, which is subtly shown through his sons' short temper with Willy, but is ultimately brought to the surface of the story during the restaurant scene. When Happy denies Willy's relationship with him, the family's detachment from each other hits Willy like a brick wall, and Willy begins to remember another instance where he began to become alienated. In Willy's affair, he unconsciously distanced himself from his wife with guilt, especially that of the stockings, "WILLY (angry, taking them from her): I won't let you mend the stockings in this house! Now Throw Them Out,” where Miller used Willy’s unconscious guilt to show his slow alienation from his wife. Eventually, this guilt materializes when Biff discovers his affair, and Willy is further repulsed by his children as Biff calls out Willy on his deepest insecurity: “You're pretending! You little fake! You're pretending! which causes Willy to feel even more alienated as an outcast compared to his own son who was his pride and joy. Miller continues this alienation from Willy until the end of the play when even Willy's wife, who seemed there for him no matter what, had an underlying separation from Willy upon seeing his monologue on the edge of her falls: “It seems to me that you are” I’m just traveling. I continue to wait for you. Willy, my dear, I can't cry. » Linda, like her children, became estranged from Willy because of his constant trips away from home and his scolding attitude when he was home. Miller's use of otherness in the Loman family was constant throughout the play as it slowly gained intensity, but why? Throughout the play, Miller used themes of the American dream and alienation to tell a story relevant to the people of the time and, in turn, bring much-needed attention to the problems of much of the society in which the story was described. Arthur Miller himself described the target audience as people suffering from depression. The play's audience and the story's adult characters have historically lived through not only the Great Depression, but also World War II, both of which led to great changes in the American household. As Tricia Hussung of Concordia University said: "The economic and global instability of the early 20th century gave rise to the need for narrowly defined family units," meaning that the needs and desires of Willy and his dreams of economic prosperity with his nuclear family were just products of his environment, as were those of the public. Many who would have been Willy's age at the time of this play felt the confusion Willy felt and could not understand why efforts that worked before would not work in their modern times. Robert J. Habghurst says that this period in America resembled “…a postwar period of confusion of purpose and doubt about our ability to recreate a stable and peaceful society on a global scale. It is an era in which we clearly see our social weakness, but seem powerless to do anything about it. . . . It's a time of great..