Paper Summary:

This paper examines the languishing of the American Dream during the post-war era, as rampant capitalism engendered an unequal mercantile system at odds with these earlier ideals. It looks at how Arthur Miller's quintessential salesman, Willy Loman and Saul Bellow's Tommy Wilhelm epitomize the disillusionment felt by many Americans as the rise of commercialism left many hard-working men struggling to survive and to come to grips with the emerging paradigm. Pointed quotations from formative Americans such as Thomas Jefferson and Henry Ford are juxtaposed with excerpts from the literature to provide a rich and multifaceted context for the analysis.

From the Paper:

"Arthur Miller's "quintessential American play," Death of a Salesman, deals directly with the conflict between romanticized notions of success and realities of economic marginality in the 1950s. Although the play was composed during a period of relative national prosperity, Miller's own experiences of financial hardship during the Great Depression still resonated strongly, and he infused his drama with skepticism toward the lofty ideals of the American Dream. "There is a feeling at the back of the brain," explained Miller, "that the whole thing can sink at a moment's notice." This sense of doubt appears most recognizably in the character of Willy Loman, a sixty-three year old salesman whose mediocre career contrasts sharply with his idealistic expectations."

Visitors who viewed this Comparison Essay also liked these:

• Essay # 66880 : "African-Americans in Post-War America"
• Research Paper # 70121 : "Doing Business in Post-War Iraq"
• Essay # 40695 : "Labor in Post-War Canada"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: