here

6

Is it true that Willy Loman is a victim of his own misconception of the “American Dream”? Well, on the one hand, I think that his life was hard because of his bad financial situation and the fact that he failed in life. On the other hand, it is his own fault that he failed. His idea of the American dream is to be fame, rich and liked. He just wanted to have success to be liked and powerful and not to do his own thing to be happy. I mean, I think it is important to do your own thing without caring what others think. Willy was caring a lot about the opinion of the population. That is the reason why he got sick in the psychical way. He stressed himself out a lot because of his frantic wish to be successful and he cares too much about the others opinion. To add, he saw others like Charlie as a competitor and he was jealous of them because they had the success he wanted. Instead of working hard for success, he was only dreaming about what he could catch. He remained in one place, so to speak, and did not involve. All in all, I think the question is whether Willy was his own victim of his misconception to answer yes, because he lost the thread, focus on wrong aspects and never really started fighting for his dreams. He lived in his dream world and his life passed him by. In that time his fellow human beings like Charlie have involved, which he couldn’t cope with and put himself under even more pressure.

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The question that is touched upon here is if Willy Loman is a victim of his own misconception of the” American Dream” is difficult to answer because there are several positive and negative aspects which have to be considered.

Firstly, it is important to consider the fact that Willy always tries to be liked and popular. Additionally, he thinks that personal attractiveness leads to professional success. This shows that Willy concentrates on what other people think about him. Therefore, he turns to be a man that pretends being someone he is not, what becomes clear when he feels lost and not accepted although he thinks he is really famous as salesman. In context to that it is pointed out that he does not focus on the value of being happy and satisfied with his family and life. Another point is that he keeps on working for his dream of wealth and materialism richness altough he is not able anymore. That underlines the fact that he lives in his dream world and is not realistic enough to accept the circumstances. In addition to that Willy is mentally unstable what is caused by the pressure of being the number one and overburden with the desire of being rich and successful.

On the other side you also have to take into consideration that Willy is a member of the working class what refers to the fact that is not very rich but tries to make money to support his family. It is possible as well that he does not want to disappoint his famliy members and keeps on working although he is not able anymore. In addition to that you should keep in mind that his sons do not support him in the financial way that much, what leads to the aspect that he is forced to keep on working to care for his and Linda`s life. Another point is that he is and was surrounded by successful people for example his brother Ben and his friend Charlie, what supports the pressure under which Willy suffers and destroys himself. Finally, he is catched up in the trap of exterior circumstances that he cannot escape from because the concurrence is growing and the business world of salesman is a rough competition in which he finally does not fit anymore. That leads to the aspect that he gets more desperated and maybe also disappointed in himself that he could not fulfill his goals.

To sum up, I am of the opnion that Willy is mainly a vicitm of his own misconception of the American dream which is being well-liked and successful. I think the main reason for his failure is not absolutely his vision of the American dream but that he does not realise that the way of pretending of being someone he is not, is the wrong one and that he cannot change the outward impacts but his way of handling the situation. Because if he realise that he could be happy with what he has he would not transform in the state of abandoning.