In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller , we follow the story of a man chasing the allusive ‘American Dream’. In America our economy was booming after World War ll and our society was giving birth to the aspirations of affluence. “The New American Dream; It’s Not What You Think’ is an article written by Adam Levin and published to the Huffington Post. Levin takes a moment to examine the ‘American Dream’ in current times and how it’s affecting society. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman’s idea of success was quite lofty. By today’s standards Loman’s idea is even more farfetched.

Willy Loman was led to madness through the belief that white picket fences, affluence and personal achievement is the only path to success. This perspective of success influenced his negative self image due to his failure. Lying to his wife, pushing his dreams onto his sons was what ultimately led to his mental incapacity. This excerpt illustrates the nature of Willy’s lies.
Willy: “I did five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston.”
Linda: “No! Wait a minute, I’ve got a pencil. She pulls a pencil and paper out of her apron pocket. That makes your commission… Two hundred- My God! Two hundred gross the whole trip.”
Willy: “Well, I-I did-about a hundred and eighty gross in Providence. Well, no it came to- roughly two hundred gross the whole trip.” (pg.35)


Willy Loman’s neurosis was a product of the American culture of wealth. But recent studies show that our society isn’t dreaming of affluence anymore, instead they are dreaming of retiring debt free at the age of sixty five. Poverty is vital for any economy explains Levin, but in our quest for greatness, to prove to others that we are successful we have managed to completely change the dream we once valued so much. The article also states; “Today, more Americans dream not of affluence, but of basic financial stability. That’s what both retirement and freedom of debt have in common.”

Based on a survey conducted by Levin, being debt free of debt/credit card debt was at the top of priorities (33.4% of responses). The runners-up weren’t even close: Retiring at age 65 (11.6%), buying or paying off a car (11.3%), sending a kid to college (8.1%), buying a home (6.8%), paying off student loans (6..2%), paying off a mortgage (5.6%), and buying a vacation home (3.2%). (And 13.8% had no response).

In Willy Loman’s time, the American dream was more common and reachable. Buying homes at the age of twenty four was realistic for his generation, where as in my generation at twenty four and being debt free, well that’s an accomplishment. I believe that the goal and aspiration that Willy had for himself isn’t absurd in general, but simply absurd for him. Consequently he pursued success over the things he loved due to societal pressures. What I took away from Death of a Salesman is to always chase what your personal success is. In Adam Levin’s article about the ever changing dream I find it frightening that our society is shoving the idea of college down our youth’s throat, then only to graduate college and be working at a low paying job laden with debt. The shift that we’re experiencing is unavoidable. I hope that in coming years more young adults give thought to than just the option of college, because it isn’t always the best option.

We see in Death of a Salesman how the main character Willy Loman has an idea of what the American Dream means to him. Unfortunately his vision is farfetched and is constantly left unsatisfied with his success. Being well respected, financially stable and having nice things is how Willy measures his affluence. Adam Levin writes an article talking about the American Dream in today’s age and how some of the things we expected in the past have changed greatly. In previous generations, the American dream was more in line with Loman’s idea, wealth and prosperity. However, in today’s economy, the American dream had become different. It is more about being debt free and retiring at a reasonable age. By examining both perpestives, we can see how different the dream used to be compared to what it has become.