The story of his brother making a fortune really drives him to work harder, his brother is seen in many of his dreams, it is one of his most vivid dreams, and unlike any other is repeated throughout the story, Willie is first drawn in by the American dream because he sees how it can work in Ben, he idolizes him to such an extent that he can’t remember much of what he says just:
"When I was seventeen, I walked into the jungle. And by twenty-one, I walked out. And by God, i was rich!"
Willie is old and going senile, he can’t come to terms with why he can’t make more money and how others around him are. He thinks that the well liked will get further than those that aren’t well liked, we can see this in how he thinks his son will get further in life than his neighbors son. We see this in a dream of his past, but as the story moves back into the future we realize who actually achieves in life.
Willie doesn’t like his neighbor and in the past regularly talks down about him but as time moves on he depends on him, he borrows money off Charlie and doesn’t pay him back. Willie is to proud to let anyone help him, when his Charlie asks if he needs help he is quick to refuse the offer of a job, even though he needs it.
Dreams are used as a way of comparing the past and the future. Willie uses it to compare how great everything was and how bright the future was, the reader also sees this. Biff in the past is portrayed as a strong leader with an ambition, this is shown as him as the Football captain and trying to get into college. In the present he is shown in a completely different light, he is unemployed and doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life.
Willy also uses his dreams to relive the things he did wrong, he feels guilty and blames himself for how Biff turned out. After Biff found out about the affair he loses his ambition and calls Willie a fake, Willie sees some truth in this and is hurt. He always exaggerates about how much people like him; we know this by how he confides in his wife about how he thinks people laugh at him.
Hap and Biff both see Willies dream as sign of him going senile and want to help him, Linda on the other hand has accepted it and just wants to get on with life, she sees it as him coming to terms with their current situation, this is a bad thing however as she is just fueling his dream and not letting him give up, she is caught up in Willies lies, she also doesn’t allow Biff to show Willy what he is doing. In trying to help she is destroying, this is ironic as the mother is usually thought to be the creator and nurturer. The story shows how time changes and breaks a man, if Willy loman of the past and present were switched they would not be able to survive, the present Willy loman would never be able to be the idol Biff and Hap loved. They are in essence two different people. Biff through time has also changed considerably, hap once behind Biff in everyway has worked hard and is now ahead of Biff in how much he earns.
Willy takes the American dream in a totally different light as Biff, Willy thinks that by working hard he will climb the ladder and earn money, the money making him happy, Biff on the other hand doesn’t enjoy working hard and moving up in the business world, he instead finds happiness working outside earning just enough to get by. Biff can see past the riches Ben has acquired, which Willie is striding for and knows not everyone is as lucky as he is:
"To suffer fifty weeks a year for the sake of a two-week vacation."
He can see how much his father has worked for the dream but looks beyond that and knows Willie is working for the wrong dream:
"He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong."
After Willy dies we see the two brothers, one following in his father’s footsteps and taking the exact same route, maybe culminating in another death and Biff ready to work outside after seeing the tragedy of the American dream. Hap is starting to live the American dream but is already starting to see its flaws:
"My own apartment, a car, and plenty of women, and still, goddamit, I'm lonely."
Willie ultimate aim is to life the end of his life a success, he wants to die like Ben. He views Ben as his Idol, near the end of his life, he can see his dream being unreachable and suicide is close to his mind:
"He died the death of a salesman, in his green velvet slippers..."
After many years of hard work Willie in the end understands how misguided his efforts really were, he realizes the only way for him to rectify the situation is by killing himself.
"After all the highways, and the trains, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive."
Before he does so he plants some seeds, even though he knows the land is infertile as a sign that maybe one day his sons may achieve where he failed, effort is worth nothing if it’s not well placed.
