Willy dreams for his sons to become successful, believing this is possible through his faith in the American Dream. However in high school Willy’s sons were never encouraged to work hard. They were popular and good-looking and as far as Willy is concerned they will achieve his dreams of success for them because of this. Because Willy passes on this mentality to Biff and Happy, both of them are unable to hold down respectable, professional jobs. Willy’s delusions for this dream are shown by his claims that:
“Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such personal attractiveness, gets lost. And such a hard worker. There’s one thing about Biff – he’s not lazy.”
In fact Biff is lazy and did not graduate high school because he failed to work in maths. This gives the audience the impression that Biff’s assessment of Willy is accurate and that he as a character has realised that Willy’s dreams are an illusion. Furthermore it shows Miller’s criticism of the false hope given to many American citizens by the values and dreams of American society.
Another of Willy’s dreams, or rather obsessions, is to be popular. He does not just want to be liked, but to be “well liked” as a salesman. He dreams of achieving the same popularity as those he idolises. Willy speaks of Dave Singleman as a legend who “when he died, hundreds of salesman and buyers were at his funeral.” Singleman embodies Willy’s dream and is the reason Willy continues with his job as a salesman. Through Miller’s use of Dave Singleman dramatic irony is created as no-one comes to Willy’s funeral. This reinforces the idea that Willy’s dream of popularity was impossible to achieve. Willy is a broken man, worn down trying to achieve the dream because in the capitalist society is which the play is set men are disposed of once they are no longer of use.
Willy’s dreams are shown to be “All, all, wrong” for the society in which he lives through Howard Wagner, the epitome of a capitalist employer. Howard crushes Willy, showing no care and compassion, telling him “cause you gotta admit, business is business.” Willy still refuses to accept this, saying that “you can’t eat the orange and throw away the peel – a man is not a piece of fruit!” failing to face the harsh realities of life and let go of his dream for popularity and success. Willy is a “low man” in American society to be discarded once he is past use. Equally it indicates Miller’s criticism of the American society of the time in the American belief that failure to achieve the American Dream must mean a failure of personality, which he witnessed (and noted in his autobiography) with America’s “readiness to blame themselves rather than the system for their downfall.” Thus, this emphasises the accuracy of Biff’s assessment and shows Willy’s dreams to be “All, all, wrong.”
Even within his life Willy’s belief of achievement of popularity is false, he fails to realise that he isn’t the well liked and successful salesman he dreamed of being. However Biff’s assessment manages to be the only one that truly realises this of Willy; perhaps because Willy’s deceitfulness was exposed to Biff through the discovery of his affair.
Willy’s final dream, the motivation of his suicide, is his desire to leave his family a lasting legacy, which may be in part motivated by the fact that Willy knew nothing of and received nothing from his father. However, Willy’s decision to make his family “rich” through his death and the insurance money is a wrong dream; he does not let go of his fantasy and face his failures as a salesman, husband and father. Although Willy’s family would much rather him alive than the small payment his life insurance may pay out, Willy is still fixated on committing suicide. Moreover Willy’s dream is wrong because even if the insurance money is paid out, Biff wants nothing to do with Willy’s ambition for him.
Biff’s accuracy in his assessment lays in his ability to face the realities of the world that Willy always failed to face. Happy on the other hand inherited the same delusions from his father and his assessment of Willy is also a delusion:
“He had a good dream. It’s the only dream you can have – to come out number-one man.”
This shows the audience how Happy’s assessment also buys into the American Dream; believing it is possible to succeed in America, the land of opportunity, and in the greatness of this success.
Willy Loman buys into the ideals and dreams of his culture. The American Dream informs all of Willy’s hopes and actions and is the criterion against which he measures success. However, Willy’s version of the Dream is conflicting; Willy wishes to be a pioneer as a renowned, popular salesman, but also to gain the respect of his family. He sets about doing this is the wrong way, as his obsession with success lying in material wealth and popularity and his refusal to abandon this dream lead to the damage of his family relationship and his own mental state. His dreams have become delusions as his reliance of the values of The American Dream and consumerism at the expense of truth and reality lead to his feelings of failure. Biff’s assement of Willy’s dreams, as “all, all, wrong” is accurate because of Willy’s failure to face the realities of American society: the capitalist society that treats people as objects and how that for a “low man” it is difficult for wealth to be achieved. Willy’s values and beliefs are misplaced and he fails to abandon them or realise that they can never be achieved. Accordingly, Biff’s assessment is accurate and Willy’s dreams are “all, all, wrong.”