The American Dream isn’t measured in terms of spiritual achievement, or how happy you are but whether you are up-to-date with gadgets and possessions. This “dream” leads the Lomans’ and other Americans to be very materialistic. Willy always wants what is current and new but he never has it because by the time he has managed to achieve it, a new fad has come along. To the Lomans’, a fridge is a symbol of achievement and status, not everybody could afford a fridge. On page 10, Willy says, “Work a lifetime to pay off a house. You finally own it, and there’s nobody to live in it.” This mentality is very true for many things in Willy’s life such as his house, car and fridge. Also on page 51 Willy tells Linda that she wont have her mending stockings in the house, this is probably because Willy feels that mending old clothes isn’t good enough and that his family should be able to purchase new clothes whenever they need to.
Willy’s pride in his sons defiantly contributes to his fate, the pressure Willy puts on himself to make sure his sons are a success is one of his downfalls. The idea of generational progression is defenatly very important to Willy, if Biff and Happy become successes then they will represent the Lomans well, make good lives for themselves and also through having successful sons Willy may feel his is a success himself. Happy says (in reference to Willy) “He just wants you to make good, that’s all.” And later on Biff says “this Saturday – just for you, I’m going to break through”. Willy’s sons do love him but I think that in some ways they just humour him to keep him happy.
Another value that seems to be rife in Willy’s life is ageism. Willy is regarded, by some people, as useless. When Willy asks if he could not travel anymore for his occupation his boss is stunned and says “Not travel! Well, what’ll you do?” Willy is patronised by his boss, who is young enough to be Willys son but refers to Willy as “kid”, and he tells Willy “I think you need a good long rest.” One of the values that this shows is that the Lomans are living in a “throw away” society. This is what is happening to Willy. When Howard finds a new gadget he says “I tell you, Willy, I’m gonna take my camera, and my bandsaw, and all my hobbies, and out they go”. Howard seems to apply this to Willy too, “I think you need a good long rest.” “Look, kid, im busy this morning”
As well as wanting to be successful, Willy wants to be more successful than the people surrounding him, but not his family. He wants to prove to everyone that he is good enough, he knows that they laugh at him and he wants to prove them wrong. Willy tells Howard he is “defiantly going to get one” in relation to a gadget that there is no way Willy could afford but he feels like he has to keep up to date, and keep up with Howard.
Willy ends up committing suicide so that his sons can have a better life, they can make a better life for themselves with the money that Willy’s death will bring. Many things caused this fate, and in my opinion it is ironic that the American Dream Willy worked so hard towards was a major cause of his unhappiness and suicide.
