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2.1 The Origin and Development of American Dream
The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that “all men are created equal” and that they are “endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights” including “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.
America is known as “the promised Land” by most people in the past 400 years. In 1620, the ship “Mayflower” took the first British Pilgrim immigrants to American. Then, in 1630, the Puritans, persecuted for their religious beliefs, had to fled to other countries and finally discovered the new land, in which they thought they could seek their freedom of the religion.
In the middle of the 19th century, a widely known story about an ordinary man, Abraham Lincoln, achieved political success and became the 16th President in the United States. All the basic virtues essential to the American value are embodied in Lincoln. The traditional American value is emphasized through the message that as long as you work hard, your dream will come true ultimately. Therefore, Americans strive hard for success from generation to generation.
Unlike the old meaning, the American Dream has changed a lot with the development and progress of the times. Nowadays, the dream includes the opportunity for one's child to grow up and receive good education, and have an admirable position when he or she grows up. Everyone has the opportunity to make inpidual choices without the prior restrictions that limited anyone according to their class, caste, religion, race, and nationality.
2.2 Willy Loman and His Dream
Willy Loman, over sixty, is an insecure and self-deluded traveling salesman, who has a loving wife, a thirty-four-year-old elder son Biff, and a thirty-two-year-old younger son Happy. Willy’s father left him and their family when Willy was a little boy, leaving Willy and his brother neither money nor history legacy. Moreover, his elder bother Ben eventually went to Alaska and became rich in Africa, but passed away in a very short time.
In terms of his life experience, we can find that Willy “is not a king or a prince or a person of high estate; indeed, as more than one critic pointed out, to Miller’s distaste, Loman sounds like ‘low man.’” (Parini ed., 2004:145) Willy believes in American Dream of success and wealth with his whole heart, but he achieves nothing at last. When Willy’s dream began to fail under the pressing realities of their life, he becomes dispirited, and finally, he succeeded in committing suicide, and it may well express his words “tried to die”.