Arthur Miller and Authur Miller - Death of a Salesman: Text and Criticism

In Death Of a Salesman, Arthur Miller tries to show how The American Dream puts too high a value on material possessions, and career success. Often, these things become so important to people that they lose sight of what is really important, such as family, and they are unhappy because they do not have things which can be valued in money. Miller expresses his point through Willy Loman, a fairly typical American man. However, Willy drives himself crazy as a result of his lack of success to the point that he cannot be happy about things such as his family being together. Willy is so far over the edge, that he has flashbacks to times when things were better. This is an attempt by his ailing mind to make him happy and only makes the situation worse. His family becomes so concerned with his welfare that they lie to him, and themselves in order to make him happy. His high value on success causes a Willy to lose his mind, and eventually, commit suicide.
One example of how Willy puts too high a value on success is when Willy says of his son Biff, ?How can he find himself on a farm? Is that a life? A farmhand?? (15) Willy wants his son to be a success even though he himself is not. Biff is quite happy working on a farm, but his happiness is not enough for Willy. Biff needs to be successful, not in happiness, but rather in business in order for his father to be able to be around him. His father is fixated on success, and since Biff doesn?t have it, his father has a problem with him.
Another example of how Willy cannot be happy without success is when Biff makes himself believe that he could get a loan from his former boss Bill Oliver, even though Biff had stolen from Oliver. As he says, ?How the Hell did I get the idea I was a salesman there? I even believed myself that I?d been a salesman for him!? (104) In reality, Biff was merely a shipping clerk, but he made himself believe he was a salesman because it would have given him a better chance at a loan. This in turn gives Willy more hope and a better chance at being happy. Biff wants his father to be happy so badly that he deceives himself in thinking that it will help his father.
A third example of how Willy cannot be happy without success is when Happy wants Biff to lie to Willy about the situation with Bill Oliver. As Happy says, ?You?ll tell him something nice?Say you have a lunch date tomorrow?You?ll leave in the morning and come back at night and say Oliver is thinking it over.? (105) Happy knows that if Willy finds out that Biff could not get the loan, that it will traumatize him. He knows that lying to Willy would make him have more hope for his sons? success and thereby make him happier. Willy needs to hear something positive for the first time in years. Happy is fully willing to lie to his father just to make him happy. The only thing that would make him happy is knowing that his sons were on their way to success since he knows that his life has been a failure.
For Willy Loman, knowing that his sons are happy is not enough to make him content. He needs success. Be it his own, or that of his children, it is the only thing that will make him happy. When neither he nor his children end up successful, he is overwhelmed with disappointment and kills himself. People cannot strive for only material and worldly things in their lives, because the way the world works, a select few end up on top, an the rest linger below forever. People need to look beyond their bank accounts for happiness. Family, experience, and friendship should come before success, for if it does not, the Willy Loman inside