Sales and Dreams Alex Hoffer

In Arthur Miller's Play Death of a Salesman, the dreams of the major characters are the central focus of the plot. The Lomans, particularly Willy, struggle to realize their dreams while fearing that these goals are unreachable. Yet this fear is necessary to the hope; Willy would much rather dream than succeed. It is the destruction of his dream that destroys him, not merely its failure.

Willy Loman, the central character of the play, dreams of success in business. He wants to be well-liked, the quality which he believes is the key to success. He also wants his sons to follow in his footsteps and be popular. During the actual time of the play, however, Willy's dreams have obviously failed. He is a sixty-year-old salesman whose friends have all died and who gets fired halfway through the play. One of his sons is a farmhand, the other is in the business world as assistant to an assistant. Willy spends the play thinking back on his better days and often believing that they are reality. His obsession with dreams prevents him from seeing the wreck of his life.

Willy does not want to acknowledge the state of his life, and uses his daydreams to escape the knowledge. He even acts on them, refusing to salvage the present if it...