Death of a Salesman

What do I, as a student, take out from this play?

Death of A Salesman by Arthur Miller is a somewhat complex yet very interesting play that I got to watch in class over this past week. Although at first I did not understand who the characters were or what the plot was, eventually, by the end of the film, I was able to comprehend what this play is about. 

One of the things that I most liked from it or something that I can take out of Death of A Salesman is the unconditial love that a father or a mother can have  for their children. Willy Loman, the main character of this play, suicided himself in order for his family, especially his older son Biff, to be able to succeed by living of the insurance money that they would get in the unlikely event that he died. He was forced to do this because throughout his entire life, he had always wanted the best for his two sons and the best symbolized great quantities of money like his brother Ben or his son's neighbor that he did not have, and recognition from different individuals around the globe (fame).  

However, what most impacted me was not the fact that as a father he wanted his sons to be happy and live the American Dream, because that is something parents are somewhat obliged to do or that they tend to do, but the idea that Willy was willing to do anything that will give his family a small twinge of relief, even if this meant taking his own life away. 

This idea got me thinking about the degree of love that a mother or a father can have for their children that they consider taking their own life away if they see that with the money of their insurance company their kids can live easier and have more chance of succeeding (becoming rich).

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Which version of the American Dream do we pursue today? Biff's or Willy's?

It is hard for me to say that as an individual I see society pursuing Biff's version of the "American Dream" primarily because I would be lying. Throughout these years as a student I have come to the conclusion that parents, teachers, brothers, sisters and students look at life the way Willy used to in the play "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller. 

All my life I have heard my parents talking about my future; what colleges I should look up to, what professions are good, and how can I become a more "successful" individual. But when people talk about a brilliant or successful future what do they truly mean?

Money. Fame. Fortune. 

When my cousins were young and at their Senior Year I remember that my mother and her sisters would sit during entire family reunions and discuss what my cousins should do for their future and how they needed to become successful in order to be someone in the world. I remember thinking how far I was from my graduation date and how I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up and that I really did not care. I remember seeing my cousins' panicked expressions when their mothers discussed what careers were "good" and which were not so "good". But, how were these careers qualified? According to the amount of money you could make in each.

After I finished reading "Death of a Salesman" and I finally comprehended Willy's mind I connected his pursue of the American Dream with the day-to-day talks I have with my parents about my future and I realized that society, anywhere in this planet, does not really know itself. 

From our childhood we humans are conditioned to strive to be the best we can in anything we do. We live with the firm goal of becoming successful, marrying, building a family and having enough money to do whatever we desire to do. We are continuously reinforced through environments like that of school with grades and class places that life is a continuos battle were only the "best" or the ones who put extreme effort survive. And finally, we are pressured through programs like those of the IB that if we want to become someone in life, we need money, which can only be gotten from a good college and thus a brilliant future. 

This mentality is Willy's version of the American Dream, and despite everything is what society truly pursues today. How many kids do we see in Freshmen Year that are already worried about what colleges they need to get it? How many university students do we studying so hard that they don't even sleep just because they want to get a good grade so that the college recognizes them? How many people do we see that hate their jobs but continue with them because they bring them lots of money? 

However, there are those, quite few I might add, that might intend to pursue Biff's version of the American Dream and they decide to "stick" to their passions and do what they want to do not solely thinking on the materialistic benefits a career might bring (i.e. money and fame) which are important, but on the reward that doing what you like brings to yourself, happiness and tranquility - knowing yourself, qualities far more meaningful that money.

I am not saying though that money is not important because it is, otherwise how could we eat, live, or survive? I am not saying that Willy's view of the world is erroneous because he was right about the fact that successful beings should be looked upon to. But what I have come to understand through this play is that in order to be successful you need to be happy with what you are doing and you need to have a clear mindset as to where you wanna go and not think about the "what if's" or "maybe this is better" basing yourself on the materialistic benefits you can get.