The American Dream is symbolic to all in this world in the way that there is always hope and that you will get a chance to make or break yourself. Those who are determined and set their mind to what ever it is they are looking to accomplish generally succeed. People invision this place of freedom where you are given or have to find opportunities to succeed and are driven to make something out of the opportunity that they might encounter. In this paper I will look at the second group of films along with the book The Bluest Eye and make comparisons to each other. Furthermore I will prove that my definition of The American Dream is reality versus illusion and the changes that occur are hard for people to get through.
Death of a Salesman is an affirmation of the American spirit, and a depiction of the salesman's life. It has several themes that run throughout the movie. The most obvious theme is the idea of reality versus illusion. Though Linda, Biff and Happy are all unable to separate reality from illusion to some degree, Willy is the main character who suffers from this ailment. For years, Willy has believed that both he and his boys (particularly Biff) will one day be great successes. Though he's a disrespected salesman, he calls himself the "New England man."" Though Biff has done nothing with his life by the age of thirty-four, Willy tells others and tries to make himself believe that his son is doing big things- out west. Willy's brother, Ben, continually appears in the troubled man's mind, offering hints on how to make it in the world of business. Willy feels that he must live up to the standard that Ben has set, but this is found to be impossible by the end of the movie. Only Biff ever realizes who he is ("a dime a dozen-) and what his potential really is. He is the only member of the family to finally escape from the poisonous grasp of illusion. .
One of the secondary themes is the idea of the American Dream.