Death of a Dream Long Ago
- Keven Gao
- Jan 14, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 15, 2019
Through the course of history and especially in these few years, the happiness of the population has been going down. It just seems that everyone feels more and more stressed. Much like the family in Death of a Salesman. The main theme of the play is the American Dream. The American Dream is the dream of all dreams. One day you're broke, the next day you’ll be rich. The American Dream is an idealistic life that I think is outdated. In the past, college and university students are able to take summer jobs that would be able to pay off their student debts for the year, but now students are racking up debts while working long part-time hours. How would we be able to achieve the American Dream if we are constantly in debt? The new way to live is to get out of the red. The American Dream is not even a dream anymore, it more like a nightmare that constantly haunts you. The pressure to achieve this dream is also seen in Death of a Salesman, driving Willy to put on a facade that he was rich. I think that in order to bring our happiness back up, we need to live not for money, but to live for ourselves. If we let others control our money it will cause us to feel unsatisfied. When other people control your money, you’ll end up buying useless things in order to feel accepted, but the reality is you probably don’t even need half the things people tell you to buy. If we live for ourselves and buy the things we need and the things that we want - because you still want to satisfy your own desires to live - is the only way we can be happy with ourselves and maybe even be in the black. I think that the American Dream has been dead a long time with a lot of people who are still trying to pursue it, only to be met by failure. But if we are able to realize that we should live for our own well being and happiness is the only way that we can be content with life.
Great post, Kevin! I totally agree that stress is on the rise and happiness is declining. Many people are chasing money with the idea that it’ll bring happiness. I think people should focus on where their passion lies, rather than chasing the money. Great connection made to Willy Loman; his desire to achieve the American Dream is restricting him from seeking new opportunities. We often buy things we don’t need to impress others, instead of buying things that satisfy our desires. It's important to do what makes us happy and not worry about other people’s opinions.
Hey Kevin, it was interesting to see how you interpreted the play, Death of a Salesman to the world’s decrease in happiness. I enjoyed how you incorporated the increase of debt and stress University students have to deal with compared to before. It was also interesting how you said the American Dream is not a dream anymore, but a nightmare, and how instead of it actually helping people achieve happiness it is just increasing depression as “the dream” is a reality that is not possible to attain. I agree to what you said about how in order for one to actually be successful you must focus on your own self first, not the money, and that is true in a…
I like the connection made between the American Dream and the current state of society. It is good to work on your goals to become a better person, but overloading yourself with unrealistic "dreams" can be devastatingly stressful. If people don't not want to, I don't think they should go after the American Dream. We should not feel the need put effort into having children and a traditional job if it doesn't make us happy. Everybody has different definitions of happiness, and it is important that we chase after own, not society's or anyone else's. Like you said, Willy, chasing after the American Dream, ends up spending his life trying to mirror the lives of Ben and Charlie. Biff, on…
Yes, I definitely agree that the American dream is not the best way to live. However, I don’t think it is outdated either. I think a lot of families still believe in this because it doesn’t just encompasse the self, but also the idea of a growing and prosperous family. There are still people in the world who want a good family and would self-sacrifice for that. This is definitely still a good way to live, but I think that what you might mean is that people are focusing too much on just the wealth side of the American dream. I agree, wealth itself will not make you happy; I think you have to balance it with family (and in…