The first man to coin the term American Dream was James Truslow Adams, in which he describes the dream of a place where everyone has equal opportunities regardless of their predetermined life factors. By giving this ideology a name, Adams gave many Americans a goal to pursue, especially in difficult times, such as when "Death of a Salesman" was written and set. This theme and many others are present in Miller's work and in the characters of the story. Through Miller's depiction of the American Dream in “Death of a Salesman,” one can see the alienation and otherness that Willy possesses; which, in turn, brings attention to many of the socioeconomic problems present in the American family and household of the 1940s. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Arthur Miller uses the American Dream throughout the piece, particularly through his characters. Willy Loman is the reality of the American dream, with his beliefs in the simplicity of economic prosperity, he states: “Be appreciated and you will never fail. Take me, for example. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer", demonstrating his undoubted belief in the American dream. Willy continues to firmly believe in this idea throughout the play without realizing that he actually lives the American nightmare, where, in an attempt to achieve his dreams, destroys everything he has built. Willy uses several methods in his efforts to live the American dream, all of which turn against him and lead him into the American nightmare it requires long hours of travel, hard work, and pleasing people, which separates him from his family for long periods of time. This element in Miller's story plays into an aspect of the American dream that many believe in, American has become the pursuit of material prosperity – that people work longer hours to get bigger cars, nicer houses, the fruits of prosperity for their families – but have less time to enjoy their own prosperity,” which Miller always uses to more like Willy strives to live his dream. Another aspect that Miller uses is the relationship with Willy, like many, Willy will stop at nothing to become the best salesman and obtain the material prosperity promised to him by the American dream, but this action is only one of many that push Willy into American nightmare. . The final push is Willy's unchanging attitude and his belief in the American dream, which leaves him holding an old job that isn't adequate for all the new changes around him. Willy finally begins to realize the horror he is experiencing: “Funny, you know? After all the highways and trains and appointments and years, you end up worth more dead than alive" (Miller p. 71) and its realization is an overpowering aspect of the American nightmare, that all the hard work and the effort put in to succeed is for nothing. Miller has used Willy's constant plight for the American dream in which he ends up living a nightmare in which he alienates himself from his family, friends and colleagues in his pursuit of success. success through an unachievable method. Willy's alienation is another theme used by Miller in “The Death of a Salesman”, which is seen in everything Willy does. Miller begins to show Willy's alienation from the numerous scenes of the family talking about Willy behind his back, where his inability to hear what they say is related to Willy's inability to perceive his otherness to those around him however, slowly;Willy begins to realize the alienation he has created for himself through his flashbacks and visions. He dreams of the days when his family was happy to see him return home and his business partners rushed to meet him, all destroyed by his own actions and continues to be destroyed by his constant episodes. Willy has begun to alienate himself by alienating his family, which is subtly shown through his children's short temper with Willy, but is ultimately brought to the surface during the restaurant scene. When Happy denies Willy's relationship with him, the family's estrangement from each other hits Willy like a brick wall, and Willy begins to remember another instance where he began to alienate himself. In Willy's relationship, he unconsciously alienated himself from his wife with guilt, particularly that of socks, “WILLY (angrily, taking them from her): I won't let you mend socks in this house! Now throw them away,” where Miller used Willy's subconscious guilt to show his slow alienation from his wife. Ultimately, this guilt materializes when Biff discovers his affair, and Willy is further alienated from his children as Biff calls Willy out on his deepest insecurity: “You're fake! You little fake fake! You're fake! which leads Willy to feel further alienated as an outcast from his son who was his pride and joy. Miller continues this alienation of Willy until the end of the play when even Willy's wife, who seemed there for him no matter what happened, had an underlying separation from Willy upon seeing his monologue on his grave: "It seems to me that you" are just on another trip. I keep waiting for you. Willy, dear, I can't cry,” Linda, like her children, became distant from Willy because of his constant trips away from home and his scolding attitude when he was at home. Miller's use of otherness in the Loman family was constant throughout the play as it grew in intensity, but why? Throughout the work Miller used the American Dream and themes of alienation to portray a story that was recognizable to the people of the time, and in turn brought much needed attention to the problems of much of the society in which the story was depicted. Arthur Miller himself described the intended audience as depressed people. The people who saw the play and the adult characters in the story historically lived through not only the Great Depression, but also World War II, both of which led to great change in the American family. As stated by Tricia Hussung of Concordia University, "The economic and global instability of the early 20th century gave rise to the need for well-defined family units," meaning that Willy's need and desire and his dreams of prosperity economy with her family unit were just products of her environment, just like that of the public. Many who would have been Willy's age at the time of this play felt the confusion Willy felt and could not understand why efforts that had worked previously would not work in their modern era. Robert J. Habghurst states that this period in America resembled “…a postwar period of confusion of purpose and doubt about our ability to recreate a stable and peaceful society on a global scale. This is an era in which we clearly see our social weakness, but we seem powerless to do anything about it. . . . It is a time of great understanding and little willpower,” which is one of the main problems that Miller shows through the use of themes in this play. Miller uses the character of Willy to show this problem in the 1940s American family, Willy can see..