Nayaab Hussain
Title: How does Miller and Steinbeck present hopelessness and failure of the American Dream in ‘the Death Of A Salesman’ and ‘Of Mice And Men?’
In both texts, the American Dream is where anyone has the opportunity to become wealthy and successful through hard work and determination. Both texts give the audience and the readers the impression that the protagonists will never be able to achieve the American Dream. Although Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ and John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ are set in entirely different time periods, this is the thread which runs common between them both; this is represented by both sets of characters Lennie, Crooks, George and Willy. It is their American Dream, and in procuring that dream, their sense of hopelessness and the totality of their failure. Both writers adopt the tragedy of deaths and loss at the end of both texts in order to fully reveal the impossible nature of this promised dream. However, In “Of Mice and Men” the setting is The Great Depression which caused economic chaos across the nation. The Dust Bowl forming further added to farm workers’ plight. Characters such as George and Lennie are shown to struggle to find work and then keep it thus in this case the dream involved owing a land for themselves so they had stability and security. The play is set in the late 1940’s in a capitalistic society which meant people chased money. Characters such as Willy Loman identified his success through owning material goods that he could show off.
Miller and Steinbeck show the failure of the American dream through their characters who appear to have conceded defeat before they have begun the fight. Miller constructs Biff’s character to be one who had the potential and youth to succeed but lacks the will or motivation. He was once described as a “Hercules” but withered into a wandering soul who struggles to come to terms with why he is “trying to become something I don’t want to be”, and has to ask to be lent a “few bucks” because he cannot afford to buy his own tie. Similarly, Steinbeck shows it through the character Crooks, who is a man who also has the skills but lacks the motivation because of the limitations placed on him in the society of the time. Crooks is a black man who works in the ranch. He is referred to as “Crooks, the negro stable buck”. The mode of address “negro” shows the reader that he gets disrespected and humiliated by the other workers because of his different skin colour. Steinbeck shows that he is limited because he has a “mauled copy of the California civil code”. The word “mauled” suggests that Crooks has been torn as a result of the laws written in the “California civil code”. Equally, the civil code has been “mauled”, which shows that it has been used excessively, which suggests that Crooks knows the law very well. This makes the reader understand that Crooks understands that he is confined by law, and that makes him think that he is unable to achieve the American dream because he will never have freedom. This also makes him hopeless because he has no power to change the law.
At the same time, Miller also shows that Biff lacks the motivation because of something that he cannot change which is the way that he was raised. When he was young his father did not use the correct parenting skills and tell him what is right and wrong. This results badly, because when Biff “tried [to work in] seven states and couldn't raise it” because he is “mixed up very bad”, meaning that he can’t decide his future according to what career path he likes. This is due to his father “blew” him “full of hot air” for most of his life. Specifically the situation where Biff steals the ball and Willy “congratulate you on your initiative” instead of telling him what the consequences are of doing that. We are aware of this when Willy says ‘That’s because he likes you…’ Willy hindered from saying anything to him and just laughed along. In this case the blame could go towards Willy due to the fact that he did not teach Biff that in order to achieve something you will need to go through hard work, this is why he is struggling with being able to achieve the American dream.
In “Death of a Salesman” particularly, Biff assumes his father humiliates him because Willy believes that ‘not finding yourself at the age of thirty-four is a disgrace. This implies that Willy does not want Biff to end up like him, not having the pleasure of living the American dream. He would prefer to have a happy life like his brother. This is why he is tough on Biff and wants him to be able to take all the credit for the hard work he succeeds in. However, Biff feels that his father is being harsh and uncaring towards him. ‘Will you let me go for Christ’s sake?’ Biff says this “with emotion (crying)” to his father and family when Willy assumes that Biff is going to fail to achieve the American dream. Biff shows Willy that he is fed up of his father trying to force his ideals onto him and telling him what to do with his life. He may feel hopeless.
In Comparison to “Of Mice and Men”, George also did not teach Lennie that if he had done something bad then he would have to face the consequences. For instance when Lennie gets in trouble in the town of Weed, George did not tell him off but told him to “hide in the bush”. This shows that Lennie is forgetful and does not recognise his mistakes which leads to him being unable to control his behaviour.
In “Death of a Salesman” Miller has mentioned Willy’s troubles throughout this play showing the failure of his thirst for the American dream. Willy Loman tried to commit suicide several times. In the play Linda says “you didn’t smash the car, did you?” This indicates that when Linda asks him if he had crashed the car, to the audience, this indicates that Willy believes that no one cares for him. The reader thinks that Linda is merely concerned for the car, and not Willy when however she is. This leads to Willy struggling to be positive throughout the play. This makes the audience develop some sympathy for Willy. Willy has believed in the American dream repeatedly so when he does not get the chance he feels that he has not been able to accomplish the American dream which shows the failure of Willy striving for it.
Similarly in “Of Mice and Men”, George says to Lennie “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world” This represents the breakdown of the protagonist’s own hope of ever accomplishing the American Dream. Steinbeck writes this to indicate that people in the 1930s didn’t have the chance of being able to achieve the American Dream as they are merely workers earning very little money. Later on in the novella, George states “I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone…” this foreshadows that George and Lennie may end up like the guys on the ranch. George says “After a long time they get mean” this could indicate that how they will both end up; bitter and with not much of a future especially no farm. This links to hopelessness since both writers are showing that they already believe that they are not going to achieve it, and are foreshadowing that their failure is unavoidable.
Besides all the struggles in the Loman family’s life, Linda has always been there for her family. “She more than loves him, she admires him”. However, Willy‘s “mercurial nature” means that he cannot resist feeling lonely. He does not seem to appreciate the love that Linda has for him and decides to have an affair. In the play the audience is aware of the love for Willy when Linda says ‘I love that man’ this indicates that despite Willy’s “little cruelties” to Linda she has an “iron repression” to the negativity and moves on. Linking back to hopelessness and failure, this shows that even though Willy has failed to achieve the American dream, Linda will always be there for him. In a way, she is the only part of Willy’s life that is hopeful because although the American dream lead to the failure of Willy’s life, Linda always supported him. However, this makes the reader feel sorry for Linda because she has to put up with it, even though she was placed as the last priority to Willy. Although Linda had gone through the struggles with Willy, you could say that in a way she had fulfilled half of the American dream. This is because after Willy died Linda says “Willy, I made the last payment on the house today” this shows that after Willy had died, Linda had paid off the Loan. However we can see that she isn’t entirely happy as she is devastated that Willy has died. Miller shows that not everyone lives the perfect American dream as he has shown that through the tragedy
Similarly, George cares for Lennie in the same way. George treats Lennie like a brother because they have gone through so much together. “In Of Mice and Men” George says to Lennie “… So nice if I didn't have you on my tail”. This shows that George gets tired of Lennie and considers that he could have the choice of freedom from Lennie yet, he genuinely cares for him and does not want to leave his side as he knows that Lennie cannot cope on his own. He says “no… I want you to stay with me here”. George thinks that without Lennie, it is impossible to achieve the American dream. We know this when George says “I think I knowed that we’d never do her” and when he says “guys like us” George always refers to “we’d” and “us” this suggests that he believes that this is not just the American dream for himself but it is a shared dream. If he is not with Lennie, then he knows that it is all and they will not be able to achieve it.
Linda in Death of a Salesman also feels that Willy is hard to deal with but handles him with care. George and Linda handle their partners with care although they do feel a slight annoyance when dealing with them. Throughout both texts, George and Linda are always by their sides under all circumstances. Overall, when trying to achieve the American dream you need a companion who will support you and will lead you on the right path and the right direction. According to both texts, the characters have gone off the pathway of success which shows that having someone to support you is important and may lead you to better success.
In both texts the characters themselves believe more in the hopelessness of the American dream, and thus there is also the resulting failure of the American dream in both. In “Death Of a Salesman” Miller shows that Willy never tried hard enough to want the American dream and kept failing to push himself harder and harder. In “Of Mice and Men”, George and Lennie eventually gave up trying to get the American dream and started to doubt the fact they could have the treasure. At the end of both texts, each character had failed to try and achieve their dream. In “Death of a Salesman” Willy died after committing suicide, practically a direct result of failing to achieve the American dream. In “Of Mice and Men”, George killed Lennie by shooting him; he did this because if he didn’t kill Lennie, the others would have killed him in a painful manner, therefore it would be the right thing to do. Both authors use these endings to show the hopelessness and failure of the American dream. Unfortunately, the characters in both texts were blinded by the false idea of the American dream. Anyone is entitled to achieve the American dream only if they have the right mind-set and tried tremendously hard to receive it. George, Lennie and Willy did not try hard enough which resulted them in failing to achieve what they wanted to.