In society it is considered that if a person works hard then that person will attain success. In the play, "The Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller, and the novel, The Great Gatsby , by F. Scott Fitzgerald, one can see that the objective of the main characters is to attain the American dream. Traditionally the American dream meant opportunity and freedom for all but that is not the case in these two classic works. At one time America was considered a place that if you work hard you will become successful. Both these authors are arguing the fact that the dream has become corrupted by greed and by materialism. The death of a salesman and the great Gatsby are strong commentaries which criticize and condemn a social system controlled by wealth, one living life to attain money and being indifferent towards other human beings.
The Great Gatsby and "The Death of a salesman" denounce the notion that their characters lifestyle is controlled by wealth. One can see this by the unbridgeable gap between Tom Buchanan and Mr. Wilson in the Great Gatsby. Tom Buchanan is a arrogant and a egoistic man who inherited an enormous amount of wealth from his family. Where as Mr. Wilson is a honest hard working man, who is living his life to make his wife happy. In spite he is a man that needs to feel of Mr. Wilson work ethics he cannot win Tom's respect and friendship. "When are you going to see me that car? … my man is working on it!."(Fitzgerald 27 ). In this quote, Knowing that Mr. Wilson is in desperate need of the car, Tom uses it to make himself feel powerful and to make Mr. Wilson look foolish. Tom knows that he is not going to sell Mr. Wilson the car, he is just playing one of his senseless game with him. Furthermore, one can see that the law easily, changed depending on the size of your wallet. "Taking a white card from his wallet, he waved it before the man's eyes. "right you are agreed the policeman. "know your time, Mr. Gatsby excuse me." (Fitzgerald 28 ). This is a clear example of how money is used to get the social elite out of trouble. Mr. Gatsby was pulled over by a policeman because of a traffic violation, but when Gatsby pulled out the card, which is given to the upper call people, and showed it to the policeman, he simply apologized and told Gatsby to have a nice day. Moreover, one can see that in relationships throughout The Great Gatsby wealth is more valuable than love. Mrs. Wilson married her husband, Mr. Wilson, because she thought that he had a lot of money. "I married him because I thought he was a gentlemen"(Fitzgerald, 37). In the above statement Mrs. Wilson is seen telling Catherine that the only reason why she got involved with Mr. Wilson was not because of love but because of his appearance. Similarly in the play the death of a salesman the characters lifestyle seems to be evolved around acquiring wealth. Willy Loman, is portrait as a hard working man who lived his life fantasizing about impressing his sons . "Always loved me, Isn't that a remarkable thing? He'll worship me for it! Can you imagine that magnificence with twenty thousand dollars in his pocket?" (Miller,135) From this example one can clearly see Willy Loman's obsession with impressing his sons with material wealth he is willing to take his own life so that his family can become rich. Secondly, Willy's friendship with Howard can be seen as being far less valuable than the amount of money Willy making for his company. "Willy: your father came to me and asked me what I thought about the name Howard. Howard: I appreciate that Willy.. but it's a business and everybody gotta pull his own weight." (Miller, 80). In this quote one can see that Howard puts his friendship with Willy aside and tells him that he is fired, despite of Willy's thirty five years of service for him. Howard relieved Willy of his duties because Willy was not selling enough products to benefit his company. Lastly, the reason why Willy thought of becoming a salesman was because he saw one of his co-worker did if for a long time without putting in a lot of work. "His name was Dave Singleman he drummed merchandise without leaving his room.. I realized that selling was the greatest career" (Miller, 81). Willy is so fantasized in getting rich, he forgot that it took hard work, and being comfortable with your job to become successful. He assumed that being a salesman was the easiest way to become rich. To conclude, In both of these books one can see that ones morals and standards of living can easily be munipulated by money.
In both The Great Gatsby and "The Death of a Salesman", the aim of the characters is to acquire material wealth. From James Gatsby was a young boy he was ambitious about becoming rich. "He knew he had a big future ahead of him" (Fitzgerald, 164). Clearly from Gatsby's fathers statement, Gatsby had big plans of becoming wealthy. Further on in the conversation Mr. Gatz shows Nick Carraway a schedule that Gatsby had made up when he was a young boy. It consisted of sayings "No wasting time" and "Saved $3.50 a week". Gatsby, from an early age realized that time and money are two of the most valuable keys of becoming wealthy. Secondly Gatsby was so determined to become wealthy he did not care what actions he had to take, he did not care if they were legal or not. "He bought up a lot of side-street stores and sold grain alcohol over the counter." (Fitzgerald, 27). It is clear from Tom's words that Mr. Gatsby earned his money knowing that, at that time selling alcohol was illegal. This quote shows Gatsby's determination to fulfill his dreams. Moreover Gatsby had another reason to become rich, to win back the love of his life Daisy. "my house looks well, doesn't it?" He demanded. "See how the whole front of it catches the light?" (Fitzgerald, 87). Knowing that Daisy is attracted to material wealth he makes sure that Daisy sees his house so that she would leave Tom and love him once more. Now in the Death of a salesman the same can be said for it's characters. Willy Loman believes that success is not what you know but who you know and how well you are liked. When he died, hundreds of salesmen buyers showed up at his funeral" (Miller, 81) Willy idols Mr. Singleman he believes that Mr. Singleman was successful because he was well liked. Willy did not take the time to figure out that it was because of hard work and good salesmanship made them showed up. That said, the Loman family's downfall is brought upon by their inability to achieve their un-practical dreams. "You wait, kid, before its all over we're gonna get a place out in the country" (Miller, 72). From this quote one can see that Willy Loman and his family, as they often do throughout the play, fantasizing about their dreams rather than working to achieve their dreams. Lastly, Willy Loman is a very materialistic man, he believes that if a product is brand name it has to be worth buying. A clear example of this point is when Billy is comparing his refrigerator to Charlie's. . "I told you we should have bought a general electric and its still good" (Miller, 78). Willy believe that because Charlie's refrigerator is a good machine because it is well advertised. From the above examples one can clearly see that in both these works the characters are living life just to attain wealth rather than living life to be happy.
Throughout these books , both Fitzgerald and Arthur Miller shows the collapse of dreams, whether they are dreams of money, status, or simply of happiness. The biggest collapse, however, is of the American Dream. The failure of the American Dream is unavoidable, not only because the reality of life cannot compare to idealistic dreams, but also because the ideals are usually far too perfect to be paralleled in reality. Dreams give purpose to life, something to work toward, an end to the road. Without dreams one's life has no meaning, as shown in the fates of the characters in The Great Gatsby and "The Death of a Salesman" .The American Dream is something all people work toward to some extent, yet it is doomed to failure as its ideals conflict with the reality of life. Although it is an admirable goal, it is an unobtainable one. The American Dream is just that – a dream.