Hey guys, it's Jasmine.
Today we were talking about how immigrants are more willing to work menial jobs, while some natural-born Americans are too proud to work at McDonald's, even when they're living on the streets. I think that your definition of the American Dream has a lot to do with the environment where you grew up. I think that all of us believe that we're going at least to be in the same social class as our parents, if not in a better one. Often we go to school and college in pursuit of a job that pays more than our parents' jobs. In Careers class, we wrote about what we wanted our future to be like. A lot of ours were pretty luxurious lifestyles - I know I picked out a $700,000 house and someone else calculated their income out to be $500,000 a year. We never really expect to be worse off economically than our parents were. I think that a lot of immigrants are more willing to work minimum-wage jobs because they come from poorer countries, and even just being in America is part of the American Dream. I think it'd be really interesting to have the same discussion we had in class in a poorer American town. I wonder what high school students who live in really destitute areas would say about their expectations for the future. We can't really get into their heads, but do you guys think they have lower expectations than we do, since their parents are in a lower socioeconomic class?
I was really curious about the immigrant aspect of the American Dream. My parents came to America when they were in their twenties, so I just asked my mom about her notion of the American Dream. She said that my grandparents decided to come to America in pursuit of a better life (I know, it's cliched, but I guess it's true). They saw the American lifestyle as rich and luxurious - their perception of America was mostly based on TV shows and movies, like the TV show "Dallas." I have no idea what the show was about, but apparently it portrayed Americans as being extremely wealthy. So in a way, the American Dream's really materialistic - it's about chasing something that might not even exist. I think that you have to adjust your definition of the American Dream as you grow up. You can't go through your whole life thinking that you're going to become the multimillionaire CEO of a huge corporation without first appreciating smaller achievements. You have to realize that you have to work your way up - there's more to the American Dream than just being the CEO. I think there's also less of a stigma against immigrants when they work at McDonald's, or a lawn-mowing service, so they're not held back as much by their pride. If someone who had grown up in Moorestown decided to take on a full-time job at McDonald's, people would look at them more negatively than at a person who just immigrated from a foreign country.
I think the reason that Willy failed was that he couldn't appreciate what he had done, and couldn't get over his pride. He kept dwelling on what could have been (his hopes for the future): he could have gone to Alaska with his brother and gotten rich, Biff could have gone to college and become a football star, etc. He was stuck in the past - he kept telling his boss about how successful he had been in the past. There's a quote from Harry Potter (I know it's not the best book to be talking about in English class, but I like it). Dumbledore says, "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." Willy stubbornly adhered to his dreams without considering the present. Sometimes people forget that they often have to work hard now to succeed later. You can't just wake up one day and achieve the American Dream.
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4 comments:
While I completely agree that Willy was stuck in the past, I also think it is true that he was "stuck in the future"- that is to say, he never lived in the present. Seeing as how I left my book in school, I can't find the exact quote, but I believe it was Happy who said (to Biff, about lying about meeting Bill Oliver for lunch) that Willy "is never happier than when he is looking forward to something." Willy oftentimes talks to himself because he is reliving the "good old days," but he also is stuck on getting over the present to achieve the American dream. He never stops in giving Biff advice, like not picking up dropped papers and office objects in the interview (which is apparently beneath his son) or demanding $15,000. In the process he never falters in believing that the NEXT day will be his big sale, or the NEXT day he will demand a job or New York, and so on. Even his death was based upon the belief that in the future he would be of service to his family.
I think what annoys me so much about Willy is how lazy he is. I had a really difficult time reading "Death of a Salesman" because I just couldn't get past Willy's personality. I know that "Death of a Salesman" is supposed to fit under the "American Nightmare" category, but I sort of disagree with that.
Like Jasmine said, Willy was stuck in the past, but even in the past he wasn't very succesful. In one part of the play, in the past, Willy comes home and tells his wife he did really well on one of his trips and made a lot of money, but as she asks him about it it turns out he really didn't make much money at all.
If Willy hadn't been so pompous, he could have made something of himself. He had no work ethic. He dreamt of finding money an easy way like his brother, Ben, did.
So, in a way, I don't even think he was even looking for the American Dream. He was just unsatisfied with his life and a bit greedy.
That was a perfect quote!
Heyaaa it's Grace.
I agree that Willy is never "in the moment" with his life, as he is always dreaming about the future, or reminiscing about the past. I believe that along with pride, this is one fault of many Americans. It seems as a society that we can never just enjoy existing, that we must always be pursuing a goal, or else we are not happy. Everything is about achieving something, reaching the next level, or just obtaining more stuff, and yet, nobody ever takes the time to enjoy what they have achieved. A common American conception of what life should be is school, career, family, work, get rich, retire and THEN enjoy yourself during retirement. Everything is about the pursuit of happiness, and not just existing happily.
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