Arthur Miller is one of the leading American playwrights of the twentieth century. He was born in October of 1915 in New York City, and was the son of a ladies-wear manufacturer who was ruined during the economic collapse of the 1930s. Miller, much like Biff in his play Death of a Salesman, was not a scholar, and sports captured his attention more than academics. He was such a poor student, that once his writing became well known, many of the teachers he'd had throughout school couldn't remember who he was. As a young man during the Great Depression, Miller was shaped by the poverty that surrounded him, which demonstrated to him the insecurity of modern existence. After he graduated from high school he worked in a warehouse so that he could earn enough money to attend the University of Michigan, where he began to write plays. (McKey).

The “American Dream,” in my opinion, is based on the Declaration of Independence: “We believe that all men are born with these inalienable rights - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (Thomas Jefferson). This “dream” consists of a belief that in America, all things are possible to all men, regardless of birth or

The things that are presumed to happen in business are success, wealth, and esteem. Again, this is what Ben has achieved and done. Miller stressed his success and material reward in Ben. But Ben also has emptiness in spite of his success. In my opinion, he has no real happiness.

The Loman boys are the final representatives of the American Dream. First, the two men represent the failure in the search of the American Dream. The two sons make a few statements like, "I'm thirty-four years old, I oughta be makin' my future, and, "Pop, I'm nothing!” (Miller 1884). By saying this they are showing that they know they have not accomplished success. The two do not have a clue about how to reach dreams above their parents. When their father puts down such people as Bernard it can become clear why the two are misled. Biff is the opposite of Happy and Willy. Biff doesn't care about the amount of money he earns, all he really cares about is that he enjoys his work. All he really wants is to be outside working with his hands. Biff rejects the American dream and makes one up for himself. Biff defines his own idea of success and takes control of his life.

It has been said that Miller based Willy's character on his uncle, Manny Newman. Miller said, “That homely, ridiculous little man had after all never ceased to struggle for a certain victory, the only kind open to him in this society - selling to achieve his lost self as a man with his name and his sons' name on a business of his own.” (Kennedy 1410). This explains exactly what he had in mind for Willy to be, as he was, “trying to achieve his lost self.”

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