Compare and contrast two characters from the book A Raisin in the sun and Death of salesman to obtain American dream.
“May I never wake up from the American Dream.” The most sought after a dream; the dream of a house surrounded by a white picket fence, the dream people work their entire lives for, the dream people fight wars for; the “American Dream.”
However, America’s rise to industrialism in the 19th and 20th centuries replaced this ream with the desire to get rich fast.
This change led people to believe that it is possible, common even, to obtain wealth rapidly; yet this is not the case.
Sometimes when an individual is unable to acquire such extreme wealth he/she creates a sense of false reality for himself/herself, his/her common sense blurred, and he/she sees opportunities where there are none.
Characters Walter Lee Younger and Willy Loman are prime examples of this, both pinning their hopes on unattainable dreams to hide the feelings of failure.
The theme of illusions versus reality is present in both Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman through the portrayal of main characters – Walter and Willy in their struggle for happiness and prosperity.
Although the two characters have similar dreams, Walter, a dynamite character, breaks through the fantasy while Willy, a static character remains trapped in his illusion.
Explain in detail using examples – contrasting and comparing the two characters showing examples of sympathies and understandings of their struggle to obtain the “American Dream.”
