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Susy Jolomna
Ms. von Holst
English 3
25 November 2014
The American Dream
The definition of the American Dream is said to be the ideal that every US citizen
should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work,
determination, and initiative. Two texts that explore the concept of the American Dream are
Death of a Salesman and The Great Gatsby. Death of a Salesman is a play by Arthur Miller,
where a hard working sixty-three year old salesman, Willy Loman, does his best to make himself
well-known. The Great Gatsby is a story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, told by Nick Carraway, a
bonds salesman, who tells the story of Jay Gatsby who was his extremely wealthy neighbor.
These two stories share similar themes when reaching for the American Dream. Even though
both Arthur Miller and F. Scott Fitzgerald both portray lies and self-deceit to achieve the
American Dream, they differ in their visions of the American Dream.
One lie that is shown throughout Death of a Salesman is that Willy tries his best to
convince himself along with his wife Linda, and his son Happy, that they are successful and well
liked even when going through financial struggles. The text states, A hundred and twenty
dollars! My God, if business doesnt pick up I dont know what Im gonna do (Miller 22). This
shows that although Willy is self-deceptive and cannot accept reality, sometimes reality is forced
upon him to remind him hes not all that successful. In the same way, Nick Carraway from The
Great Gatsby, is also self-deceptive because on the first page of the book, he explains that he

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never judged anyone because his father always told him that other people have not had the same
advantages that Nick has had. Nick uses these advantages as a child to live his American Dream
by selling bonds. The text states, They were careless people, Tom and Daisy they smashed up
things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or
whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made
(Fitzgerald 170). Nick judges Tom and Daisy and claims to be careless people even though the
first thing he explains to us is that he does not judge other people. Even though this judgment is
somewhat based of facts, The Great Gatsby is still a book of judgment that makes us question
Nicks trustworthiness.
Another deceitful method to achieve the American dream is by trying to convince others
that you are living the dream. According to Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman, lying to
others to make yourself seem successful will get you respect and make you popular especially
when it comes to convincing his brother Ben. In the text, Willy states, Business is bad, its
murderous. But not for me, of course (Miller 40). This statement shows how Willy tends to
boast about himself to other to make himself feel better. Gatsby also manages to have everyone
think that he worked hard for his fortune but Tom soon finds out how Gatsby got his fortune
after serving in the army and going to Oxford. The text states, He and this Wolfsheim bought up
a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter
(Fitzgerald 177). This quote explains how Gatsby achieved the American Dream by selling
drugs and alcohol. Willy and Gatsby both try to find shortcuts to attain their idea of success
rather than putting in hard work.
All in all, both Death of a Salesman and The Great Gatsby portray lies and deceit to
achieve the American Dream, they differ in their visions of the American Dream. Willys

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American Dream was to be well like and have successful sons by self-deceit. While Gatsbys
American Dream was to be successful and to live his life next his only true love, whom was
Daisy, Nicks cousin. In the end both Willy and Gatsby die do to their lies and deceit. If only
Willy would have snapped back to reality, he would have been able to see that he wasnt as
successful as he thought he was. Gatsby on the other hand would have made it alive if only he
wasnt the cheater he was to get money in hopes to get Daisy back.

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Works Cited
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York City: Penguin Plays, 1949. Print.
Fitzgerald, Francis Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York City: Simon and Schuster, 1925.
Print.