According to the Oxford Dictionary, the American Dream corresponds to ‘the ideal by which equality of opportunity is available to any American, allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved’. Many people in the United States of America, where the term was invented during the 30’s, are looking after the American Dream. It has become the aspiration of many, even to people from other countries. Nowadays, the term is as inspirational as controversial, since the opportunities become harder to get day by day. The truth is that, even though the American Dream is harder to achieve, it encourages people to achieve what they want.
As some may see it, the problem is not the American Dream itself but the way in which each person achieves it. Sometimes people forget their values and principles while pursuing their dream and that is the problem. And this is exactly what happens with Joe Keller, one of the main characters in Arthur Miller’s play ‘All my Sons’. Keller proves throughout the play how perverted a man can become when his ambitions are more important than his morality and values. At the beginning of the play, Miller’s starts describing the house in which the Keller’s live.
The author gives some important details in order to show the reader that the Keller’s are actually living the American Dream. In the first two paragraphs, the readers are able to know things such as the location, which corresponds to ‘the outskirts of an American town’ (Miller, Act 1, Page 3), the size of the house, which is ‘two stories high’ (Miller, Act 1, Page 3), and the cost of the property, which may ‘have cost fifteen thousand in the early twenties’ (Miller, Act 1, Page 3).
The Essay on Corruption Of The American Dream
The American Dream has been a symbol of hope for people around the world because of its offer of a chance to make a better life for yourself through hard work and dedication. Many immigrants have come to America in hopes of creating a better life for themselves and their children. Though the American dream promises much, many writers have begged the question of whether or not this dream of a ...
With this, the author is telling the readers how wealthy this family is.
Then, Miller continues with a quick description of some of the characters, and there is when some aspects about Joe Keller’s personality arise. The author tells us that Keller is a ‘man of stolid mind’ and ‘uneducated’ (Miller, Act 1, Page 3).
As the play starts, the author shows Joe Keller commenting on the want ads he is reading on the newspaper with one of his neighbours. After a couple of lines and after reading some unusual occupations, Keller says that in his days ‘either you were a lawyer, or a doctor or you worked in a shop’ (Miller, Act 1, Page 5).
Since Joe Keller was neither a professional nor he worked in a shop, one inmediately infer that Keller had to work really hard in order to achieving the American Dream, and together with this extra effort ambitions and mistakes also become bigger. By the end of chapter two, the truth is out and the reader finally finds out that Keller was the responsible for the death of the 21 pilots and, more importantly, that he did it on purpose. Keller says to Chris that he had shipped the faulty parts ‘for you, a business for you’ (Miller, Act 2, Page 78) as a way of justifying his actions.
According to the previous line, the readers notice that Keller’s American Dream centred in economic success only. Consequently, Miller points out how this persistent pursuing of money lead Keller to lose his sense of morality and his values, and by this, he loses everything in the end. Commerce without morality was Joe Keller’s deadly sin in this case. The main goal in Joe Keller’s American Dream was, in the first place, to become the owner of a factory, and secondly, to have a big house and a family. Through this character, Miller takes advantage and criticizes the owner of the big factory.
As the play begins, Keller is described as a hardworking but ignorant man, whose fortune was made thanks to his work and effort. In Miller words Keller is ‘a heavy man of stolid mind and build, a business man these many years, but with the imprint of the machine-shop worker and boss still upon him’ (Act 1, Page 3).
The Research paper on Jacques Family Case study
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It is interesting to note that Keller is not described as a family guy, even though the play tells the story of the Keller family. This is because, as a business man, he probably did not spend a lot of time at home, and that is why he is regarded more like a business man instead of a family guy.
For Joe Keller, the factory, the money and the business were first, and with this, he justifies his actions as well. The day of the incident of the faulty engine parts, Joe Keller decided to ship the parts thinking about money, and not about the consequences. Due to his irresponsibility, the consequences become bigger and his son Larry crashes his plane and die because one of the faulty engine parts, were installed in his plane. Moreover, Larry does this on purpose and he writes the following on a letter to Ann: ‘I’m going out on a mission in a few minutes; they’ll probably report me missing.
If they do, I want you to know that you mustn’t wait for me’ (Miller, Act 3, Page 90).
Towards the end of act three, Keller finally has to face the Larry’s judgement, through the letter, and Chris’. As he is incapable of doing so, he decides to kill himself, avoiding the blame once again. Miller also criticizes the American Dream through other members of the Keller family. Through Kate’s character, the readers are able to see what kind of things a person can hide in order to keep up appearances. In the beginning, Kate is shown as a devoted wife and mother who is not willing to accept the death of his son Larry.
One might think this is because a mother’s love is beyond everything, but as the play develops, Kate starts saying suspicious things. For instance, she says to Keller that he ‘above all have got to believe’ (Miller, Act 1, Page 23) that Larry is coming back. This line demonstrates the persistence of Kate in denying the truth, because she knew Keller was the responsible for the death of the 21 pilots and the death of his own son. But she is incapable of facing the true. Kate rather keeps on convincing herself and the rest of the family members about Larry’s return.
Later, Kate says to Chris that if Larry is ‘dead, your father killed him’ (Miller, Act 2, Page75).. Kate Keller was incapable of accepting the truth and incapable of blaming Joe and provoking the downfall of the ‘Holy Family’ (Miller, Act 2, Page 49).
The Essay on Motivation Of "The Crucible" By Arthur Miller
“John Proctor: I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem– vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrant’s vengeance! I’ll not give my wife to vengeance! (Miller, 379)”. This quote by John Proctor was spoken in response to ...
Moreover, after the truth is out and Joe decides to kill himself, Kate tells to Chris ‘don’t take it (the blame) to yourself’ (Miller, Act 3, Page 91) as a way of hiding reality once again. However, Miller points out some positive things about the American Dream too. Some characters demonstrate that not everybody is lost in the Keller family.
For instance, Chris is described as an intelligent and kind man with good intentions. One of the Keller’s neighbours, Sue describes him by saying that he ‘makes people want to be better than it’s impossible to be’ (Miller, Act 2, Page 48).
And then she adds that Chris ‘is driving her husband crazy with that phony idealism he has’ (Miller, Act 2, Page 49).
Sue, being an interested woman, criticizes Chris because he encourages everybody else to achieve the things they always wanted to do, despite the amount of money they could earn by doing it.
Chris is responsible for the final judgement to his father as well. He was willing to send Keller to jail and make him pay for his actions, but Keller decides to kill himself before give in. The same happens with Larry who after finding out about his father responsibility in the pilots’ incident, decides to fly his plane and die as a way of justice. As Larry explains in his letter, he was incapable of forgiving his father for being the responsibility for the death of the pilots.
In short, morality and values were more important to Chris and Larry unlike his father, whose main concern was money and business. As a conclusion, in this play Arthur Miller characterized the two faces of the American Dream. On one side, the author portrayed Joe Keller and his wife Kate as the old-fashioned ‘American Dreamers’, the ones who refuse failure and the ones who forget about their values and belief in order to get what they want. The author criticizes the ambitions and the lack of morality these two characters have during the entire play.
And, on the other side, Miller brought to life some characters that are not perverted, but still are following the same dream. These characters are represented by Chris, Ann and Larry whose are shown by Miller as idealistic and with a keen sense of justice. These characters demonstrate that the American Dream can also be reached by being an honest and hardworking person. In the end, it does not matter the dream a person wants to achieve, but the way in which the person achieve it and, more importantly, if that person is happy with the final results.
The Essay on Death Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller And The American Dream
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and The American Dream The play Death of a Salesman was written by Arthur Miller in 1949. The aim of this essay is to compare this play concept of the American Dream. But what is the American Dream? Well, if you are an American and if you have a family, a house and a car, a decent job with a good salary and if you consider yourself to be surrounded by people ...
