Unlike the other characters of the play, Happy Loman inherited his American dream. As seen all throughout the play, Happy searches for the very same dream that his father has sought all his life. Happy wants money and name recognition. His dream isn’t found in the countryside, but hidden deep in the congestion of the industrial city. Above all else, Happy wants to finally please his father. “I’m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It’s the only dream you can have-to come out number one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I’m gonna win it for him.” Happy’s dream was cultivated through years of playing 2nd favorite in his father’s eyes. When Biff was a high school football star, Happy had to settle. Even as Biff returned home after spending many years on a farm, Happy had less potential in Willy’s eyes. Happy struggled to achieve his dreams. He had nowhere near the influence he let on to have. Happy was heading down the same path of destruction that his father already traveled. Happy’s dream was not his own, but an attempt to fulfill his father’s.
Happy struggled mightily with achieving this dream. Like I earlier stated, he was always playing 2nd fiddle to Biff. Despite dedicating his life to becoming successful, in an essence Happy was far from achieving thee success Biff had. Happy put on a façade that he was making large sums of money, when in reality he was an assistant to an assistant. Arthur Miller attempts to convey the generational hopelessness in this lifestyle. The trend of a life in pursuit of nothing doesn’t end with Willy’s death, but is instead passed on to Happy. Miller really conveys the cultural misunderstanding of that time. Through Happy the audience is able to further learn of the bleak emphasis put on the material American Dream.
My dream has somewhat differed from the last years Mrs. Harris’s essay. My opinion of the American dream varies from that of a Willy or a Happy. I intend to mentor and financially support many fatherless children. That has been my goal and life’s ambition ever since I was young. However, the way I am to achieve this has varied over the past few years. Obviously, my financial situation needs to be very stable to be able to provide an education for these youth. By starting my own business, I am taking a risk, but I intend to reap the rewards. Hotels and assisted living homes have always interested me, and my goal is to own and run a company which specializes in this form of Hospitality. My own background has helped cultivate these dreams, and I plan to pursue them with a fervor. Failure is in many ways my greatest fear. I want to achieve not just for my own purpose in life, but to make a genuine difference. Finding investors and gaining in-field experience are both tasks I will have to address. However, I feel confident in that in 25 years, my dream will be achieved.
