Death Of A Salesman By F. Scott Fitzgerald - 2062 Words

Dreams drive our pursuits and motivations. They allow us to look into the future and see hope and prosperity in order to give our every day tasks purpose. Dreams, however, are not always beneficial. They can often, like in these works, be build on nonrealistic ideals, which drive characters in the wrong direction and lead to self distruction. Both F. Scott Fitzgerald through The Great Gatsby and Arthur Miller through Death of a Salesman use these misshapen dreams and visions of the future to describe their characters, build toward their downfalls or dramatic turning points, and to create a theme of the crushing power of broken dreams. Willy Loman’s dream is the promise that one can make their mark on the world and be successful simply by†¦show more content†¦In high school, Biff’s peers â€Å"used to follow him around in high school† (Miller 6) and he was a star on the football team. In willy’s mind Biff had unlimited potential because he was so w ell liked, but simply being well liked could not carry him through school. Biff ended up flunking math, and seeing his father with another woman in the same day. This moment haunts Willy and he spends the rest of his life trying to find out if he was the reason his son, instead of following through with his father’s dreams, â€Å"laid down and died like a hammer hit him† (Miller 71) While Willy is haunted by a lack of accomplishment, Gatsby is haunted by a lost chance at love. Jay Gatsby is a perfectionist, and his dream is to be reunited with his love before the war, Daisy Buchanan. Daisy is a symbol of wealth and grace to Gatsby. He says that even â€Å"her voice is full of money† (fitzgerald 107), and the final step of his dream of success is to rekindle the innocent love they had before the war. Gatsby has achieved innumerable wealth, and has a rags to riches story that many would call the epitome of the American dream. But he cannot be satisfied until h is life becomes the perfect dream he has in his head, the center point of that dream is continuing his life with Daisy as if he never went to war. In order to achieve this dream, Gatsby worked his whole life through susceptibly illegal means to build a grand future for them in a magnificent house so that he can provide and