Disintegration of American Dream: A study on Arthur Miller‟s Death of a Salesman and Saul Bellow‟s Seize the Day

With the declaration of American Independence in 1776, there emerges a new spirit namely ‘American Dream’. This paper intends to show the consequences of hankering after the ‘American Dream’ in the lives of Willy Loman and Tommy Wilhelm in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Saul Bellow’s Seize the Day respectively. These two persons find themselves under a constant pressure of obtaining social positions through business prosperity. The dream, which they pursue, creates a disillusionment within themselves that gradually makes them comprehend the crude realities of a disintegrated society. Creed for recognition, lack of familial bondage and the reactions of two bewildered individuals to their circumstances and the ultimate effect of American Dream have been explored here. This article also demonstrates how the two individuals face up the difficulties in their lives and how they respond to their situations and meet up with their dreams.