Life of Pi Essay

“The relationship between an individual and his or her society is responsible for the sacrifices he or she makes. ” Discuss this statement making close reference to Death of a Salesman and American Beauty. Ideas and qualities of acceptable standards that is considered worthwhile in society, pressures the relationship between an individual and his or her society due to the risk of social rejection. By accepting these social norms the individual is forced into the pursuit of the American Dream of that context whilst the rejection of the American Dream also leads to social rejection.

Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman looks at the notion of the American Dream and the consequences one faces by valuing and devaluing social certain social ideals. Sam Mendez directs the story told in American Beauty of one man’s search for happiness after the realisation of the inadequate satisfaction the Dream presented. Both these texts looks at the illusion one lives during the pursuit of achieving the social norm and the sacrifices the individual makes to achieve this goal.

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The two main characters featured in Death of a Salesman and American Beauty, Willy Loman and Lester Burnham; experience the pressures from social expectations in pursuing and achieving the American Dream. These characters pursue similar dreams of social respect and image which is highlighted throughout the play and in the beginning of the film. Image and how the society perceives an individual, in Death of a Salesman, is an important aspect in the pursuit of the Dream.

Willy refuses to let society know that he is in desperation to fulfil the criteria of the Dream in the post-Depression time resulting to his rapid psychological decline due to the refusal to accept the gap between his dream and the reality. Willy’s values concerning one’s image and materialism is highlighted in his flashbacks through Happy’s repetition of ‘“I’m losing weight, you notice, Pop? ”’ portraying the obsession with self image that has been passed down through generation.

Willy’s muddled ethics devalue education and the dream of being educated and the opportunities and benefits that come alongside education are sacrificed. Willy teachers Biff and Happy that it is not the marks in school that provide one with a bright future but rather the concept is to “be well liked and you will never want”. Lester is American Beauty shared common values of image in the beginning of the film. The American Dream’s message of hard work and perseverance have eroded from its original potency seen in Death of a Salesman and is instead filled with materialism and success.

Everything about Lester Burnham seemed perfect and although he has fulfilled the American Dream physically, emotionally he has not gained the satisfaction and happiness the Dream is supposedly guaranteed to bring. He works in an advertisement firm symbolising the obsession of image Americans faces in the late 1990s. A long shot located at the beginning of the film shows Carolyn grooming her perfect garden of American Beauty’s. The neatness of the setting heightens the symbolism of the flower, the American Beauty, which is bred to be flawless.

The flower’s lack of odour presents a sense of falseness, in which the flower’s only reason of existence is for its look of perfection. This flower represents Lester’s life, seemingly perfect on the outside but really is soul-less and ‘sedated’. Thus the American Dream of social expectation and image is shared in both texts influencing the Willy Loman’s and Lester Burnham’s lives. The American Dream promised personal happiness however people in pursuit of the dream including Willy Loman and Lester Burnham, did not receive any satisfaction.

Money and success brought only superficial happiness and this was usually accompanied by corruption and spiritual desolation, leaving people with little personal fulfilment and the realisation that the Dream was false. The post-Depression context in Death of a Salesman was still a patriarchal society with social rules of how males and females should behave. Willy’s and the society’s perception on males is to be the breadwinner, “a man who makes an appearance… creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead”.

The repetition of “man” highlights Willy’s aspirations and intense pressure to be the breadwinner cumulating the image of his ideal male. Since Willy is unable to become the breadwinner thus preventing success to enter the family and unable to achieve the American Dream, he is unable to be happy. This is contrasted with Lester Burnham in American Beauty who has outwardly achieved the Dream. However, is not happy and the close up shot of Lester sleeping in the back seat of the car highlights his feeling of sedation resulting to his lack of motivation to do anything.

By pursuing the dreams of an adolescent, Lester searches for personal happiness and sacrifices his job at the advertisement firm for a job with the least amount of responsibility and more importantly, sacrificed his relationships with his family. Thus the lack of personal happiness that the American Dream supposedly guaranteed resulted to the death of Willy Loman and Lester Burnham. The American Dream presented family, in both contexts Post-Depression and late 1990’s, to be the centre of the American middle class life.

However, Death of a Salesman and American Beauty present a ruptured marriage between the Lomans and the Burnhams who both also have dysfunctional relationships with their offspring. Willy’s marriage with Linda is in risk, in order to reach the dream of success and a dignified job; he abandons his family, particularly his wife, in the process. He demeans her and conveys the male image of dominance and superiority in the relationship. The two do not have equal rights in the household with Willy making more of the important decisions while he throws Linda off as she attempts to care for him.

The abrupt words, “G’bye, I’m late” conveys Willy’s view of Linda as a hindrance to his dream as a successful salesman. Though he attempts to seek and attain the dream of having a happy marriage as part of the whole American Dream, he fails at this aspect due to his unequal balance in his prioritising of ideals as well as the infidelity he committed towards his wife. The foreshadowing “stop mending stockings… gets me nervous” portrays his guilt of the past act of adultery with ‘the other woman’. This act is also the sacrifice of his marriage with Linda for a business deal, for wealth.

Lester Burnham and Carolyn Burnham in American Beauty also face a marriage lacking in love and intimacy. The linking motif of the American Beauty rose is ironic regarding their marriage as the rose is associated with romance, but there is no romance left in the Burnham marriage. Both sacrifice their relationship with one another by having secret relationships, Angela and Buddy. The tension in the mid shot of the Burnham couple about to experience intimacy is broken by the dialogue “Lester, you’re going to spill beer on the couch”.

This portrays that “stuff” and the image is more important to Carolyn than their relationship. Thus the happy family the American Dream promised was not gained in either Loman or Burnham family. Although the American Dream has changed through time, Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman and Sam Mendez’s film American Beauty both feature the tragic consequences of one living the illusion of the American Dream that has pressured society. Thus the society’s standards of acceptable qualities indeed pressure the relationship between an individual and their society.

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