A man works hard to make a profit, a single mother tries her best to see that her only daughter

finds a gentleman caller, and a wealthy newspaper publisher attempts to gain unlimited power. All of these situations are the direct result of attempts to obtain the American dream. The founding fathers declared in the Declaration of Independence that We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.1 One might argue that the American dream has only one meaning as stated in the Declaration, but this is not true. The American dream holds a different meaning for every person. Maxine Greene says that the American dream refers to a future possibility. the idea to which arises out of what we feel to be lacking in the now or it is an entirely personal possibility: fulfillment of some particular kind; an improvement in status; the attainment of wealth; what is variously called success.2 In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman believes that he can achieve the American dream through wealth, good looks, and popularity. In The Glass Menagerie, Amanda Wingfield believes that she can obtain the American dream through making her daughter, Amanda, happy. Also, in Citizen Kane, Charles Foster Kane believes that the American dream is obtained through success, fame, and power. Despite the unique meaning of the American dream to each character, the drug-like desire for achievement always leads to the same demise. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, spends an entire life attempting to achieve his version of the American dream. Loman, a very materialistic man, tells his sons, Biff and Happy, that The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want.3 Willy is inspired by his deceased brother, Ben, who has achieved what he believes to be the American dream by obtaining great wealth through diamond mines in Africa.4 Similar to how Willy

hallucinates his dead brother, he also hallucinates his achievement of the American dream. Despite being laid off his job of thirty-five years, Willy continues to tell his wife that he is doing great at work, bringing home fifty dollars each week.5 He falsifies the success of his American dream by consistently borrowing money from his friend Charley, a person who actually achieves the American dream. Willy believes that one can achieve the American dream when they have become a wealthy and popular person. Unfortunately, this mindset eventually leads to his suicide because as Barry Schwartz says, The ideology of the free market is one of individualism, materialism, and freedom from constraint, and this ideology infects everything it touches.6 Willy Loman pursues his version of the American dream without any morals. He is constantly promoting lying, cheating, and being a bad influence on his two sons. Willy is always lying about how well he is doing at his job of a hosiery salesman. Willy never tells his wife the truth about how he is laid off of his job, how much money he makes, or his affair with a woman in Boston.7 Loman does not want anyone but himself knowing that he is a failure in achieving the success of the American dream in his life, so he lies to his own family to prevent his secret from leaking out. Additionally, Willy cheats on his wife in Boston because he is unhappy with the way his life is going.8 He is upset because he is a failure at achieving the great success that he wishes for and has only gone into great debt and lost his job. Also, Willy promotes stealing to his children, Biff and Happy, by permitting them to steal sand from a building site.9 By condoning this type of behavior, Willy is setting his own sons up for failure in obtaining the success of the American dream. Willy cannot grasp that he is not only ruining his chances of obtaining great fortune by participating in such immoral behavior, but he is also ruining the chances of his two sons.

At the conclusion of Death of a Salesman, Willy commits suicide because he realizes that his version of the American dream can never be obtained.10 His theory that good looks and a good personality are the only thing that one needs in life to be successful is proven false by the son of his best friend Charley. Bernard fully achieves the American dream in the play because he not only obtains great wealth through a successful job being a lawyer, but also has two kids and a wife.11 Bernard does not have good looks nor popularity, but is still a successful man who truly achieves the American dream. When Willy realizes that his life-long desire to achieve the American dream is just a lie, Willy decides to take his own life. At Willys funeral, Charley attempts to forgive Willy for his failure of the American dream by saying, Nobody dost blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.12 In The Glass Menagerie, Amanda Wingfield is a loving, but over-bearing mother whose only ambition in life is to see that her children find true happiness in their lives. Throughout the play, Amanda spends all of her time trying to find a suitable gentleman caller for her daughter, Laura.13 She even pulls her son, Tom Wingfield, into the search for a soul mate for Laura. Amanda does not seem concerned that her daughter is not very interested in finding a gentleman caller, or future husband, for herself. Amanda has her own vision of the American dream for Laura, and that is for her to get married to a successful, smart man. Amanda believes that by forcing this dream upon her daughter, Laura will eventually want it just as bad as Amanda does. Although Amandas version of the American dream seems entirely selfless, this is not the case. Amanda wants her daughter to marry a successful man so that she can live vicariously through Laura. Amanda feels that if her dream comes true for her daughter, the dream will also come true for her. Additionally, Amanda wants her oldest child, Tom Wingfield to find true happiness as well. He currently works in a shoe factory where he makes the bare minimum wage so that he

can financially help his family.14 Tom is forced to play the male figure in the house of Amanda and Laura because his father left the family as a young child because he fell in love with long distances.15 Due to this prodigious responsibility, Tom is unable to pursue his American dream. He aspires to become a poet, but is unable to escape the reality of minimum wage and hard work. For many years, his mother holds him back from obtaining his dream because she is afraid of what will happen to her if he does not support her. Eventually, she comes to the realization that if she can find Laura a suitable gentleman caller, then she will no longer need the support of her son, Tom. Amanda believes that Lauras gentleman caller will take the place of Tom, allowing her to let her son be happy and pursue his American dream. Amanda wants her son and daughter to find true happiness, and she feels guilty for holding them back for so long and not giving them the opportunities to pursue their dreams. Amanda Wingfield realizes that her vision of the American dream is a failure when she cannot find a gentleman caller for Laura. Amanda takes all possible measures to find her daughter a soul mate, and even demands that her son Tom finds a man at work that would date Laura. Tom is able to find a man by the name of Jim OConnor to come over for dinner, but does not tell him that he is the gentleman caller for his sister, Laura. Unfortunately, Jim OConnor is engaged to be married, shattering Amandas dream.16 Also, Jim OConnor sharply contrasts with Laura because Jim is a successful businessman that is constantly looking ahead for a brighter future. Through searching for a gentleman caller for Laura, Amanda is able to prove to her children that there are larger opportunities in life. Laura is uninterested in finding any other man and is not concerned for her future, for she only lives in the present. Additionally, Amanda feels that Tom can never leave the family if Laura cannot find a gentleman caller because there will be no male figure to support them if he is gone. Amanda feels helpless

because there is nothing that she can do to ensure the happiness of her daughter, hers son, and herself. Even by reminding her daughter of her impressive past of gentleman callers and showing her how successful a person can be through Jim, her biggest fear has come true. Her American dream has failed, and just like herself, her daughter and son are doomed to a lifetime of loneliness. In Citizen Kane, the American dream is imposed on Charles Foster at a very young age. At the beginning of the film, Kanes mother obtains a large wealth through a gold mine that she invests in. With the new wealth, Kanes mother believes that it is best for Kane to live with her banker and his guardian, Walter Thatcher.17 Therefore, she sends him off to live in a life of luxury and wealth as a result of her achievement of the American dream. Although, Kane does not have to work hard to achieve the American dream because it is effortlessly imposed on him as a young child. Kane quickly loses his innocence as a young boy and is pushed into the fastpaced world of business. Charles Foster Kane quickly catches on to the way that businesses are run and pursues his American dream even further by increasing his wealth through monopolies and investments. The American dream that is imposed on him as a child makes him appear happy and fearless, but he really is a depressed man that cannot find true happiness in his life. Charles Foster Kanes success makes him a very wealthy man that can have anything he wants, but Kane eventually realizes that money cannot buy him everything. Kane has a hard time finding a lover that he can hold onto. He believes that with the success that he has achieved through his American dream, he will be able to keep any woman, but he is mistaken. At the end of the film, Kane is left by his wife, Susan. Charles Kane tells her, You mustnt go, Susan. Everythingll be exactly the way you want it. Not the way I think you want it - by your way.18 He realizes that although he has obtained the American dream, he will never be able to have true

success in his life through love or marriage. Although Charles Foster Kane succeeds in many ways, he also fails too. Kane cannot buy the things that make him most happy in life: love and family. Therefore, it seems as though Kanes interpretation of the American dream is not exactly correct. Instead of aspiring to increase his fortune, he should aspire to be a more compassionate person that has the ability to love. Unfortunately, Kane loses an entire lifetime of happiness because he falsely achieves what he think to be the American dream. Barry Schwartz says that, The free market may make us richer, but it costs us the intimacy, commitment, caring, fairness, and loyalty that make us happy. It fills our bellies, but leaves us spiritually hungry.19 Therefore, the American dream is not always about success in money and power, but it can sometimes mean success in love and family. The phrase, American dream, has no definite meaning, but it has a unique significance to whoever is pursuing it. To Willy Loman, the American dream means finding great wealth through merely good looks and personality. To Amanda Wingfield, the American dream means finding success through making both of her children happy. To Charles Foster Kane, the American dream means obtaining a prodigious amount of power and affluence in the world. Every character puts a different meaning with the term and goes about different ways in obtaining their dream. Therefore, there is no exact formula for achieving the American dream because to each person, it means different things. The American dream is an illusory idea that is difficult to achieve and usually leads to ones demise. In the cases of Willy Loman, Amanda Wingfield, and Charles Foster Kane, the American dream is nothing more than an illusion that can never be achieved. In the process of attempting to gain wealth, happy children, and power, all of these characters faced their demise, either through severe letdown and depression, death, or

suicide. The term American dream, has a unique meaning to every person, but always leads to the same ending of disappointment.