The American Dream in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller During Death of a Salesman the males of the Loman family cannot distinguish between the reality of the American dream and its illusion. Willy cannot see who Happy and Biff actually are as individuals or himself. Therefore, Willy and his children believe that they know and have everything it takes to succeed in life and business. In reality, the success of both is very far from the ideal American dream of their time. Throughout the entire play Willy Loman battles back and forth with the reality of his two children and himself being as he thinks they should be. He thinks being well-liked through personal attractiveness is the key to prosperity. Near the beginning of the show, Willy travels back in time to a place where Biff and Happy were perfect sons. Biff is playing football as Willy wanted too and Happy tries to gain Willy's attention at all costs. Willy tends to focus on Biff and all the potential he thinks he has. Happy seems to have simply faded throughout the show from the constant attention to Biff. At the beginning of the play which is set in the present Willy says, "Biff is a lazy bum!" (Miller 1938). Then he changes his mind, saying that Biff is lost but he is a hard worker and “he is not lazy” (1938). Willy can't seem to resist the reality that Biff cannot achieve success in his life and forget the illusion of being able to achieve his dreams. Biff clearly states reality here: "Pop, I'm a dime and so are you" (2000). Willy fails to turn his life into his dream and eventually comes to terms with taking his own life. Throughout the show Biff and Happy talk day after day about their American dream but never begin the steps to achieve it. They both struggle throughout their young lives. Biff tries to rebel against Willy at first by failing math and moving west. Happy, on the other hand, does everything to get his father's attention, for example by exclaiming: "I'm losing weight, you see, dad?"?” (1947).