The value of a dream in Death of a Salesman and A Raisin in the SunHow do we value a dream? This question arises when reading Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. Although the two novels are very different, the stories and characters share many similarities. Death of a Salesman is about a family's struggle to cope with unrealized dreams. A Raisin in the Sun focuses on a family's struggle to agree on a shared dream. In each of these stories, there are conflicts between the dreams that each character struggles to achieve. In Death of a Salesman, Happy and Biff don't know where they are in life and are only looking for simple and already tangible things. within reach. Biff: "I don't know what I'm supposed to want" and Happy: "I don't know what I'm working for" means they both feel like they haven't progressed. All they want to do is work with their hands, without their shirts and their backs to the sun. Neither Biff nor Happy had trouble feeling safe, otherwise they wouldn't admit such things. And both equally rejected the truth; Biff says "Whatever. Don't put it all on my feet" and Happy says, "Don't put it all on my feet." Happy also wants to believe that everything is okay; Happy is good, as long as he can make himself believe that everyone around him is okay. Near the end of the story, when Biff accuses everyone of lying, Happy exclaims, "We always told the truth!" but at first he admitted to Biff: “You see, Biff, everyone around me is so fake that I constantly lower my ideals. » Willy Loman wants to achieve his dreams so much that, in his... middle of paper ......o survive. The Youngers never left the house; the house was the only place of action. He was the mainstay, even if he wasn't great. They made it the pillar through their pride and their faith. Willy Loman died with a certain sense of honor and dignity. He knew he would finally make his family truly proud and, more importantly, he knew Biff loved him, and always had. There is no wasted life, as long as there are dreams to obscure reality and, eventually, make them possible. Works consulted: Bloom, Harold. American literature of the 20th century. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.Draper, James P. Criticism of Black Literature. Detroit: Gale Research Incorporated, 1992. Hansberry, Lorraine. A raisin in the sun. New York: Signet, 1988. Miller, Arthur. Death of a seller. New York: Vikings, 1995.