I first read Death of A Salesman in an english class my sophomore year of high school. The first time I read the play, I found it incredibly depressing and unappealing. The play exemplifies the essential failure of the american dream. The only characters who are portrayed as "successful" are Bernard, who was a nerd and taken advantage of as a child because of his intelligence, or Uncle Ben, who may be rich, but is not alive to enjoy it.  I saw the play in London, and while this did not make the story any more cheerful or optimistic, I enjoyed viewing the play a lot more than reading it. It was easier for me to dislike the characters in the book, and disassociate myself from them. However, when I saw the play, it was easier for me to understand the true message, that acquiring the American Dream has little to do with attractiveness or materialistic good, but rather intrinsic motivation and the ability to do hard work. When I saw the play, rather than disassociating myself from the characters, I was able to see our similarities.