Arthur Miller‘s Death of a Salesmen is a bittersweet play about the Loman family and
their life with a salesman as a father. Most of the play takes place in the Loman home and
revolves around a series of conversations and flashbacks from Willy‘s past. Through these
flashbacks, we find out that Willy has had an affair, has a strained relationship with this eldest
son, and lies to his entire family about how he is doing at work. Miller paints a fascinating
picture of how the wrong ideas to succeed in the business world have not only kept Willy from
becoming a great salesman but also led to the failure of his family‘s life. This failure includes
Biff wandering from job to job and Hap talking up his role at his job. The aging traveling
salesman, Willy Loman, has the wrong perception of what it takes to be successful in the
business world causing lies, infidelity, and disconnection.
Miller‘s perception that the typical American salesman, given the opportunity, would
cheat and lie is a valid idea. In the middle of Act One, Willy begins remembering of a time he
spent with a character only known as ―The Woman.‖ During part of the conversation, Willy
expresses that he plans to see this woman again when he says, ―Well, I‘ll see you the next time
I‘m in Boston,‖ The Woman responds, ―I‘ll put you right through to the buyers‖ (Miller 1.787-
788). These lines make it appear that he is only with the woman to help further this career, which
has long been suffering. By this I mean, the response of the woman leads the reader to the
thought that Willy only cheated on his wife to help get in the door with buyers and not because
he was unhappy in his marriage. Later on, we find that in addition to trying to get a...
... middle of paper ...
...rt. Willy‘s last
best idea to make it is to sacrifice his life so that his family would finally be a success. Years
and years of traveling and ill-conceived ideas of being successful take its toll on the life of Willy
Loman and his family. 21
Works Cited
Eisinger, Chester E. ―Critical Readings: Focus on Arthur Miller‘s Death of a Salesman: The
Wrong Dreams.‖ Critical Insights: Death of a Salesman (2010): 93-105. Literary
Reference Center. EBSCO Web. 4 Nov. 2010.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Literature: Craft & Voice Eds. Nicholas Delbanco and
Alan Cheuse. Vol. 3. New York: McGraw-Hill 2010. 288-339. Print.
Ribkoff, Fred. ―Critical Readings: Shame, Guilt, Empathy, and the Search for Identity in Arthur
Miller‘s Death of a Salesman.‖ Critical Insights: Death of a Salesman (2010): 183-192.
Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2010.
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Henry and Emma Alexander Owens gave birth to James Cleveland Owens on September 12, 1913 in Alabama (www.jesseowens.com). At the age of nine, the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio for better opportunities as a part of the Great Migration. Owens went by J.C. for short however while taking roll in Ohio, a schoolteacher misunderstood Owens when he said “J.C.” and grasped the name “Jesse” as a result of his strong southern accent. From this day on, Owens went by the name Jesse.
Willy refuses to recognize that he does have true abilities, as in the field of construction. He appears at times to have hope for the future, “on the way home tonight, I’d like to buy some seeds” (1243). Nonetheless, there is a pinning undercurrent of fear for Willy, as Linda discovers, “…sure enough, on the bottom of the water heater there’s a new little nipple on the gas pipe” (1237). Although the illusions that Willy puts forth are real to him, they are, nevertheless, simply that: Illusions. Deep down he knows things are not as they should be, with his family, his job and his life.
The Nazis’ use of media alone set this Olympics high above its predecessors. These Games the first Olympics to be televised (Wallechinsky 11). “Twenty-five televisio...
Advertisements are one of many things that Americans cannot get away from. Every American sees an average of 3,000 advertisements a day; whether it’s on the television, radio, while surfing the internet, or while driving around town. Advertisements try to get consumers to buy their products by getting their attention. Most advertisements don’t have anything to do with the product itself. Every company has a different way of getting the public’s attention, but every advertisement has the same goal - to sell the product. Every advertisement tries to appeal to the audience by using ethos, pathos, and logos, while also focusing on who their audience is and the purpose of the ad. An example of this is a Charmin commercial where there is a bear who gets excited when he gets to use the toilet paper because it is so soft.
At the beginning of the play it is evident that he cannot determine the realities of life, and so he repeatedly contradicts himself to establish that his conclusion is correct and opinion accepted. These numerous contradictions demonstrate that Willy is perturbed of the possibility that negative judgements may come from others. Willy strongly believes that “personality always wins” and tells his sons that they should “be liked and (they) will never want”. In one of Willy’s flashbacks he recalls the time when his sons and him were outside cleaning their Chevy. Willy informs Biff and Happy the success of his business trips and how everyone residing in Boston adores him. He mentions that due to the admiration of people he does not even have to wait in lines. He ultimately teaches his sons that being liked by others is the way to fulfilling one’s life and removing your worries. These ideals, that one does not need to work for success, demonstrate Willy’s deluded belief of achieving a prosperous life from the admiration and acceptance of others. This ultimately proves to be a false ideology during his funeral, when an insufficient amount of people arrive. Willy constantly attempts to obtain other’s acceptance through his false tales that depict him as a strong, successful man. In the past, he attempts to lie to his wife, Linda, about the amount of wealth he has attained during his
Attention is first drawn to the two figures in the advert, one man and one boy. The relationship between the two will be investigated later, but it is assumed that this advert, by only featuring two male figures, is targeted at men.
Testimonies of how you stayed faithful even when times were tough. Moments you will be able to look back and be thankful to God for them. Those moments will increase your faith and you will be able to trust God because of what happened in the past. Your testimonies are great to edify yourself but even better to edify other people. Using your experience, you will be able to encourage people in their relationship with God. If we look at Daniel in the Bible, we know that he was a good man who feared God, yet God allowed him to be sentenced to death in a lion’s den. Daniel was saved by God so it’s hard to call it a suffering, but still we see that God used this situation to show his might to the king Darius and his nation –“I issues a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” Dave Earley says it so well, “God’s ultimate plan behind all of His activities on this planet is to present humanity with a clear testimony of who He truly is and what He
Being ethical or not? Always doing the right thing? These are all questions and thoughts, which arise in a business on a daily basis. However, I personally feel that the answer lies within us. If we choose when to be ethical, and when not to be, does it actually make us a good person? Albert Carr discusses some of key aspects of his theory in the article “If Business Bluffing
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Willy is a multi-faceted character which Miller has portrayed a deep problem with sociological and psychological causes and done so with disturbing reality. In another time or another place Willy might have been successful and kept his Sanity, but as he grew up, society's values changed and he was left out in the cold. His foolish pride, bad judgment and his disloyalty are also at fault for his tragic end and the fact that he did not die the death of a salesman.