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Death of a salesman theme analysis
Death of salesman themes essay
Death of salesman themes essay
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In the play Death of a Salesman the author, Arthur Miller illustrates the struggle of most American husbands from the nineteen forty-nines. Amidst all that is happening around the world with the Great Depression in the nineteen thirties the character of Willy Loman strives to support and maintain his wife and their home by paying their mortgage for more than twenty years. Though Miller does not specify what is it that Willy sells we can assume Miller implies that we should connect to this play no matter the time gap of nineteen forty-nine to the present. Hundreds of people lose their jobs every day and with the industries being cheap sakes they will try and find any way possible to avoid having to pay a high check every month to its retirees. This leads to another relatable topic that is emphasized in this play. When Willy confronts his boss Howard exclaiming “You can’t eat the orange and throw the peel away---a man is not a piece of fruit” (Miller 326) we are able to acknowledge the cause of Willy’s breakdown. To better understand the reasoning behind Willy’s anger and frustration w...
A small, four person family lived in a small town where jobs were hard to come by and money was scarce. The daughter of this family, Veronica, who was only nine, had wanted to buy herself a new doll that she could love and be friends with. She would find small jobs all over town doing whatever she could to earn what little money there was to be made for that doll she wanted ever so badly. After a lot of hard work she became very close to her goal of making the money for the doll. However, one night she saw how her younger brother, who was only three, carrying around his stuffed bear. The bear was beyond repairs and was on its last limb. Her younger brother knew this and she saw that. She then decided to make the ultimate sacrifice by going and spending all of her hard earned money on a brand new stuffed bear for her brother because she prefered to see him happy over herself. Many people make sacrifices for the ones they love, especially when it
A white picket fence surrounds the tangible icons of the American Dreams in the middle 1900's: a mortgage, an automobile, a kitchen appliance paid for on the monthly - installment - plan, and a silver trophy representative of high school football triumph. A pathetic tale examining the consequences of man's harmartias, Arthur Miller's "Death of A Salesman" satisfies many, but not all, of the essential elements of a tragedy. Reality peels away the thin layers of Willy Loman's American Dream; a dream built on a lifetime of poor choices and false values.
Shortcomings, whether it is of a person, society, situation, or nation, are often revealed through literature and media. In Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, the specific shortcomings of American life are explored, with an emphasis on social, economic, and personal issues. Willy Loman could be seen as a possible embodiment of all of these flaws, but an argument could be equally made that he is an innocent victim, due to the inherent problems in all societies, but especially in American life.
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller was first presented in 1949 and has been studied and reproduced countless times since. The plot revolves around a salesman named Willy Loman and his family. Willy is 63 years old, and on the decline. His career as a traveling salesman is going badly, and during the play he is let go. Willy’s flashbacks to a better past take up much of the past, and are brought on by the return of Biff, Willy’s favorite son, who comes to visit from out west. Biff is 34 and Willy’s favorite son, but Willy’s high expectations him cause many issues for both of them. The overall tone of the play is sobering as we watch the family (especially Willy) fall apart because of various reasons, including the way they treat each other.
The play, “Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller, presents Willy Loman, as a salesman, who fails to earn a living and slowly loses his mind. Willy continuously seeks the past to find out where he went wrong. During his years in life, Willy wanted his two sons, Biff and Happy to become someone they’re not; Willy wanted them to become a salesman like him. However, because of his obsession in the American Dream of easy success and wealth, he created a life full of lies for himself and his sons. In the end because of “his misconception of himself as someone capable of greatness” leads to his downfall and the end of his life (Death of a Salesman).”
The Death of a Salesman,Willy Loman success is described as being a well-liked businessman. Willie’s American Dream, as he grew up, was to be able to “pick up his phone and call the buyers, and without ever leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, make his living.” To be respected and well known at such an age, he would still be able to provide for his family, was Willie’s dream. Because his heart was never in it, Willy was never a good
Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman”, primarily focuses on the flaws and failures of Willy Loman, Millers’ main character in this story. Willy’s distorted and backward views of the American Dream, paired with his inability to let go of the past lead him down a road of regret and in the end his biggest failure which was his wasted life.
Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ is an examination of American life and consumerism. It relates the story of a common man who portrays this lifestyle. Other issues explored in the play include: materialism, procrastination and alienation. The play was set in 1948, in a time where The American Dream was highly regarded, despite the Depression. The American Dream was a belief that emerged in the later half of the nineteenth century, that if you work hard you will achieve success and prosperity. The American Dream affects our view of Willy Loman as a tragic hero because he is convinced that the way to achieve a better life is by living the American Dream. Willy Loman believes that he will find success with the American Dream through his likable personality. Yet, he dies without it, which adds to his tragic downfall.
Arthur Miller’s play, “Death of a Salesman”, portrays the cost of selling oneself to the American dream. The main character, Willy Loman, is madly determined to achieve affluence which causes him to become mentally ill and suicidal. He instills in his sons, Biff and Happy Loman, that being charismatic will hand them a prosperous lifestyle. Happy trusts in his father’s ideology while Biff’s beliefs contradict that of his father and brother. He deems that success is a product of happiness and contentment, not a paycheck.
Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman follows protagonist Willy Loman in his search to better his and his family’s lives. Throughout Willy Loman’s career, his mind starts to wear down, causing predicaments between his wife, two sons and close friends. Willy’s descent into insanity is slowly but surely is taking its toll on him, his job and his family. They cannot understand why the man they have trusted for support all these years is suddenly losing his mind. Along with his slope into insanity, Willy’s actions become more aggressive and odd as the play goes on. Despite Willy and Biff’s “family feud”, his two sons Happy and Biff truly worry about their father’s transformation, Happy saying: “He just wants you to make good, that’s all. I wanted to talk to you about dad for a long time, Biff. Something’s – happening to him. He – talks to himself” (Miller 21). Willy, as a father, cares about his children but he wishes they would do better. He believes Biff should have been an athlete. According to Harrington, “Even figuratively, Willy is haunted, and particularly in Biff’s failure to achieve success as a sports figure” (108). This haunting is part of what led to Willy’s slow plunge into madness. As Willy’s career in sales fails, he also fails, even failing his family. Heyen adds: “He didn’t have anything of real value to give to his family, or if he did, he didn’t know what it was” (48). His debilitating flashbacks and delusional hallucinations with Uncle Ben cement his horrifying realizations that he has let down his family. Willy Loman blames the economy for his downfall in his career. In one of his more extreme outbursts he exclaims, “There’s more people! That’s what’s ruining this country! Population is getting out of control. ...
In post-Depression America, the United States endured internal battles in political ideologies between capitalists and Marxists, which is the focus of Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman. According to Helge Normann Nilsen, author of “From Honors At Dawn to Death of a Salesman: Marxism and the Early Plays of Arthur Miller,” the Great Depression had a profound impact in forming the political identity of Arthur Miller: “The Great Depression created in him a lasting and traumatic impression of the devastating power of economic forces in the shaping of peoples’ lives” (146). This lasting effect on Miller is embodied in the character of Willy Loman, an unsuccessful salesman whose life collapses from the strain of his competition for wealth, demonstrated by Nilsen as she claims the fault lies in the “Impairment of [Willy’s] conscience and sanity by intolerable economic pressures” (155). Because of his focus on material success, which Marxists view as a critical flaw in capitalism, Willy loses his sanity battling the corruption within himself and the American free market system. I believe, however, that while Miller embraced and promoted Marxist values and that the messages in Death of a Salesman are directed at capitalists, Miller was not condemning all aspects of capitalism. Although his portrayal of Willy may seem politically biased, Miller’s portrayal of Charley as a generous and kind man contradicts the notion that Death of a Salesman is purely Marxist propaganda. Miller, therefore, was not denouncing capitalism, but calling instead for reforms within the existing system.
In brief, it is apparent that Willy’s own actions led to not only his own demise, but his children’s as well. The salesman tragically misinterpreted the American Dream for only the superficial qualities of beauty, likeability and prosperity. Perhaps if Willy had been more focused on the truth of a person’s character, rather than purely physical aspects, his family’s struggles and his own suicide could have been avoided. On the whole, Arthur Miller’s play is evidence that the search for any dream or goal is not as easy and the end result may seem. The only way to realize the objective without any despair is the opposite of Willy Loman’s methods: genuineness, perseverance and humility.
In Death of a Salesman, written by American playwright Arthur Miller, focuses on Biff’s relationship towards his father Willy Loman. He plays the role that drives most of Willy’s thoughts and actions, specifically his memories. Whenever Willy is not able to accept the present, he reverts to the past where Biff is usually nearby. Before Willy’s trip to Boston, Biff admired his father. He trusted and believed his philosophy that any person can be successful, provided that he is “well-liked”. Biff never questions his father even though at times it is obvious that Willy is not following the rules himself. This results in Biff growing up believing that rules do not apply to him because Willy does not follow them nor does he expect
The “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller is a play deeply composed of many fundamental Marxist ideologies and beliefs. Marxists mainly believed Capitalism would lead to greed and uncontrollable consumerism which is applicable to the play as it follows the protagonist Willy Loman, a door to door salesman in mid to late 1940’s America, who in the later stages of his life is struggling to live up to his expectations of the ‘American Dream.’ The major theme in the play is the pursuit of this dream and the title represents the falsehood of it. The word ‘death’ in the title of the play initially foreshadows the death of Willy but also symbolises the death of the ‘American Dream.’ This is shown by Lois Tyson in “Critical Theory Today” through saying:
In the play “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, we are shown how capitalism can oppress certain member’s of society and displace wealth. The main character of the story, Willy, is an older man past sixty and a salesman of women’s stockings. Willy is married to a woman named Linda and they have two sons together that are in their thirties. Willy is worried about his son’s because they have not settled in society yet, he worries more so about his older son Biff. Willy is at an age in where he is no longer able to travel long distances to make sales and his productivity as a salesman is very low. Willy is slowing down because of his age and the new capitalist system that’s forming around him and his family. At the end of the play the old salesman has no worth because in a capitalist system he no longer had any labor value, consumerism has changed, and there was an unequal distribution of wealth.