Shivani Shikha
May25, 2014
English IV, period 5
Mr. Herberg
Research Paper Assignment: Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Entrapped by a sense of tremendous dissatisfaction and unrest spurring from a blind faith in the American Dream, Arthur Miller subtly castigates America for selling a deceptive myth fabricated around a capitalist materialism that was engendered by the aftermath of World
War I. By spotlighting the most systemic weak links in the magnificently glorified American dream, Miller creates his own specific genre called the "American Tragedy. " In contrast to a more widely known Shakespearen Tragedy, "The American Tragedy" focuses theatrically on the downfall and the fatal flaw of a plebian individual, instead of a King or Queen bestowed with high prestige and renown. "Fascinated by realism and expressionism, Miller incorporated both elements to scrutinize the inner turmoil of an average man amidst the reality of events. "The
American dream and its delusions are everywhere," (Helterman 92) and throughout the play,
Miller points to the fact that reality pales in comparison to one's hopes and dreams. The American
Dream is a crippling liability that dictates over Willy Loman, the main character, who is confined to his expectations of an orgasmic retirement. The only person that contrasts severely with Willy is coincidentally his wife, who stands out to be the only individual to be liberated from the tyranny of excessive dreaming and dwelling within the prospective promises of the American
Dream. This leads us to the natural question: do our dreams represent our ultimate downfall? The quintessential American ideal of the boundless dreams and "golden success' has trespassed all boundaries of reality and actuality. Througho...
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...t like Miller's father, both Biff and the author become part of a select group on the periphery recognizing that the selling of the "American Dream" is a sham.
Arthur Miller in Death of a Salesman accuses American capitalism of selling a lie, a distorted picture of the American Dream, to everyday Americans like Willy. Miller's message portrays the downfall or the "hamartia" that's ingrained into the American dream, that permeated the lives of many including his own father. This fatal flaw manifests itself through the self-created and self-imposed tyranny of dreams and hopes we have for the future, that lead us to an abyss of disappointment and disapprobation at the end. By examining the inherent illusions built in the American Dream and drawing experiences of his own life, Miller attacks the growing emergence of capitalism and negates the premise in American Dream.
The almighty American dream, commonly misconceived as the property of those who reap great materialistic wealth, has been analyzed and sought after through generations. However, this dream, “could come from anywhere and be anything you want in this country” (Goldberg), and the numerous success stories of impoverished beings proves this. This subjectiveness stems from the great diversity within human nature and the variation of goals and pleasures. The characters in novels such as The Glass Castle, To Kill a Mockingbird and the play, The Crucible, act to portray several attempts towards achieving this dream. Ultimately, the almighty American Dream manifests itself through the novels as the desire to accomplish stability and content within one’s
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
The phenomenon of the American Dream has been engraved into the American culture since perhaps the beginning of post-revolutionary America itself. The classic belief that if you work hard, you would be able to reap the material benefits of what you sowed, at least enough to live comfortably is a myth that has been propagated in many literary works, deconstructed in many American literary works as a mere myth. And in Arthur Miller’s The Death of a Salesman and August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, we see such deconstruction of the American Dream take place through both plays’ showcasing of the many complexities of the American life, complexities that are not taken into consideration with the black-and-white narrowing of the American Dream. While hard work does make up a part of the equation, it does not make up the entire equation of a comfortable lifestyle. That manifestation of the many facets of the American Dream is shown in both Miller’s The Death of a Salesman and Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.
...many realities that exist within America's society and that most do not fit the typical American dream. Even those people that achieve some measure of success, as Ralph did, are often plagued by personal problems that outweigh any measure of wealth or reputation. The lie of the American dream is that it promises to fix humanity's problems with material gain – it promises happiness from things that are not capable of giving it. And so, followers are all left unfulfilled by the great American dream, left with a reality that is much different than what was so easily guaranteed. The reality that everyone experiences, whether it is the suburban soccer mom or the tired immigrant, is that the dream is mostly unachievable. The reality we think exists is only a myth – a true mythological reality.
Sometimes all you need to get stuck in a rut is to interact with one simple person. Occasionally, someone’s sly words and convincing argument is all that is needed to keep a person’s mind on a one way track. One such person is Ben Loman, who despite only appearing within a few sections of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, has a presence that completely defines the Loman family’s goals. With Ben’s influence in Willy Loman’s life, he and his family are pressured into following a pointless dream that ultimately keeps them stuck on a fixed path.
Miller’s use of personification and symbolism in the book shows the situational irony that surrounds Willy. This highlights the overall message of blind faith towards the American Dream. The major case of irony in the book is Willy’s blind faith in the American Dream. This belief is that if one is well-liked, they will become successful. The truth is actually completely opposite. The real belief is that if one works hard, with no regard to how well liked they are, they will be successful. This relationship is shown between Willy and his neighbor Charley. While Willy believes likability is the only way to success, Charley works hard and does not care how people think of him. Through his hard work, Charley started his own business, and is now very successful. Willy, however, ends up getti...
...nt in their life down to their lowest point, and even their deaths. Pride and greed brought down two significant characters from literature, as well as Napoleon in early nineteenth century, showing that the fatal flaws are timeless.
From the very beginning, we can see that Willy is unable to keep up with the competitive demands. This leads to him feeling hopeless because he is unable to support his family, which could possibly lead to them being in debt. As the story goes
Willy Loman experiences flashbacks of past events, and hallucinates that have never occurred. He uses flashbacks with The Woman to escape present problem. His delusions are so powerful; he loses touch with reality, like in the case of The Woman in the restaurant and with his brother, Ben, and Charley. His delusions become so strong by the end of the play, Willy cannot interpret what has actually occurred and what is a delusion. He has a flashback with his brother, though he fabricates what his brother says. Willys’ delusions are what ultimately lead to his final act of suicide.
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.
Murray, Edward. “The Thematic Structure in Death of a Salesman.” Readings on Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman. San Diego: Greenhaven Press Inc., 1999.
His style of writing supports the idea that modern writing should always strive to establish the meaning, soundness and unity which has been lost in modern ways of life. Klages defines modernity as a period (era) where societal norms and values determine the social order. Resultantly, anything that goes against these norms is deemed immoral, and within the social realm, the truth is the absolute element. Nevertheless, in page 4 of Tragedy and the Common Man, Miller holds a varied stand when he claims that “if society alone is responsible for cramping our lives, then the protagonist needs must be so pure and faultless”. Even though the concept of relativism is not properly developed within this story, Miller captures all the essential elements. He judges capitalism basing on what his culture holds right or what he personally considers right. He uses a clear and transparent language, and he shares his personal feeling towards capitalism to the audience in an accurate and clear way. Therefore, we can ascertain that Miller’s Death of a Salesman is in line with the elements of
An American dream is a dream that can only be achieved by passion and hard work towards your goals. People are chasing their dreams of better future for themselves and their children. The author Arthur Miller in Death of a Salesman has displayed a struggle of a common man to achieve the American dream. Willy Loman the protagonist of the play has spent his whole life in chasing the American dream. He was a successful salesman who has got old and unable to travel for his work, and no one at work gives him importance anymore. He is unhappy with his sons Happy and Biff because both of them are not successful in their lives. Moreover, Biff and Happy are also not happy with their father Willy because they don’t want to live a life that Willy wants them to live. The heated discussions of Willy and his older son Biff affect the family and the family starts to fall apart. However, Willy is unable to achieve the American dream and does not want to face the reality that his decisions for himself and his family have lead him to be a failure in the society. In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the protagonist Willy Loman spends his whole life to achieve the American Dream by his own perception and denies facing the reality, just like nowadays people are selling themselves and attempting to find success in life.
In both and Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” and Tennessee’s Williams “A Streetcar Named Desire” their use of realism versus illusion plays a vital role in the portrayal of the falseness of the American Dream. The use of realism versus illusion is very evident through many of the main characters in both works. In “A Street Car Named Desire” the women are in an elusive state as they look for the perfect relationship, but cannot grasp one due to the events that took place in their past. The men in the Loman family in “Death of a Salesman” live in a dreamlike state waiting for the American Dream to influence their lives for the better yet they never complete any actions that would lead them to the success they so desire.
Miller uses the misapplication and failure of the "American Dream" to captivate the audience and make them feel sorrow for both Willy and Biff Loman. It is heart breaking to see this sixty-year-old man finally come to the realization that he is really not who he thought he was. In addition to that, the fact is pointed out by his own son, who turns out to be wiser than him. Unlike Willy, Biff finds out who he is, and that the American Dream is not for everyone.