Analysis of The Rich Brother by Tobias Wolff

His brother’s influence deluded him into believing that being “well-liked” and “personally attractive” are all it takes to acquire the American Dream, not hard work and innovation. As a result, Willy sets unrealistic goals for himself. He emphasizes his image and the need for material success, as seen when he complains to Linda about the out-of-date brand of their refrigerator. The ideas of appearance and materialism corrupting the American Dream parallel some themes of The Great Gatsby. After years of chasing the wrong dream, Willy refused to admit his failure, spiraling his mentality downward as he struggles to differentiate between his dream and reality.

Unfortunately Donald does not evolve enough to meet his brother’s expectations. Both young brothers fail in their lives but for very different reasons. Sonny’s drugs addiction puts him to jail and Donald’s quest for the faith of his soul results in many issues with Pete. Nevertheless, Sonny’s brother sees and witnesses what his brother is really capable of, while sadly for Donald, Pete definitely cannot live with his brother’s way of living. "Sonny's Blues" and "The Rich Brother" are perfect examples of how brothers relationships are: full of love but paved with insurmountable obstacles at the same time.

Willy Loman has the ups and downs of someone suffering from bipolar disorder: one minute he is happy and proud- the next he is angry and swearing at his sons. Their relationships are obviously not easy ones. Willy always has the deeper devotion, adoration, and near-hero worship for his son Biff; the boy, likewise, has a great love for his father. Each brags on the other incessantly, thereby ignoring the other son- Happy- who constantly tries to brag on himself in order to make up the lack of anyone to do it for him. This turns sour however, after Biff discovers the father he idolizes was not all he had thought him to be.

With that he proceeds to throw one of their empty beer bottles on the ground and then one at my car. We argue some more and then his friend gets up in Ryan's face. Just when I think this guy is calmed down he goes over to my car and pushes a shopping cart into the right rear quarter panel. By this time I had lost it, this guy was going down. I went to my car and started to get my baseball bat out from the back seat.

In Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller we are presented with a Modern tragedy as exhibited by the Loman Family. The family patriarch and character, Willy Loman disillusionally believes that he is a top salesperson and an extremely successful businessman. Throughout his life he constructs elaborate fantasies to deny his repeated failures to fulfill his desires and expectations for himself and that of his children. These self-deceptions and the final self-realization of the truth lead to Willy’s eventual downfall and subsequent death caused by suicide. The central tragedy in Death of a Salesman is exemplified by the central character and father figure Willy Loman.

Arthur Miller uses the theme of reality verses illusion throughout the play, Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman is blinded by the illusion that he and his boys are successful men with great potential. He fails to see the reality of his failures in life as a father and a businessman. Willy Loman is a hard working salesman who unable to achieve success. He travels all over during the week and is barely able to make enough money to support his family.

When Biff realizes that he has been idolizing a failure he is devestated. Biffs life begins to tumble downhill uncontrollably. Biff is so affected by is father’s wrongdoings that is creates never-ending animosity between Willy and Biff. Biff feels that the reason him and his father are always fighting is because “he’s a fake and he doesn’t like anybody around who knows!” (Miller 1221) Happy, Willy’s younger son, is also greatly affected by Willy’s antics. Happy is affected differently than Biff because Happy never realizes that his father is a failure.

He wants to own his own business and he wants to be "bigger than Uncle Charley" and especially he wants to be a great success and he tries to emulate Dave Singleman. He wishes to die the "Death of a Salesman" and have many buyers and salesmen mourn for him. He also tries to be a good father, and husband. However Willy’s aims in life have been useless as he hasn’t really achieved anything. He got fired by Howard, his sons are both failures and they abandoned him in a restaurant toilet.

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman shows us how one man's blind faith in a misconception of the American Dream becomes an obsession of accomplishment that destroys his life and nearly that of his family. Miller's main character Willy Loman somehow comes to believe that success always comes to those who are well liked and good looking. His downfall is that he does not equate success with hard work and perseverance. This faulty thinking keeps him from achieving his goals of wealth and status. His boys Biff and Happy are taught the same faulty values and are destined to fail as well.

To him, Sweeny is a "manipulative, self-righteous Uncle Tom" for making Dan re- write a civil rights paper because it was about Mein Kampf. Sweeney has his own opinions about Cameron stating that he preys on "insecure, frustrated, and impressionable kids. This assumption is dead on. As the organizer and unofficial leader of the Venice Beach white gang, what the middle-aged Cameron has to say about being a patriot and a proud "white Protestant" fills a void for the kids. Many, as seen most apparently in Seth, the overweight, clumsy, and dim-witted teen, have low self-esteem and lacking hom... ... middle of paper ... ...ause he mourns, he cannot fathom what he has really done.