Death Of A Salesman Analysis Essay
analytical Essay
1661 words
The Dream, the Truth
This paper will be an analytical, interpretive essay about Death of a Salesman (1949), the most profound work by author and playwright Arthur Miller (1915-2005). Death of a Salesman received the Pulitzer Prize for drama, the year of its creation and has been reproduced over seven-hundred times. This analysis will concentrate on Willy Loman the central character of the play but also on the play as a whole. It will show that Arthur Miller’s critiques of American society still hold true to this day. That he was not just making a statement about the corporate social structure failing those that served it, or about how the American Dream in which those agencies perpetuate was dying. He was stating that the American Dream had never existed at all.
Miller’s interpretations on these subjects were not only true of the changing world at the time of the plays inception but have with an eerily truth echoed through to the present day. According to the cultural context in the LIT Student Edition “at the time, Death of a Salesman was written in 1949 the United States was experiencing the largest economic expansion in its history. After World War II, soldiers were returning home and women were leaving the factories where they held jobs while the men were away fighting the war. More and more consumer goods were being made and manufactured and as a result, companies were being consolidated, large impersonal corporations were taking over the mom and pop businesses.
The foot soldiers for these companies were the traveling Salesman who moved from town to town and covered large territories in a relentless effort to produce sales” (LIT.ED 606). Miller was showing us how these “impersonal corporations” didn’t care abo...
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...upply to cover their costs of living. As dysfunctional and backwards as all of this might seem there is still one thing we have omitted from this equation. And it is this element of the structure which reveals the truly fraudulent nature of the system itself, the application of interest.”
Regardless if you want to believe or not, we are all slaves, we are not free, we do not live in a free nation and it is this that Arthur Miller knew, it was what he wanted to express through Death of a Salesman. Through Willy, he wanted to show us that like most of us Willy too believed in the American Dream it is why he worked his whole life away, it is why we choose to attend work, or college, to become a teacher or a student. But just like Willy, we are being manipulated into believing in something that is a lie, a fairy tale, something that is as fictional as Willy himself.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the paper will be an analytical, interpretive essay about death of a salesman, the most profound work by author and playwright arthur miller.
- Analyzes how miller's interpretations on these subjects were true of the changing world at the time of plays' inception and have with an eerily truth echoed through to the present day.
- Analyzes how miller shows how these "impersonal corporations" didn't care about the veterans who were sixty years old and slaved every day of their life for them.
- Analyzes how critics of "death of a salesman" have criticized willy loman's portrayal of the american dream as irrational and ridiculous.
- Analyzes how the central motive of the play is to critique american society as the corrupted remnant of a pioneer vision. if the willys whom miller evidently finds in our society have destroyed the rustic happiness that miller appears to see in the american past, they deserve their fates.
- Explains that willy has been working his whole life for the same company. he is sixty years old and still trying to work which is made clear by the following excerpt from death of a salesman.
- Opines that if old man wagner was alive, he'd have been in charge of new york. but that boy of his, that howard, don't appreciate.
- Analyzes how willy's short excerpt shows how he needs to work and at the same time, shows a crucial statement, namely, that his situation is improving. howard, wagner’s son, is in control of the company.
- Analyzes how willy is depressed because he is at a point in his life where 'he can't push himself'. he was raised with the idea that if you worked hard then you would be successful.
- Analyzes how the bureau of labor statistics predicts that the labor force participation for the elderly will increase in 2014 and has been on a steady increase over the last few decades.
- Analyzes how corporations have froze, lost, and stolen millions of american's retirement pensions forcing them to keep working.
- Analyzes how willy's belief that being "well liked" would make one successful is just one of the many american social critiques throughout the play.
- Explains that people define their "self" using the concept of the looking glass: we act like mirrors to each other. willy feels he has to be liked and successful based on the judgments that others have of him.
- Analyzes how willy perpetuates these ideas of himself and with blameless reason, wants those he cares for to think highly of him. these judgments are due to the standards that corporations have produced and that society has internalized.
- Analyzes how the american dream is a lie, and how it is represented through willy lowman.
- Explains that the monetary system is the social structure upon which all other structures are built, but how it works forces us all into being slaves.
- Explains that money is created out of debt through loans, and reserves are derived from deposits and through a fractional reserve system.
- Analyzes how arthur miller wanted to express the american dream through death of a salesman. we are being manipulated into believing in something as fictional as willy himself.
Related
- analytical
- Analysis Of Death Of A Salesmananalytical essayDeath of a Salesman, a play written in 1949, by Arthur Miller, has been Miller’s most famous work thanks to how relatable the play can be to almost every citizen in America. The play is told from the point of view of the principal character, Willy Loman. The play examines Willy’s perception of success, and the conflicts that his perception creates in his household. Having a wrong perception of likeness, lying, and cheating can lead to an individual to make decisions that can be irreversible and have many consequences. The family of Willy Loman is an example of how the life of each one of the members of the family can be defined by the mindsets of only one person.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how death of a salesman, written in 1949, has been miller's most famous work thanks to how relatable the play can be to almost every citizen in america.
- Analyzes how willy's mindset of being attractive and well liked becomes an excuse to do immoral things in his family and it is shown by bringing the past to the present.
- Analyzes how willy's son, happy, is more successful than biff, but is actually working as the "assistant to the assistant buyer."
- Analyzes how happy is an adulterous man because his father is one too. when reading about biff's grades in math, readers see that cheating is not such a big deal for willy.
1131 wordsRead More - Marxism and the Fall of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesmananalytical essayIn 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 this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the great depression had a profound impact on miller's political identity, embodied in the character of willy loman, an unsuccessful salesman whose life collapses from the strain of his competition for wealth.
- Analyzes how miller designed his characters in a way that reveals the corruption of the american free market.
- Analyzes how willy's struggle for prosperity is apparent to readers as he is driven mad because of his inability to obtain financial security.
- Analyzes how willy's avarice and endless search for power prompt him to commit adultery in spite of his happiness with linda, confirming miller’s arguments against solipsism.
- Analyzes how willy loman maintains an attitude of superiority and pride that penetrates both his professional and personal life even after the collapse of his career.
- Analyzes how willy loman's self-identity is a major source of debate among liberal and conservative critics.
- Argues that willy's failure as a salesman is due to his inability to distance himself from the corruption and focus on material success in america.
- Analyzes how charley's nature conflicts with the traditional view of a capitalist according to marxists.
- Analyzes how charley's comment regarding his lack of interest was taken grossly out of context in order to manufacture an unwavering interpretation of miller’s play.
- Analyzes benedek's 1951 film version of charley and how smith conveys his devotion to willy, revealing many aspects of a businessman that many liberal critics fail to recognize in the play.
- Analyzes how miller used death of a salesman to promote his marxist views, but the character of willy loman was used to convince american capitalist society to evaluate itself and its attitude towards others.
- Analyzes how the great depression was attributed to the avarice of a society engrossed with the attainment of wealth in the early 20th century.
- Describes the articulate victims of arthur miller's death of a salesman.
- Describes the works of arthur miller, eds. alison booth and kelly j. mays, published by w.w. norton & company.
3000 wordsRead More - Death of a Salesman: The Flaws and Failures of Willy Lomananalytical essayArthur 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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how arthur miller's play "death of a salesman" focuses on the flaws and failures of willy loman, millers' main character in this story.
- Describes willy loman as a 60-year-old senile salesman who believes that popularity and good looks are the key to achieving the american dream, rather than hard work and dedication.
- Analyzes how willy didn't know how to deal with his son's disgust for him after catching him having an affair. he prioritized his job over them and stayed away on business trips.
- Analyzes how loman awarded linda's faithfulness and unfaltering loyalty with lies, disrespect and affairs. linda showed him affection and tried helping him with his mental state, all while allowing him to snap at her over the smallest things.
- Analyzes how willy refused to accept that his dream of dying the "death of a salesman" was unrealistic. in an attempt to gain love and be liked again, he committed suicide for the insurance money.
- Analyzes how willy loman's dream cost him his life and ruined his family’s lives. he failed at everything because of his insecurities and self-doubt.
556 wordsRead More - In the original 1949 play of Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller was the American playwright. Death of a Salesman was a tragic play that presents a story about a salesman named Willy who believes that personality and being “well-liked” will achieve his American Dream. The play premiered on February 10, 1949 at the Morosco Theatre in Manhattan, New York (Avery). Miller’s play reflected on his relationship with uncle, Manny Newman who was also a salesman like the protagonist of the story and two sons who he took great pride on (Tierney). Through his characterization of Willy and Biff Loman, Miller presents contrasting (or surprising similar) illustra...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how miller illustrates the disintegration of the american dream through the character of willy loman.
- Analyzes how willy didn't discipline the boys enough to know what's right and wrong. he became even happier and proud for biff whenever he attempted to get into the business world.
- Analyzes how willy's personal happiness seems to be in the hands of biff whenever linda stated, "biff, his life is in your hands".
- Analyzes how miller illustrates the survival of the american dream through the character of biff loman.
- Analyzes how miller shows the audience that the american dream isn't about reaching from rags to riches but finding happiness in life. willy's envy for popularity relates to egocentric desires that occur in today’s time.
- Explains that the term "american dream" was first used by james truslow adams in his book, "the epic of america."
- Analyzes how amadeo, kimberly, and fallon, george, "arthur miller biography" and "death of a salesman" were published in compact literature.
1123 wordsRead More - Death Of A Salesman Analysisanalytical essay" Death of a Salesman " is a great American playwright , Arthur Miller is a writer, novelist and playwright dollars. He was one of the symbols of contemporary American literature , a senior defenders intellectual freedom who denounced all forms of repression and the advocates of the idea of the theater accessible to the public . Miller came out of the Depression years of the thirties to mimic writes plays in its classical Greek tragedy . His play " Death of a Salesman " is a classic case of the tragedy which ,embodies the conflict between dream and reality.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the play revolves around the family, " le mans ", who lives in a neighborhood of america surrounded by the buildings from all over the place as if he championed this work as "a big prison."
- Analyzes how miller uses narrative techniques through the hints which lead the audience to the truth. he uses tense language and blends past and present through consequential order of events.
- Analyzes how baana rover fbladeh promised easy success and wealth to his son, leila, and his children.
- Analyzes how the tragedy in " death of a salesman " does not lie in the suicide of " willy " not even in that he was not able to achieve success or help his children to catch up.
- Analyzes how miller's light on the physical as well as fierce dominates the american society — money stands as a barrier between the father and his children.
- Analyzes how arthur miller's play " death of a salesman" embodies the conflict between dream and reality.
- Analyzes how miller's imaginative wildness dwells in the story using key words and describe family conflicts. miller personifies the characters and explains the anxiety effects in rising tensions leading to the climax.
- Argues that the american dream of success easy father, who tried to impose on the vocabulary jr. was its result is the rupture between the sons to follow the path of his father and his conviction
1319 wordsRead More - Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman exploits the notion of the American Dream and the promises made by the American Government towards its citizens. Throughout the play, Miller makes references to dreams that each character carries but the failure in the fulfilment of the same. He recaptures the disappointments and disillusionments that the American nation suffers from for the American Dream is as well as death. Miller was the first playwright of his time who sheds light on this fact that the dream that every American carries a torch for is dead and gone.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how miller's play, death of a salesman, exploits the notion of the american dream and the promises made by the us government towards its citizens.
- Describes the american dream, which gives false hope and a sense of false pride to american people. the dream glorifies the nation of america as the highest super-power in the world.
- Analyzes how arthur miller questions america's dream and disillusions its people with it, which forms the backbone of death of a salesman.
- Analyzes how miller creates the character of willy loman and shapes him keeping in mind the life of every common man and not a man from the crème of the society.
- Analyzes how willy loses sight of the fact that wealth isn't the tool for measuring a man's worth. he takes away his life so that his sons can benefit from his death.
- Analyzes how miller portrays the faults of american lifestyle because the american government has failed in the deliverance of its promise.
- Analyzes how miller makes a harsh but much needed observation that the american dream can't be fulfilled for it is already dead.
557 wordsRead More - The Trauma of Female Character ---in “Death of Salesman”analytical essayIn 1949, the pinnacle of contemporary American playwright, Arthur Miller, published his works “Death of a Salesman”. After the advent of this play, not only caused a sensation in the theaters in the United States, but also became the Western model of modern tragedy as one of the most important drama after America's World War II. Miller was twice won the “New York Drama Critics Award” and also awarded the “Pulitzer Prize.”[
In this essay, the author
- Describes the reasons why they like swiss. linda: i just thought you’d like a change.
- Analyzes how linda, as a supportive housewife, keeps her husband's head-place in the family. she is not willing to acknowledge the death of wiley, or accept the truth of his death.
- Analyzes how arthur miller vividly sketched the portrait of linda. she is a family strong pillar of the economy, but she also has the determination to overcome difficulties.
- Analyzes how arthur miller's "death of a salesman" became the western model of modern tragedy after world war ii. he borrowed expressionist approach, broke imagination and reality, past and present boundaries, and reflected the broad social life through these characters' mental activity.
- Analyzes how willy's accusations toward linda are groundless. linda is always being a good wife and caring for her husband and her sons.
- Analyzes how linda lost her identity as a mother and wife, and how the american dream deprived willy of the basic ability to judge the individual.
- Analyzes how the tragedy of linda is caused by america's capitalist society and people worshiping the "american dream." they argue that the tragic hero doesn't have to be a king or noble background.
- Analyzes how arthur miller creates vivid images in his play death of a salesman, including linda, who is marginalized under the patriarchy and contributes to the tragedy of willy's family.
1823 wordsRead More - Humanity In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesmananalytical essayThough humanity can never express itself fully, it is never deterred in its quest to do so. Literature brings such light and expression for humanity to communicate across time, space, generations and ever-evolving society. However, no modicum of talent suffices to satisfy people throughout the ages for literature and its ability to communicate directly and indirectly. Arthur Miller stands as a classic American author with his ability to explore the darker and deeper parts of humanity and individuals facing the adversity of a larger society. In Miller’s Death of a Salesman, he demonstrates the struggle of a family with an illusion of the American Dream against new ideas of success and striving for personal happiness rather than wealth or prestige.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how arthur miller stands as a classic american author with his ability to explore the darker and deeper parts of humanity.
- Analyzes how biff genuinely wished to pursue his true passions and to avoid wasting the life he recognized as precious.
- Analyzes how his family and society pressured him to go after goals not of his design. his father was a salesman, so he was expected to succeed monetarily.
- Analyzes how biff had innocent intentions when it came to his own life and his relationship with his father. he authentically craved deeper human relationships with other people as well as a more fulfilling life for himself.
- Analyzes how biff held honest intentions and wanted to pursue his own passions, taking advantage of his life, but allowed others to give him too much advice on what he should do. he is the most pitiable and relatable character of the play.
1022 wordsRead More - An American Myth Exploded in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesmananalytical essayArthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is a demonstration of the affliction with which America has been stricken. It is an affliction of false idealism, but also a birthing of the consumer. It is this consumer society which is the affliction, and the characters of this drama are unable to cure themselves of it. Willy Loman is the manifestation of the consumerism which is destroying society. He is the corporeal manifestation of this myth, and the American dream is the myth itself. This myth can be broken down into several parts itself. First is the belief that situations, commodities, etc. improve with time, which is a technological misconception. Second is the understanding that hard work is necessary to bring about this sort of improvement. And third, the coming together of these amounts to the belief that commodities brought about by hard work will help in the betterment of our lives, and that this never ending accumulation of wealth will generate a truly happy life.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how arthur miller's death of a salesman shows the affliction with which america has been stricken. willy loman is the corporeal manifestation of the consumerism which is destroying society.
- Analyzes how willy embodies the first part of the american myth, being the belief that things will always continue to get better.
- Narrates how willy loman worked hard all of his life and realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want.
- Analyzes how willy loman's hard work and endeavors have fallen short of his dreams. the flame of truth is always quenched up until the very end.
- Analyzes how willy, biff, and happy are always talking about how to make money and how good things will be when they get it.
- Opines that the so-called american dream is a myth because it is founded on presuppositions which are empty of validity and serve only as delusion.
- Analyzes how arthur miller's depiction of american myth is a depraving force in the lives of americans in his drama, death of a salesman.
1034 wordsRead More - The Theme Of Success In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesmananalytical essayArthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is a tragedy that recounts the journey of Willy Loman, a salesman in his sixties, who attempts, but fails to achieve success through his own approach by being popular and well-liked. Miller uses several motifs to develop his theme, which is that people who are suffering, but continue not to be mindful of their actions and ideals, and not adapt to the current situation, will continue to suffer. Willy’s idea of success and his stubbornness to this idea is revealed using the motif of popularity. Furthermore, the flaws in Willy’s idea of success are revealed through the motif of contradictions. Lastly, through the motif of Willy and his appliances being worn-out, Miller elucidates the fact that Willy’s pursuit of his idea of success is detrimental to himself.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how arthur miller's death of a salesman recounts the journey of willy loman, who fails to achieve success through his own approach by being popular and well-liked.
- Analyzes how the motif of popularity illustrates willy's idea of success. he is inspired by dave singleman to become a salesman.
- Analyzes how the motif plays an even more important role in revealing the extent of willy's belief in his idea of success.
- Analyzes how willy, who works as a salesman, is contradictory. he does not know how to successfully sell.
- Analyzes how miller's novel, death of a salesman, reminds the audience to continuously self-reflect and adapt to the ever-changing human society.
1083 wordsRead More