Illusion and Reality in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy is depicted as living in his own world. The play centers around the end of Willy’s life, when the real world comes crashing through, ruining the false reality he had created for himself and his family. Throughout the play, Willy Loman uses the concept of being well liked to build a false image of reality, as shown through his teachings to his son, what he considers successful, and his reasoning for committing suicide.
Willy teaches Biff the concept of being well-liked, reinforcing his own belief in the ideology and furthering his false sense of reality. "Willy Loman subscribes to this view and has taught his sons to believe not only in a success oriented society buy also in the notion that native personality is the key to success therein" (Dukore 17). "Willy tries to instil his ideal of being well liked in his sons" (Dukore 17). When telling his children about how successful he is going to be during his flashback, Willy tells them he is going to be "Bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Charley is not liked. He’s liked, but he’s not well-liked" (Miller 30). "So long as Biff plays good football, wins games, gets his name in the newspapers and make...
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...ead of the tons of friends that Willy thought would come to his funeral, instead he is put to rest only by the few people close to him. This clash of Willy’s own created world, and that of the real one are not only the basis of this play, but the terminator as well.
Works Cited
Dukore, Bernard F. Death of a Salesman and The Crucible 1989 Macmillan Education Ltd London
Hurrell, John D. Two Modern American Tragedies 1961 Charles Scribner’s sons New York
Miller, Arthur Death of a Salesman 1976 Penguin Books New York
Murphy, Brenda MILLER Death of a Salesman 1995 Cambridge University Press Connecticut
At the start of the film, Marker put in this familiar noises of the planes to tell us that it was situated at the airport. Without the use of the sound in this particular scene, it would be just a photo montage whereby the viewers wouldn't probably feel the present of planes. Music helps to establish a sense of the pace at each of the accompanying scene and sometimes overlap voice-over musical score. At the beginning of the film, the images of the war torn Paris was accompanied by some sort of choir music that sounded very depressing and melancholic which then adds to the atmosphere. With the film starting off with this eerie atmosphere could also foreshadow a depressing storyline later on, that the protagonist meets his own death. Furthermore with the deliberate use of music in various part of the film, it kind of foreshadow the tragic ending whereby the fixated image of him as a child watching someone die at the
...vision and music. Therefore the movie begins on a simple level. The viewer is introduced to many of the central elements of the film in a purely visual way – Donnie, his family, and the American suburbs. The music makes this an isolated and surreal presentation; the viewer sees the family from the outside before seeing them from the inside. The song also has a feeling of apprehension and of magnitude which makes what is seen seem more significant and mysterious.
Reality vs. Illusion in The Glass Menagerie, The Death of a Salesman, and A Raisin in the Sun
The researcher learned that the Rosetta stone is one of the most important artifacts of the Egyptians. It was written in three ancient scripts and is located at the British museum in London.
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).”
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.
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.
In the play, The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller,Willy Loman, an unsuccessful business man struggling to support his family is completely out of touch with reality throughout the plot line. Many characters throughout this play and their interactions with Willy have showed the audience his true colors and what he thinks is important in life. His constant lying and overwhelming ego certainly does not portray his life in factual terms, but rather in the false reality that he has convinced himself he lives in.
Willy’s death was ironic due to all the of consequences that he faced each point of his life; however, he wanted to leave money behind by his $20,000 insurance policy for his family to prove he finally made success in life. After Willy death, Biff realized his true beliefs and changes his life’s path to the right direction. Happy on other hand, followed his father’s footsteps and aimed to become successful as a businessman. I believed that Willy’s character lead himself to his failures and miseries with his wife, his two sons, and his career. What Willy pictured in his mind of himself was not completed by his wrong ambition of being successful. “We’re free and clear. We’re free…. We’re free” (Death of the Salesman, Requiem. lines 66-67). Willy’s wife and sons were not a bit disappointed or saddened by the news of their father. Willy’s death defined a symbol of a new beginning for his family. Throughout my research I discovered all Willy wanted to be was a devoted husband, a father that his sons can be proud of, and a successful salesman; however Willy was unsuccessful in not completely to fulfill his dreams so his death brought him and his family a break from the
By the time Willy got to be an old man, his life was in shambles. *One son, Biff, was a hopeless dreamer who wasn’t able to hold on to a job. He could have been successful through an athletic scholarship, but he blew the chance he had to go to school. Happy, the other son, had a job, but was basically all talk, just like Willy. Now near the end of his career as a salesman, Willy realizes his whole life was just a joke, and the hopes he placed in the American Dream were misguided. At the end of the play, his only hope is to leave something for his family, especially for Biff, by taking his own life and leaving his family the insurance money. Through his death, Willy thinks he can achieve success and fulfill his dream.
The line between reality and illusion is often blurred in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman. Whether it is incorporated in the content or the actual structure, this struggle between recognizing reality from illusion turns into a strong theme; it eventually leads to the downfall of Willy and his family. Willy is incapable of recognizing who he is, and cannot realize that he, as well as his sons, is not capable of being successful in the business world. Happy and Biff both go through some battle between reality and illusion that cause a collapse in some part of their lives. The line between Willy’s flashbacks and current time also send him into turmoil when he cannot distinguish between the two.
Miller, Arthur. "Death of a Salesman" in Literature, Reading, Reacting, Writing, Compact Fourth Edition. Harcourt, Inc. 2000.
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman examines outside influences on the individual. These influences include society as a whole, the family as a societal unit and beliefs which the individual thinks he should espouse. In order to understand Willy Loman and the struggles with which he is dealing, the society in which he exists must first be understood. He is relying upon a slightly different set of values and motivations than everyone else seems to be, and this sets him apart. A prime example of the rest of society is Willy’s brother, Ben.
Willy has two sons, Biff and Happy but he seems to focus more on Biff. He seemed angry that Biff didn’t do more with his life. Willy Loman, the aging salesman, is worn out to the point of breakdown by his many years on the road. But he remains a firm believer in capitalist values and has transfer...
Klotz, A. , with Richardson. Arthur Miller “Death of a Salesman”. Literature, seventh. St. Martin’s Press. (1998). pp. 746 - 822.