Theme Of Social Class And Family In Death Of A Salesman

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Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, portrays the cost of selling oneself to the American Dream. Willy Loman, the central character, is madly determined to achieve affluence that he overlooks the value of his family and himself in the process. 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 them. Biff deems that success is a product of happiness and contentment, not a paycheck. Out of all the sociological theories, social conflict best emphasizes the author’s perspective of how conflict, through class and family, can deteriorate the American dream. By analyzing the play’s themes- social class and family- through the sociological perspectives: structural-functional, social conflict, and symbolic interactionist, we can predict what drives these characters to behave and perceive things the way they do. …show more content…

Structural functionalists argue that everything has a function (or dysfunction) to a society. The reason for a social class existing is to “motivate qualified people” (Henslin, 2017, p. 204). People would not be driven to work hard and spend years and money on rigorous education to get paid the same as someone who didn’t make the same sacrifices. As for Willy Loman, he believes that luck and charm allow upward social mobility rather than hard work and dedication. Willy Loman would agree that prestige is a major factor in determining social class and success. Therefore, Willy is vexed with Biff, who wants to reconnect with nature and work on a farm. Willy views Biff’s occupation choice as something with little prestige, success, and

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