Fate and Responsibility: Death of a Salesman
At the end of Death of a Salesman, a number of Willy Loman's closest friends and relatives, including his wife Linda and friend Charley, pay homage to Willy Loman. They praise him as one of the small, powerless people who have little sway over their existences. "And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don't put a bolt to a nut, he don't tell you the law or give you medicine," says Charlie, of the way that Willy seemed unable to realize his dreams for himself or his family, "A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory" (Miller 108). Willy is rejected by his sons and discarded by the company he worked for. But although playwright Arthur Miller makes it clear that Willy is treated unjustly by the capitalist system, he also demonstrates that Willy has a number of character flaws, including his dishonesty and his lack of faith in the value of true hard work. Although the system Willy buys into may be bankrupt, Willy's character flaws exacerbate those flaws.
This is perhaps most clearly demonstrated in Willy's behaviors towards his sons. When his boys were younger, Willy was contemptuous of boys like Bernard who applied themselves academically in school and told his sons that all that mattered was that they were liked and looked good, with the enthusiasm of the professional salesman he is: "Bernard can get the best marks in school, y'understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y'understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him" (Miller 21). Although Biff is a successful high school athlete, he is unable to translate that success into real life, partially because his father encouraged him to cheat on tests and dismissed the importance of honoring his commitments. When Biff returns home after years of drifting from job to job, Willy's first instinct is to try to get his older son a job selling, given that sales were such a promising occupation for himself: "I'll have a nice talk with him. I'll get him a job...
" Though critics such as Sheila Huftel characterize Willy Loman's "fall" as only a fall from "an imagined height," it is nevertheless still a fall, which makes Willy Loman, like Oedipus, a tragic figure. Willy has created very powerful ideas about what he wants his life to be and what he wants his sons lives to be. But these ideas are part of what make Willy who he is. He cannot
Death of a Salesman In all of twentieth-century American drama, it is Arthur Miller's 1949 masterwork Death of a Salesman that has been lauded as the best American play. The play deals with important aspects of American life, discovering and exploring the idea of the American dream. Since its first appearance in New York in 1949 to its numerous worldwide performances since, Death of a Salesman has spoken to the apprehensions
masterful aspects of Death of a Salesman is the extent to which playwright Arthur Miller leaves it ambiguous regarding Willy Loman's culpability for his own condition. On one hand, he is part of a capitalist system which values people solely upon the extent to which they can demonstrate a profit for their superiors and how well-liked they are by their colleagues. Loman is not well-liked enough, and as soon
Act 2. Discuss the scene between Willy and Ben, consider what advice Willy is asking of Ben, note Bens reply "let me think about it." What might miller be suggesting by it? What importance does this scene have in the play? What themes are evoked in it? Ben's relationship with his brother Willy throughout the play exemplifies Willy's longing for the success that never comes. Ben profits from diamond mines, while
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. Specifically it will compare and contrast the character of Willy Loman, the main character in the play. Willy is a salesman who is getting older and losing the advantage he had in his business. On one side, Willy is a volunteer, because he brings his problems on himself. On the other side, Willy is a victim of society; his problems are not
All along, Miller's salesman was creating a tableau vivant, in his work and in his family. If you put the right characters on stage, you create the right image. In Willy Loman's mind, Dave Singleman, that "single" salesman, no doubt created the proper image. Even Singleman's death was that of a salesman, "When he died -- and by the way he died the death of a salesman, in his green
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