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Death Of A Salesman Characterization

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Death of A Salesman is a screenplay that is written by Arthur Miller that is centered around Willy Loman, our main protagonist who has many issues within his character. The play itself is not narrated by a narrator, but we are given stage directions to envision the scene with the extremely well written details that Arthur Miller has provided for us. This in turn also the readers to come up with very vivid imagery of what the settings, themes, and environments are in the play, as well as getting to know the characters.
Willy is the main character in this storyline, heavily supported by his family who help shape and define his character, yet we soon find out that his social standing affects him as a whole. In Act One, Willy is described as a …show more content…

Everything Willy does is a reaction to the other characters, who act in a response to Willy’s actions. Linda is the wife, she makes sure everything at home is running, like the fridge that broke, and handles the bills. Yet she also knows that Willy is more than irrational and suicidal, but she allows herself to play along Willy’s fantasies as a means to protect him from those who criticize him, like the other salesmen, even his own. Linda’s persona is driven the fear of losing her husband, accepting him and everything going on with him instead of getting him help like he needs, wanting to keep him around. In turn, Willy makes sure that Linda has the money to pay said bills with the sales he does on his job, which become increasingly more and more difficult. The sales become more difficult because no one takes Willy seriously, instead they mock and laugh at him, and it also doesn’t help that his mind wanders off at the worst of time, like when he is driving. That almost caused him to drive into a kid, causing Willy to fill bad. Then there is Biff, the eldest son. Unlike his younger brother Happy, Biff wants nothing to do with his father after learning about Willy’s affair in their trip to Boston. Although both sons are like Willy in deceiving reality to their favor, Biff accepts the life they’ve been living isn’t real, unlike Happy who thrives like his father in his younger years and uses women. Willy always wished to be a successful man in Biff’s and Happy’s eyes, reminiscing on the days where Biff was younger when he doesn’t want to face

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He sees himself with wealth because of his child's pride in him. Willy's children, Biff and Happy, embrace Willy's propensity for denying or controlling reality

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“The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (33). In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses foil characters to elucidate Willy’s flaws that ultimately prevent him and his family from succeeding. The contrast between Charley and Willy and Bernard and Biff serves to highlight how Willy’s obsession with achieving his version of the American Dream impacts both his life and his children’s. His poor values are passed on to his children producing even more failures. ¬¬¬¬Both Charley and Willy work as salesmen, however Charley represents what Willy desired to become – successful.

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Willy believes that he wishes to purchase his wife a new refrigerator even though she is satisfied with what they have. As he strives to live the American dream he honors those who have been victorious at doing so, like his successful brother. Additionally he penalizes those who did not make any efforts towards that ideal or achieve it, like his son Biff, and for the most part prominently himself. The unattainable dream that he has lived all his life was struggling to achieve has brought him to complete disappointment and a loss of wisdom in his judgments. Willy formed a reality for himself where eventual result of his disenchantment.

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Iris Murdoch, a great author and philosopher, once said, "We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality" (Brainy Quote). Throughout centuries, humans have used illusions, particularly in the form of dreams and fantasy to make life more desirable or rather hopeful. While this can be a great coping mechanism, living vicariously through illusions or the past can prevent one from accepting the harsh truths of reality. This character trait accurately describes the behaviour of Arthur Miller 's protagonist Willy Loman in the play, Death of a Salesman.

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Death of a Salesman Analysis In the play by Arthur Miller, the main character Willy Loman is a man in his 60’s. He is dressed in a drab coloured, ill-fitting suit. Willy shows early signs of dementia, as he spends much of the play having flashbacks or incorporating the past into present day situations. Through this the viewer learns much about Willy and his past.

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While Linda enabled him, Willy could not help himself too keep ruining the good opportunities he had and turning them into some factious reality. At Willy`s funeral Biff comes to the realization that his father had all the wrong dreams and visions of success. Willy`s only dream was the fake “American Dream” that people believe will happen overnight. Willy`s failed attempts and happiness bonded into one and played a part into him creating this false reality and persona that he was the best salesman and that he was well loved by everyone around him.

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Zeb 1 Adam Zeb Hajra Naeem English February 8, 2016 “Death of A Salesman” In the play “Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller, the character Willy Loman has flaws in his character that make him responsible for his own misfortune. Willy fails to realize his personal failure and betrayal of his soul and family through the meticulously constructed deception of his life.

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Antigone is the play by Sophocles. It opens with the deaths of Antigone’s two brothers, Polynices and Eteocles. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, doesn’t allow Polynices to be buried on the ground because Polynices attacks his own city. Antigone thinks burying her brother is her duty, so she violates Creon’s decree and throws some dusts on her brother’s corpse. Creon is offended by her behavior and gives an order that is locking Antigone into a cave with a little food.

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However, pursuing this goal came with a price. Since he was highly motivated to becoming a successful salesman, he rarely stayed at home. Instead, he spent most of his time travelling around the country to conduct sales. He became a workaholic, forcing himself to make sacrifices in his family life in order to seek his own ambitions. Therefore, Willy’s perfectionistic ideals led to his demise.

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In the play, it shows Willy is soft and insecure not just a crazy man. Biff, Willy’s son had caught his father cheating on his mother and that made him feel angry at his father. Willy did not know how his son felt; Willy says [directly to Biff] “what’re you doing? What’re you doing?” Biff says [crying, broken] “will you let me go, for Christ’s sake?

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Ana Oceguera 12. 19. 16 AP English Death of a Salesman Character Compare and Contrast     In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the audience follows the dynamic between the members of the Loman family. The father of the family, Willy Loman is a self-deluded traveling salesman whose dreams of success do not match his reality. Prompted by his frustration due to the discrepancy between his unrealistically ambitious expectations and his reality, we watch as his mental health takes a turn for the worse,  and his story eventually ends in suicide.

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As the old saying goes, not all heroes wear capes. This is especially true for Willy Loman in the Death of a Salesman. Death of a Salesman is a rather tragic tale depicting the fall of Willy Loman and, to some degree, the fall of his son Biff Loman. There are two ways in which one could interpret Death of a Salesman, with Willy as the protagonist, or with Biff as the protagonist. Either way, the story is not made a tragedy by its plot, but rather, it is made a tragedy by its characters.

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Tragedy can spread. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is the protagonist, however he not the only person in the play who’s story ends tragically. His view on life spreads to those close to him. Primarily, Willy teaches it to his children who look up to him while his wife simply attaches herself to him, rooting for him in blind support while really she should be waking him up to the cold and dark reality that is their life. Throughout the play, the Loman family evolves differently.

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This shows how willy can not admit his failure to his family. The main character Willy doesn’t want to show how deeply down he had fallen and is starting to lose hope on his

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This cancelled his plans to be a collegiate football player. Ever since then, things have kept going on a downhill path for Biff. Willy and Linda both notice this and it devastates them. But, instead of helping his son, Willy becomes agitated for the rest of his life. He expected his son to be better but, Biff did not want to be better.

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