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Ragtime E. L. Loman Analysis

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Society is an ever changing phenomenon in which social norms are constantly being called into question and altered. For instance, concepts like fashion, art, and music have transformed numerous times. However, one idea has been maintained in American mythology for decades. This is the belief that someone’s success comes from his or her annual income or how well he or she is able to conform to certain standards. Authors like E.L. Doctorow, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Arthur Miller created characters in their works that embrace this notion. In Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow, a character named Father creates his goal of a perfect life by having his family live in a secluded, upper middle class town away from immigrants and other minorities. F. Scott Fitzgerald …show more content…

This hurt him in many ways because it prevented him from seeing the truth about himself, which would end up isolating him from his family. In the play, Willy’s own son told him that he was nothing special, and he was just an average man; Willy angrily replied, “I am not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Lowman,” (Miller 105). This moment explains the problems with Willy’s obsession of appearing perfect, because he pushed away his family who is trying to tell him the truth over a lie he told himself years ago. Since he refuse to acknowledge the truth, Willy begins to reminisce his ‘glory’ days and as a result felt he had nothing left to give towards the end of his life. Because of this, Willy felt as if he would be worth more dead than alive, that way his family would get a life insurance check and could start fresh. “Remember, it’s a guaranteed twenty-thousand-dollar proposition. Now look, Ben I want you to go through the ins and outs with me. I’ve got nobody to talk to, Ben, and the woman has suffered, you hear me?” (Miller 100). Willy alienated himself over lies he told to everyone around him in hopes of keeping up a fake

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399 Words | 2 Pages

Willy's logical inconsistencies brings confusion towards the audience itself toward the start of the play; in any case, they soon turn into a characteristic of himself. Willy's conflicting conduct is the after effect of his powerlessness to acknowledge reality and his propensity to control or re-make the past trying to get away from the present. For instance, Willy can't leave himself to the way that Biff never again regards him on account of Willy's affair with another woman. As opposed to concede that their relationship is irreparable, Willy retreats to a past time when Biff appreciated and regarded him. As the play goes on, Willy disassociates himself more from the present as his issues turn out to be excessively too much, making them impossible to manage.

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2147 Words | 9 Pages

In society, people that deviate too far from the norm are often ostracized and are doomed to fail. In the book The Great Gatsby, an example of an outsider is Gatsby. Gatsby devotes his life to fitting in, yet as an outsider he never truly does. Another example of an outcast would be Willie from Death of a Salesman.

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963 Words | 4 Pages

Willy Loman was a troubled man who didn't have respect for his wife and degraded his children every chance he got when it came to their failures, especially with his son Biff. He only cared about achieving the American dream which he did not succeed because of all his problems that stood in his way. His constant obsession with achieving the American dream only made his family distance themselves from him more only due to the fact that he believed that achieving this would lead him to happiness and success. This also leads to the other major theme which is resilience. Willy came from a poor socioeconomic background and he is making all the efforts to pull himself out of his current situation through whatever he can do in hopes for something better that will make him feel like he's achieved his

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188 Words | 1 Pages

In addition to being contradictory, Willy is also very insecure. In fact, when Willy confesses to Linda that business is not doing well, he expresses his insecurities by saying, “I’m fat. I’m very-foolish to look at, Linda.” Lastly, another trait that Willy possesses is suicidal.

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535 Words | 3 Pages

He wanted to be successful so badly, that when he doesn’t get it, he doesn’t know what to do with himself. When Willy was younger, he had great connections in the areas he would sell. The people respected him and he took great pride in the fact that his name held value with those people. However, as he aged, so did the people he used to sell to. When he isn’t able to make the amount of sales he used to, he doesn’t know

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1956 Words | 8 Pages

Have you ever considered what implications your own culture, upbringing, and source of wealth have had on your social ranking within society? It’s a rather complex and philosophical question that only few have truly taken the time to consider. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald undertakes this inquiry and demonstrates his answer to this ambiguous question through a series of catastrophic events as depicted through numerous characters - most notably, Jay Gatsby. Mr. Gatsby is long regarded within the novel as a suspect character when it comes to his source of wealth. Unlike Tom Buchanan, Gatsby wasn't born into a wealthy family, and instead had to “earn” his fortune.

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3379 Words | 14 Pages

Willy’s inability to move beyond the person he once was is reflected in his constantly distorted perceptions of reality. Willy’s confused perceptions of reality, where often hallucinating, blur the lines between past and present. Willy is burdened by regret and unfulfilled dreams, clinging to the hope of reclaiming his former successes: “Oh, Ben, how do we get back to all the great times?”. This demonstrates his fixation on an era in which he felt accomplished and significant.

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1015 Words | 5 Pages

We learn that Willy is a salesman, who is has only had minor success. Willy blames this on the fact that he is not well liked. In the beginning of the play Willy has had a car accident and his wife Linda wants him to ask his boss if he can work only in New York instead of having to travel. When we see Willy in a flashback he appears to be happy and affectionate with his sons, who seem to return the affection.

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1008 Words | 5 Pages

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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1374 Words | 6 Pages

Willy Lowman was no Prince or King, but he was a provider to his wife and two sons. Willy’s wife Linda was aware of this and she was also aware of his flaws and the pressures that were ailing him. This was evident when Linda said, “He’s not the finest character that ever lived. But he’s a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him” (Gardener 418).

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1794 Words | 8 Pages

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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549 Words | 3 Pages

It is Willy’s blind faith in his ill-advised version of the American Dream that leads to his rapid decline, as he becomes unable to accept the disparity between his dreams and his own

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930 Words | 4 Pages

Miller depicts Willy as a tragic character in his willingness to preserve his dignity. Additionally, Willy’s dignity is tainted in the story because of his flawed philosophy of the American Dream. This along with unjust comparisons leads to Willy’s death. Based on how Willy Loman evaluates himself unjustly, he is a tragic hero because he must do anything to preserve his dignity, and his false impression of the American Dream, which leads to his downfall.

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850 Words | 4 Pages

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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499 Words | 2 Pages

He has a Job, two kids, and a wife. Willy is a salesman who dreams to be like his role model, Dave Singleman. Singleman - in Willy perspective- had the ultimate successful life, as expressed in this quote: "Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up a phone, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?" [Act 2] Willy believed that success, was equivalent to how well liked he was. Willy's 'flaw' was his foolish pride, his persistence of achieving "his rightful status".

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