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Use Of Motifs In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

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Hardships often prepare an ordinary person for an extraordinary future. If comes from within to hold on and make a change. After all at the end of the day yesterday was history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift from god, which is why we call it the present. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller has confused character that don't understand how to respond to the hardships occurring throughout their life. Willy the main character has two son’s Biff and Happy. Willy is married to Linda. Willy is lost in the problems from the past while his son Biff is lost in what he is going to accomplish in the future. In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses motif and characterization to unfold the keys to living a happy life.
Arthur Miller uses the motif of lost to present the first key. Willy is a hard working man, unlike his son, Biff. Biff is 34 years old and has yet to make more than $35 a week, which is about the equivalent of $350 dollars today. Willy thinks his son is a lazy bum, while his mother Linda thinks “ he’s finding himself” (Miller 5). Biff not knowing what he is trying to achieve in life is an appearance of the motif. Finding oneself is part of discovering what one’s purpose in life is. One should take time to …show more content…

Willy was a hardworking man. His job would demand him to drive for hours, leaving him exhausted. He would find himself driving off road, falling asleep. Failing to remember to “rest his mind” ( Miller 3). Willy’s character was in some desperate use of rest. His thoughts would be intertwined, lost in the past and the present. Failing to recognize what was required of him to carry out the present. His character would “experience sense of loss and desperation” (Harder 3). Willy’s confused mind would result in a mistaken decisions, ranging from an extramarital affair to having suicidal thoughts. Consequently having a tried, negative mind would never give Willy a positive

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