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Willy Loman Present Time Analysis

1460 Words6 Pages

Death of A Salesman, written by Arthur Miller in 1949, follows an aged salesman, Willy Loman, as he struggles to accept the reality of his failing career and misguided life principles. In this essay, I will examine the structure of the play and how Miller has used time and space to reveal character, present Willy’s faulty ideals, and foreshadow. The play is broken into two acts and a requiem: each segment takes place on a different day in the present day, within the world of the play. For the purpose of this essay, I will refer to ‘present day’ as the present time experienced by all the characters in the world of the play. The only person who experiences time differently in the play is Willy, whose mind straddles present time and his memories. Within Act I and Act II, Miller interlaces the events happening in present day, with Willy’s flashbacks. The use of flashback offers essential background context to the present day events that …show more content…

This tension is created by well placed moments of foreshadowing. Miller foreshadows Biff stealing Bill Oliver’s fountain pen in Act II, with a flashback in Act I where Biff boasts to Willy about ‘borrowing’ the ball from the locker room. Another instance of foreshadowing is the rubber tube that symbolizes the imminent suicide of Willy. It first appears when Linda reveals to Biff that Willy has been trying to kill himself. He has tried to gas himself to death. Biff removes the rubber tube in the following scene and confronts Willy with it in the last scene of Act II. The confrontation is one of the catalysts for Willy’s decision to take his life. He is seen running out of the house and speeding away in his car. It is revealed in the requiem that Willy had ended his life. Only his family and Charley attend his funeral. None of his friends, colleagues or customers have turned up to pay their

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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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In both the play and the movie, Willy takes off with the rest of the check. Even so, the movie introduces Willy and we get a feel for his personality and how he thinks. Sorrowfully, the book never introduces Willy. In fact, Willy is mentioned at the end of the play. Meeting Willy makes viewers wonder about his character and why he acts the way he does.

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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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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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Willy tries to make himself feel better by lying to himself. Although Willy’s death is unfortunate, if one closely examines his pride, bad temper, and his lies, one can see that these flaws will eventually bring him to his demise. Throughout the play, Willy demonstrates his sense of pride while talking to his family and friends. In this quote one can

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From the beginning, Willy found it hard to succeed in the business world. Money was a struggle to obtain, therefore his career kept going downhill. This led Willy to doubt himself and made him go into a deep depression. He was supposed to be a role model for his family and especially for Bif and Happy, but in reality, he is not. His depression reaches the point where he tries to kill himself with a rubber tube: WILLY:

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Biff wants to retake the class in the summer but when he catches his father having an affair his perception of his father, his biggest role model, is shattered causing him to give up on the things he used to want to do. Willy represses this memory entirely and tries to blame others for Biffs behavior instead of himself. Willy also fools himself into thinking he is well liked and successful. In small moments of clarity Willy admits that people have made fun of his physique and no one talks to him anymore when he goes

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The combination of these things eventually drives Willy to his death, and Biff to his growth and transcendence. Willy Loman is a salesman; he is someone who thinks that success should come to those who are popular and attractive. This ideology shows when he is talking to Linda about Biff, “Biff Loman is lost. […] a young man with such—personal attractiveness gets lost.” (Miller 16).

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Starting in Act One, Willy is seen talking to Happy and Biff about their career opportunity with Oliver. Throughout this conversation, Linda is constantly chipping in with optimistic comments. “Willy: Lick the world! You guys together could absolutely lick the civilized world. Biff: I’ll see Oliver tomorrow.

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Willy Loman Hyper Reality

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Chapter 1: Introduction Willy Loman’s life is a simulacrum! Whenever Willy fails to cope with the changed situation, he takes shelter in his world of illusion. He creates ‘hyper reality’ to escape from reality. Willy’s son Biff and Happy adopt Willy’s habit of denying or manipulating reality i. e., of creating the ‘hyper reality’ and practice it all of their lives, much to their detriment. It is only at the end of the play that Biff admits he has been a “phony” (Miller 106) too, just like Willy.

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Biff, a consequence of Willy, attempts to bring Willy out of his fantasies and his see the realities of his life, but in the end fails to. The two are different in their ideas, demeanors and personas, yet have some akin characteristics.     Willy and Biff’s physical traits are different. At what point, Willy tells his wife Linda, “I’m fat. I’m very foolish to look at, Linda.”

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Beginning till end, Willy’s unintentional unawareness

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Miller writes in his stage directions that Uncle Ben “enters the forestage from around the right corner of the house” (30). Miller intends for Uncle Ben to be portrayed by an actor. This may confuse audiences that Uncle Ben is a real character who is capable of interacting with other characters in the “present time”. Also, in Willy’s hallucinations, time is bent and warped. So sometimes, Willy’s present day will seamlessly transition a hallucination or happen at the same time, like when he is at the restaurant with his sons: “off left, the Woman laughs” while Willy and Biff argue about Oliver’s stolen pen (90).

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Comparing The American Dream In Willy Loman And Death Of A Salesman

1414 Words | 6 Pages

(The flute has faded away,)” The short declarative sentence depicts that his job is becoming strenuous for him and that he finds it harrowing, however there is no indication that he will stop, it suggests that he will continue like he always does. Miller uses the motif of the flute to symbolise the sombre tone of the play. Also, by placing this in the first scene Miler’s intention is to depict that the American society is oppressing Willy and men like Willy as he is a symbol of the common man, leading them to their “death”. Miller portrays Willy’s strife to depict that although post Great-depression resulted in hope and change, therefore people had do evolve with the times and shape their lives and business to fit in the with the

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986 Words | 4 Pages

Willy then individualises the both of them, in doing so, tries to prove to Biff that they are far from worthless. Willy does this by saying: “I’m not a dime a dozen! I am Will Lonman, and you are Biff Lonman!” This interchange between father and son is the first evidence of American society as Biff has already come to the realisation that they are normal folk and nothing makes them more special from the next people, his father, however, is under the impression that they are far from your normal folk and that they are truly special. This inability for Willy to see what reality is really like exposes American society as it shows the way the “American Dream” made people believe they are more than they really are as they try to fit into modern society’s

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