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Theme essay death of a salesman
Theme essay death of a salesman
Theme essay death of a salesman
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Theme essay death of a salesman
Theme essay death of a salesman
Theme essay death of a salesman
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
“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.
Willy Loman lived a more tragic life because of the constant change he wanted to achieve that never played out in his favor. When expectations are high from the people you love it’s difficult not falling for the pressure. Willy constantly felt uneasy about the wedge between him and his wealthy older brother Ben. Ben was a symbol of success and fortune: “No! Boys! Boys!
Willy Loman could be described as an insecure, traveling salesman. Willy is a man who desired great things in life but never was actually able to accomplish any of his goals. Willy worked hard in life to support his wife and kids, even though he was never truly satisfied at his job or with his home life. Willy, however, did try to make himself feel better by lying to himself about his job and family. He convinced himself that he was a great sales man and even started having an affair to live an alternate life.
There’s one thing about Biff he’s not lazy” (0:24:35) . This clarifies that He thinks America rewards effort, but he also thinks America honors physical attractiveness. Willy has convinced himself that being liked is essential to success because he relies on salesmanship for his living. Willy Loman's tragic trajectory inspires him to investigate the notion that social standing in life matters more than knowledge and education to succeed in the workplace. Willy's arrogance causes him to believe that everything in his life is perfect, even though in reality he is not happy with anything.
Willy Loman was a loving husband, good friend and most importantly, an amazing father. Regret fills my heart to the brim, the only thought that keeps running through my mind is what if I would’ve been there for my father. I wish the last words I spoke to my father were different and the last things I did to change my father were different. Willy’s decision to take his own life is both incomprehensible and confusing. Perhaps Willy’s priorities seemed to have shifted out of place as the years went on.
keeps on advancing Willy the cash he needs each week knowing he will never get paid back. In this play Charley and Bernard are the main characters from the earliest starting point to the end that really do all that they can to help Willy; yet still Willy declines to hear them out. Since Willy would not like to listen to the outside world, he is compelled to make his own particular wellsprings of direction. This direction comes as Ben his sibling and Dave Singleman.
I am very fortunate to be able to write to you today! As of last week the Stage 1 English Pre Communications class finished listening to your play Death of a Salesman, and I wish to share with you my opinion regarding the significance of Biff Loman’s statement “we never told the truth for ten minutes in this house”. You characterized Willy Loman as a man worn out by life but I believe that it was Willy’s inability to face the truth throughout his life that has caused him much grief. In the past Willy taught his boys to believe that a man who “makes an appearance in the business world, who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (page 25).
When Willy can’t get the success, he thinks his son, Biff, can be the successful salesman like him or better than him. But Biff’s dream is to get a little place in the West, it is not what Willy want him to be. Biff said to Willy “Listen, will you let me out of it, will you just let me out of it!” (Death of the Salesman 109). Willy didn’t listen to his family’s need, he all concerned about is getting success.
This play is about the Loman family who live in America in the1940s. The protagonist, Willy Loman, is a salesman struggling to make enough money to pay the bills who is obsessed with appearing to be successful and ‘well liked’. Willy has a long-suffering wife, Linda, and two sons: Biff and Happy. Although Biff was extremely popular and a talented footballer in his youth, he is still trying to ‘find himself’ at the age of thirty-four while the ironically named Happy is boastful and competitive but equally dissatisfied with his life. The structure of the play is such that we are not so much interested in asking, ‘what is going to happen to this family?’
In one scene, Biff admits to his father that “he is a dime a dozen”. This proves that Biff is aware of the fact that he has wasted his life chasing something that will never be. In his final conversation with his father, he attempts to make him see that he is a failure as well by saying “You were never anything put hard-working drummer who landed in the ash van lieke all the rest of thgem! I’m one dollar an hour, Willy!”. Willy, however, never admits the fact that his son and him are both losers.
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.
Biff and Willy are obviously harboring dislike feelings towards one another because Willy been living in Biff shadow his whole life, but neither are willing to bring the reason into the light. Similarly to Willy, many of us share his dream of success. Being able to have Successful children, perfect and a happy stay-at-home mother these are all aspect that is associated with Willy’s story. Even though everyone knows that the children are not always successful, there are
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.
Willy finds out his dream of being an popular, well respected salesman is impossible and takes his own life. Linda supports Willy despite the abuse and confusion he puts her through with his various attempts to take his own life, with his delirious ramblings and hallucinations, and with his constant deception. Happy still sees his father as a hero and Biff finally begins to grasp the truth of the “American Dream”. When Willy kills himself, all of the Loman family, including Willy, break free from the web of false dreams he spun and begin to understand Willy’s failings. They also realize their own flaws.
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.