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Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Willy Loman finally realized, to an extent, that he had been living a life of illusion and self-deception. Towards the end of the play he concludes that would be worth more to the family dead then alive, "After all the highways, and the trains, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive." His son Biff has seen the truth about his father's self delusions much earlier then Willy. This causes clash between the two as Willy still believes that Biff will amount to something and Biff finally confronts his father about his low station in life and the fact that the two of them will always be nobodys.
Willy developed the theory that if a person is well liked and is very good looking then doors, i.e. opportunity, will automatically be opened for him. In essence Willy believes in style over substance. Willy Loman, raised his two boys to embrace the same illusions about life and the keys to success that he has. Both boys, in their 30's in the play, grow up to be failures as well. Hap, like his father, is blind to this fact; Biff on the other hand has had those illusions removed a long time ago. Biff, unlike his brother and mother, sees the truth about his father and feels a compulsion to seek the truth about himself. This conflict between Biff and Willy is the central conflict in the play that the story revolves around.
When Biff was growing up he was a...
Sliding along in high school on his good looks and athletic ability Biff ends up flunking his math class. Biff takes a trip to Boston to find his father, who he is convinced will be able to persuade his math teacher to give him a passing grade. Biff finds his father in a Boston hotel room with another women. Biff's illusions, nurtured by Willy for his entire life, are shattered. Biff could not deal with his father's adultery and from that point on he considers his father to be a fake.
Biff's rejection of Willy's values leads Biff to become a failure in his own right. He works in the west on a ranch and has not been able to hold down steady work since leaving school. Willy does not see that his sons are failures. Through the illusions that Willy believes, he cannot see that Biff is nobody and not bound to be successful, as defined by Willy.
The real metaphorical death in the play is the death of Willy's dreams that Biff will one day want to follow in his father's footsteps.
Willy became a salesman because of his awe for an old time salesman that he once knew. His admiration is evident when he states, "He died the death of a salesman, in his green velvet slippers..." For Willy this pedestrian death seems to be the evidence of the mans success. Biff rejects Willy's beliefs in a steady job with…
References
Bissessar Kevin "A Professor's Lecture on Death of a Salesman" Jun 19, 1997 accessed on 17-March-2003 at http://www.lionking.org/~bornfree/library/kvsp2.txt
Abbotson, Susan "Understanding Death of a Salesman: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents," Greenwood Press, 1999
Phelps, Heldref Miller's Death of a Salesman,
Journal article, H. C Publications, 1995
Death of a Salesman: Tragedy in Prose Tragedy, can easily lure us into talking nonsense." Eric Bentley In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, we are introduced to Willy Loman, who believes wholeheartedly in what he considers the promise of the American Dream -- that a "well liked" and "personally attractive" man in business will unquestionably acquire the material comforts offered by modern American life. Willy's obsession with the superficial qualities of attractiveness
" Though critics such as Sheila Huftel characterize Willy Loman's "fall" as only a fall from "an imagined height," it is nevertheless still a fall, which makes Willy Loman, like Oedipus, a tragic figure. Willy has created very powerful ideas about what he wants his life to be and what he wants his sons lives to be. But these ideas are part of what make Willy who he is. He cannot
Death of a Salesman Culture and Gender in Death of a Salesman American culture is clearly changing. Yet, many within it are refusing to adapt, and are continuing to hold on to outdated middle class values that don't work within today's social context. This is Willy Loman. Arthur Miller presents a sad but realistic look at the destruction of the American Dream and middle class values within his work Death of a
Willy's "psychopathy," he explained, is a manifestation of his being "other-directed" -- or possessing a value system entirely determined by external norms…evidence that goes beyond normal human inconsistency into the realm of severe internal division" (3). The author's analysis illustrates that Willy's "psychopathy" is an inevitable and consistent result of his constant dreaming about success and wealth using the wrong approach. Knowing that he has failed himself and his
In conclusion, Death of a Salesman tells the tragic tale of Willy Loman's life. We do feel pity for this man as we watch him fail and we do understand that he makes tragic mistakes throughout his life that have brought him to this point. Many critics want to make allowances for the play because it represents the world in which we live. In doing so, they seem to forget
Death of a Salesman: Ethics in Business Arthur Miller's play titled Death of a Salesman is classic example of the transition experienced by those involved in the business world during the middle part of the 20th Century. Business ethics and the economy are interwoven and tied to the theme of achieving the American dream in the play. Willy, the main character in the play is caught in between two popular but