Willy Loman Essays (Examples)

Willy Loman Tragic Dreamer in

illy also wants to be a successful father so that his sons will be successful as well. illy especially wants his son, Biff, to succeed. Biff has inherited some of his father's dreamy nature and has never followed through on anything since he graduated from high school. Biff cannot keep one job for very long and he appears to be bored with no direction. illy wants him to succeed but has given him bad advice and set a bad example over his life. illy has made Biff believe that he can do anything without putting forth much effort. This has caused Biff to become lackadaisical when it comes to making educated choices for his future. Biff becomes increasingly aware of how his father has influenced him and tells him, "I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody!…… [Read More]

Willy Loman's Failures as a Husband Employee

Willy Loman's Failures as a Husband, Employee, and Father in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman (1949), depicts the slow disintegration of an ordinary man, a traveling salesman named Willy Loman. Willy is past his prime, and unpleasant realities are beginning to close in on him in a deeply personal way. Willy has by now lost most of his grip on reality. In this essay, I will discuss how Willy's illusions, deceptions, lies, and blindness about himself and his children contribute to his failures as a husband, an employee, and a father.

Once a relatively successful salesman, Willy Loman now feels that the key ingredients of the "American Dream": financial success, self-sufficiency, family happiness, and a feeling that his children will surpass him, are slipping away. Willy's carefully manufactured illusions collapse, sending him spiraling into despair. Willy Loman is "past sixty years of…… [Read More]

Willy Loman - Illusions of

Willy depends on influence, personality, and people liking him. The trouble is, old age has robbed him of these -- if he ever had them -- so he's living in a dream world. He idealizes the death of an 84-year-old salesman who died alone in a hotel room. He ignores the loneliness of such a death and exaggerates the importance of the man's funeral. He likes to think his own funeral will be a big one and lots of important people will come to it. The old man's death underlines the question, "What's it all for?" Why are we so concerned with material success and so unconcerned with the spiritual -- that is, happiness, meaning, and fulfillment?

Willy wants desperately for his son iff to be a star. Success to Willy is the overnight kind, not the kind you build day-to-day, and he believes iff can be a professional football…… [Read More]

Willy Loman Pecola Breedlove and

In her eleven years, no one had ever noticed Pecola. But with blue eyes, she thought, everything would be different. She would be so pretty that her parents would stop fighting. Her father would stop drinking. Her brother would stop running away. If only she could be beautiful. If only people would look at her."

Pecola has numerous problems and several wishes but her deepest desire to attain a beautiful skin i.e. fair complexion. She believes that being beautiful would solve her problems and she would become a popular girl that everyone desired. But like Willy Loman, 1) she lacks the means to change her reality 2) she suffers because she cannot be content with what she has. By refusing to accept herself as she was, she gave immense power to others just like Willy Loman did. Both of them turned their abusers or those who had victimized them into…… [Read More]

Willy Loman S Fate Death of a Salesman

Fate and Responsibility: Death of a Salesman

At the end of Death of a Salesman, a number of Willy Loman's closest friends and relatives, including his wife Linda and friend Charley, pay homage to Willy Loman. They praise him as one of the small, powerless people who have little sway over their existences. "And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don't put a bolt to a nut, he don't tell you the law or give you medicine," says Charlie, of the way that Willy seemed unable to realize his dreams for himself or his family, "A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory" (Miller 108). Willy is rejected by his sons and discarded by the company he worked for. But although playwright Arthur Miller makes it clear that Willy is treated unjustly by the capitalist system, he also demonstrates that…… [Read More]

Character Analysis of Willy Loman From Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

protagonist illy Loman from Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. The writer provides the reader with an exploratory journey through the character of illy Loman including his strengths, weaknesses and downfall. There were nine sources used to complete this paper.

Throughout history literary authors have used their works to convey a message or meaning. hen Arthur Miller penned Death of a Salesman he had know way of knowing that it would become a future classic in schools across America. The story has been examined by millions high school and college students as well as literary critics for years. The character of illy Loman draws a lot of attention to himself because of the complexity of his nature and character. The character of illy Loman is a character that provides the reader with an inside view of many different life lessons. Some of the life lessons that the character plays out…… [Read More]

Death of a Salesman Willy Loman Is

Death of a Salesman

Willy Loman is the main character in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman. However, there are other important characters in the story. One of them is Willy's wife, Linda. In fact, Linda is one of the central characters in Death of a Salesman for several reasons. First, Linda is the real head of the household. Willy is too mentally disturbed to handle his life and she helps him to confront the truth about their finances. Linda keeps everyone together. Also, she is more reasonable than Willy or either of her two sons. As the mother of Happy and Biff, Linda is also central in their life. She frequently has to scold them for treating their father poorly. Finally, Linda remains alive at the end of the play, so she is the last person the audience relates to. Linda can be thought of as the center…… [Read More]

Willy and Linda S Relationship Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman: The Relationship Between Linda and Willy

The marriage between Linda and Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is typical of the early 20th century in many respects. The wife does not work and the husband acts as the provider for the family, despite the fact that the Loman family is struggling. Linda tries to economize by darning her stockings but she is forced to accept Willy as he is, no matter how imperfect. She often makes excuses for him, including when his sons question his authority. Although Linda is a kind woman, she is also very much an emotional enabler of Willy's many faults.

Throughout Willy's life, Linda acted as his cheerleader, no matter how much money he made. She often validated his sense of being persecuted by the world, even when this perspective was suspect: "Few men are idolized by their children…… [Read More]

Death of a Salesman Willy and the American Dream

Exchange at the End of Act Two:

THE WOMAN: I just hope there's nobody in the hall. That's all I hope. To Biff: Are you football or baseball?

BIFF: Football

THE WOMAN: (angry, humiliated) That's me too. G'night.

Both Biff and Happy are shown throughout the course of Death of a Salesman to have a very careless attitude in regards to how they treat women. They treat women like conquests, not as human beings. In a flashback sequence, Linda complains that mothers have informed her that they are worried that Biff is rough with girls; Happy has slept with a number of the girlfriends and fiancees of the superiors at his place of employment. He does so not because he is in love with these women but as a passive-aggressive way of getting back at the people who tell him what to do on a daily basis at work.

In…… [Read More]

Real Tragedy of Miller's Death

He continued to repeat the same behavior without at least trying to do something different. His dream probably kept him alive a little longer than he might have lived otherwise. As pathetic as his dream was, he owned it and believed he could reach it on some level. illy's tragic flaw begins with a delusion. He chooses to foster that delusion instead of moving in another direction. He takes the lazy way out of the situation because anything else would take him out of his comfort zone and he might actually develop into something successful. illy lies to himself and to those around him because that is easy as well. illy is a fictional character but he is far more real than many would like to admit. His humanity makes him worth studying because many people live in this kind of complacent, unfulfilled state. illy is his own obstacle and…… [Read More]

Death of a Salesman Truth and Lies

masterful aspects of Death of a Salesman is the extent to which playwright Arthur Miller leaves it ambiguous regarding Willy Loman's culpability for his own condition. On one hand, he is part of a capitalist system which values people solely upon the extent to which they can demonstrate a profit for their superiors and how well-liked they are by their colleagues. Loman is not well-liked enough, and as soon as his sales figures begin to slip he is ostracized by his business colleagues. According to Willy, he has "gotta be at it ten, twelve hours a day. Other men -- I don't know -- they do it easier. I don't know why -- I can't stop myself -- I talk too much" (Miller 24).

Act I makes it clear that Willy's idealistic version of how to achieve success within capitalism involves get-rich-quick schemes rather than actual effort as well as…… [Read More]

Arthur Miller the American Dream

"(Miller, 96) However, even if it can appear that illy's death is a further failure and humiliation, Happy points out at his funeral that Loman had the braveness to pursue his dream to the end, despite the fact that he did not succeed: "I'm gonna show you and everybody else that illy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. it's the only dream you can have - to come out number-one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I'm gonna win it for him."(Miller, 111) the promise that Happy makes to follow his father's dream and accomplish it for him is again ironic however. Miller points thus to the perpetuation of the American Dream in society, and hints at its probable permanence.

Thus, Miller's play is one of the most 'American' productions as it points to the conflictive relationship established between the American…… [Read More]

Death of a Salesman by

Critic Heyen says, "There is no question but that the play is elusive. As Miller himself has said, 'Death of a Salesman is a slippery play to categorize because nobody in it stops to make a speech objectively stating the great issues which I believe it embodies'" (Heyen 47). Therefore, many critics look at the play in different ways, attempting to categorize it and reference it according to their literary and dramatic experience. Heyen, on the other hand, tries to give his own personal reaction to the play, which is that Willy dies happy because he thinks what he is doing is right. He says, "Willy Loman, and this is his new and peculiar dimension, ends up dying happily, ecstatically, because he holds to the dream of meaning, holds to his sort of spiritual Franklinism" (Heyen 56). Willy dies happy, believing he is doing the right thing, and in the…… [Read More]

Death of a Salesman by

Finally, there is a sense of release or uplifting at the end of the play. Linda's comment, "We're free" (Miller 1054) seems to encapsulate the family's struggles and inner turmoil. Willy has died in a blaze of glory, utterly convinced he is doing the right thing, and perhaps that has made his last moments happier than they have been in years. He will never know he failed again, and failed his family in the most permanent way. However, there was so much argument, turmoil, and strife in the family, perhaps removing himself was really the thing the family needed. There is a feeling, even though it may be implied, that the family will come together as a result of Willy's death, and that they will survive. There is also a feeling that the two sons will have some impetus to make something of themselves, even if it is because they…… [Read More]

Tragedy and the Common Man He Contemplates

Tragedy and the Common Man," he contemplates the idea that only the wealthy, noble characters can fully understand tragedy, and therefore appreciate it. That thought is not a reflection of his own opinion, as Miller argues the case of tragedy and the common, working class man - for tragedy knows no income boundaries, but rather that this person would "lay down his life...to secure one thing - his sense of personal dignity." To that end, Willy Loman epitomizes what Miller is speaking about.

Willy Loman is most certainly a tragic hero, according to the modern-day, Arthur Miller type definitions. Loman is hardworking and relentless in his pursuit of his American dream. His tragic flaw is that he cannot recognize how desperately his family wants to love him, yet Willy loves his family deeply enough to sacrifice self in order to give Biff the American dream that he could not obtain…… [Read More]

Girls in Bikinis From A& p

This skilled use of ironic prose is also observable in "A Jury of her Peers" by Susan Glaspell, as when the woman who has just committed murder tells the investigators: "after a minute...'I sleep sound.'" the tale depicts how a group of women gradually deduce, through small and simple clues, how Mrs. right killed her husband, and why. The women's observations are more astute than the male investigator's analysis, according to police protocols. The point of the story is not murder, but the fact that the murder's quiet wifely desperation has gone ignored for so long, and that only fellow female sufferers can see this sorrow after the fact. Likewise, the point of O'Connor's story, more than the lurid aspects, are the ways that families and human beings fail to connect and communicate with one another, before it is too late.

A naysayer might sniff and ask why use murder…… [Read More]

Father and Son Relationships

Father and Son Relationships

Though written from very different perspectives, "Death of a Salesman" and the Namesake share a number of important similarities, particularly with regard to similar messages about fathers and sons. The conflicts and complexities of father/son relationships are explored by both Arthur Miller and Jhumpa Lahiri in their characters Willy, iff, and Happy Loman in "Death of a Salesman" and Ashoke and Gogol Ganguli in the Namesake. Yet, it is important to recognize that, while both iff and Gogol travel similar paths, and for similar reasons, their journeys take them down wildly divergent paths.

Unlike the characters in "Death of a Salesman," the characters in the Namesake must deal with issues of conflicting national and cultural identities. The clash of cultures is a recurrent theme throughout the Namesake, and drives much of the plot. For instance, while giving birth, Ashima reflects on the differences between engali and…… [Read More]

American Dream in Arthur Miller's Death of

American Dream" in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" with References to Mark Twain and Henry Thoreau

Arthur Miller's play entitled "Death of a Salesman" is a story about a man who has created a conflict with his family because of his great belief in the American Dream. Willy Loman, the main character in the story, makes a living by being a salesman, and the story revolves around his frustrations in life, particularly the strain in his relationship with his eldest son, iff Loman. Willy's frustrations stems from the fact that iff was not able to have a permanent and stable job, and is often fired from work because of some petty offense or misconduct on his son's part. Willy always insist that his son iff must develop relations with other people, and he must also have charisma and the ability to interact with them in order to achieve prosperity…… [Read More]

Death of a Salesman as a Tragedy as Defined by Aristotle

drama is tragic not only because of Willy Loman's suicide, but because he has left his family with nothing, and his sons with no hopes and abilities of their own.

Brief overview of the play

Miller's work

Story

Characters

Obstacles

Argument for tragedy

Aristotle's definition

Pro argument for tragedy

Con argument against tragedy

Own conclusions

What the critics say

Death of a Salesman as Tragedy

This paper analyzes the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. Specifically, it discusses the definition of tragedy by Aristotle, and research if it is correct to label the play as a tragedy.

Death of a Salesman is indeed a tragedy of epic proportions. The drama is tragic not only because of Willy Loman's suicide, but because he has left his family with nothing, and his sons with no hopes and abilities of their own.

Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman in 1948,…… [Read More]

Miller and Eliot on Beauty Comparing and

Miller and Eliot on Beauty

Comparing and Contrasting "Beauty" in Miller and Eliot

Arthur Miller and T.S. Eliot are two 20th century American playwrights. hile the latter is more commonly noted for expatriating to Britain and writing some of the most memorable poetry of the early 20th century, the former is noted for his famous depiction of the common man's struggle to find meaning and fulfillment in Death of a Salesman. As distinct as the two writers may seem, they both conceive of and treat the theme of beauty -- Miller analyzing its absence in Salesman, and Eliot analyzing its abandonment in several poems like "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and "The asteland." This paper will compare and contrast both writers and show how they deal with the theme of beauty in their works.

The Absence of Beauty in Salesman and "Prufrock"

Beauty is missing from illy Loman's…… [Read More]

Death of a Salesman by

Though he hated his father's beliefs and principles, iff inevitable became the victim of these misguided ideals, and like Willy, eventually became a failure.

iff was not able to achieve his desire to satisfy his father's expectations about him to be economically successful -- that is, to subsist also to his father's 'American dream' kind of life. iff's resentment to his father resulted to his current state of poverty, with no permanent job to provide him with financial support and immaturity in dealing with his problems in life. He also lacks self-confidence because of his father's constant criticisms about his life and lack of ambition, which made him indecisive and resigned in the kind of life that he leads: " ... I realized something about myself and I tried to explain it to you ... I think I'm just not smart enough to make sense out of it for you"…… [Read More]

Role Playing vs Reality in

All along, Miller's salesman was creating a tableau vivant, in his work and in his family. If you put the right characters on stage, you create the right image.

In illy Loman's mind, Dave Singleman, that "single" salesman, no doubt created the proper image. Even Singleman's death was that of a salesman, "hen he died -- and by the way he died the death of a salesman, in his green velvet slippers in the smoker of the New York, New Haven and Hartford, going into Boston -- when he died, hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral." A traveling salesman should die on the road, as Dave Singleman obviously did. hat greater tribute to a way of life than to die in the course of one's duty? Appropriately, as well, Loman's hero received the adulation of his peers - the ultimate complement in the eyes of a man…… [Read More]

Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman"

Perhaps no other play in American history has captured the essence of the nation's collective consciousness during a particular era than Arthur Miller's 1949 drama Death of a Salesman. Presented predominately from the perspective of aging salesman illy Loman, this contribution to dramatic literature is at once absurd and tragic, with Miller employing several distinct authorial styles to tell the story of an increasingly senile Loman, who wavers between states of lucidity and fantasy throughout the narrative. Several members of Loman's family play central roles in Death of a Salesman, including illy's loyal wife Linda, his failed sons Biff and Happy, and each character is an extension of the protagonist himself, representing the overall ordinary nature of his life despite delusions to the contrary (Koon 31). The reason that this play has come to encapsulate the prevailing American identity during the era in which…… [Read More]

Death of a Salesman the

And this is perhaps the most important underlying notion of Miller's play. The American Dream, which can perhaps be seen as the principle at the heart of the work, is also the ambition which pushes Loman through his life of artifice and vain pursuit. In a flashback, illy is shown to be a man of aspiration, who wishes to transform his diligence and respect for authorities into a life of comfort and reputation. Even wishing eventually to start his own business, illy Loman is a startling figure insofar as his decline does not occur without a background of optimism and forward momentum. This is the crux of Miller's point though, that there is an illusory nature to the expectations of the American Dream. orking for somebody else's ideals and to line some other rich man's pockets his whole life, we find that illy has been exploited by the false promises…… [Read More]

Arthur Miller Lorraine Hansberry the Idea

Arthur Miller / Lorraine Hansberry

The idea of the "American Dream," of achieving material success through one's own efforts, is not merely a constant topic in American literature, it seems to be a fundamental archetype of American national mythology. The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and the popular stories of Horatio Alger in the 19th century established this motif as central to the American concept of manhood: we can see the precise motif still at work, virtually unaltered, in the 2006 film "The Pursuit of Happyness" Based on the story of a real man, Chris Gardner (played by Will Smith), who is rendered homeless with his five-year-old son (played by Will Smith's real-life son Jaden), Gardner manages through charm and a few lucky breaks not only to drag himself out of the poverty caused by his unwise investment in bone-density scanners, and back up into success. As Gardner tells his son…… [Read More]

Miller's Death of a Salesman

Biff deliberately gives up all chances of graduating from high school, and leaves his college dreams behind.

For a long time, Biff feels some anxiety about his chosen lifestyle out est. He enjoys the freedom of his rootless life, but feels somewhat guilty that he has given up so much, after so much was expected of the early promise he showed. His cousin Bernard, less athletic but more studious, has distinguished himself as a lawyer. His Uncle Ben, illy's idol, found diamonds while wandering in the wilderness, while Biff has only, in his view, wasted his time doing very little, and making very little money.

hen he comes back to see his parents, Biff contemplates going into business with his unethical brother Happy, who is very much like a younger version of illy. But after a certain point, Biff realizes that this would simply be, in his words, "trying to…… [Read More]

Tragedy as a Form of

As a king in ancient Greek literature, Oedipus was required to have a dramatically catastrophic fall, while modern literature needs a tragic hero who is an "everyman." But both suffered greatly in their own ways, and in ways that the audience both expected and regarded as essential. But while these two characters were both the central, tragic figure in their respective stories, their differences were a reflection of the role of dramatic tragedy in their societies.

The subject of ancient Greek literature was often the magnificent deeds of the gods and heroes, while everyday life was more often forgotten. As a result, the tragedies presented often had as their main character a great person, sometimes with a major personality flaw, who suffers extreme torments and a mighty plunge from an exalted position. Nothing exemplified this excessive amount of suffering than Oedipus, a man who became a king only to later…… [Read More]

Arthur Miller the Tragic Existence

Willy suffers from the consequences of the internal and external conflicts in his life. One of the antagonists in this story is the false promise of the American Dream, not another person per se. Willy is unable to become rich and show his family his own worth through material possessions, despite his hard work and perseverance, which is a conflict to him because he believed that would happen. He believes that the company he has been employed by for decades will promote him, but instead he is fired. He has worked hard and struggled to provide for his family, yet his sons reject him. Willy learns that the truths he has believed in life are actually false promises. These conflicts are all caused by the antagonist of the play, and losing his job and income and therefore perceiving himself to have let everyone, including himself, down are his external conflicts.…… [Read More]

Miller Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman is the story of Willy Loman and his obsession with personal attractiveness, financial success and popularity as the most important traits in life, and the ones most likely to lead to his vision of what success is. As it becomes more and more clear to him that he is not a big success, that he is no longer handsome, and that he is not particularly popular, he cannot face this reality, and begins revisiting his past so strongly that the incidents he remembers seem real to him. The play is an example of ordinary people overwhelmed by circumstances. It can fairly be called a tragedy. The main character has a tragic flaw -- his obsession with superficial traits and his insistence that it is these superficial qualities that are important. This flaw leads to his downfall. He has methodically taught his sons to value superficial values…… [Read More]

Zeroing in on Seven Iconic Plays

Pygmalion -- George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw -- one of the most well regarded playwrights -- wrote this comedy and first presented it to the public in 1912. He took some of the substance of the original Greek myth of Pygmalion and turned it into a popular play. In Greek mythology Pygmalion actually came to fall in love with one of his sculptures, and the sculpture suddenly became a living human. But in this play two older gentlemen, Professor Higgins (who is a scientist studying the art of phonetics) and Colonel Pickering (a linguist who specializes in Indian dialects) meet in the rain at the start of this play.

Higgins makes a bet with Pickering that because of his great understanding of phonetics, he will be able to take the Covent Garden flower girl -- who speaks "cockney" which is not considered very high brow in England -- and…… [Read More]

Death of a Dream Arthur

Throughout the play, Willy longs for the wealth, privilege, and equality the America was alleged to have been built upon until he can no longer deny that the promises of the American dream are just an illusion. While this is without a doubt a scathing critique of capitalism, at the same time, the play seems to be trying to show that nothing is truly real and once you remove all of the 'bells and whistles.' In other words, 'real' people, just like the American dream, are a myth. No one is immune to putting on a 'front' for other people, but when the opinions of others dictate your life and your decisions, this is when the human soul begins to deteriorate. Willy Loman is the characterization of this corrosion.

The death of the American Dream portrayed in the play, as well as the constant comparisons between the rich and the…… [Read More]

Truth Behind the American Dream

He blames his father his personal failure because he, "blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody! That's whose fault it is!" (1108). illy's failure extends beyond the workplace and spills over into his family life. This should come as no surprise since the two are closely connected when we think of the American Dream.

illy does not want to change and this proves to be detrimental to his job, his life, and his family. At the age of 63, illy decides not to think about change or failure. It is easier to find excuses. For example, he tells Linda, "The trouble was that three of the stores were half-closed for inventory in Boston. Otherwise, I woulda broke records" (Miller 1046). He admits "people don't seem to take to me" (1047) and he is often overlooked and "not noticed" (1047) at work. He…… [Read More]

Father Doesn't Know Best A

He realizes that he has no direction and instead of facing it and doing something about it, he lashes out at his father. Fred Ribkoff asserts that Biff inherited a "sense of inadequacy and inferiority" (Ribkoff" and a "sense of shame" (Ribkoff) from his father. Domina suggests that Biff is the "clearest failure" (Domina) of the Loman clan, "unable as an adult to succeed or even persevere at any professional challenge" (Domina). Because illy never took the tie to prepare Biff for the real world, Biff emerged from high school unprepared and ill-equipped.

Biff Loman becomes what every parent should avoid creating in a child. illy enables Biff to be so many things but none of these things actually builds his character and causes him to be a productive member of society. Instead, he is a fledgling with no hope of ever achieving anything. This is not to say that…… [Read More]

Oedipus and Death of a

i.148-9) his actions will cause, Oedipus sits in oblivion. He refuses to listen to his wife and brazenly tells her, "I will not listen; the truth must be made known" (II.iii.146). Iocaste morphs from being Oedipus' wife to his enemy because she is speaking words he does not want to hear. He tells her:

The Queen, like a woman, is perhaps ashamed

To think of my low origin. But I

Am a child of luck; I cannot be dishonored . . .

How could I wish that I were someone else?

How could I not be glad to know my birth? (II.iii.159-60, 164-5)

Oedipus' bad choice begins with arrogance and ends with isolation.

Like Oedipus, illy makes poor choices. He is blind like Oedipus because he does not see things as they actually are. He lives in a fantasy world and tells himself and his family lies in order to…… [Read More]

Flight to Canada Death of a Salesman Flight

Flight to Canada/Death of a Salesman

Flight to Canada, written in 1976 by Ishmael Reed, is sort of an atypical slave narrative taking place in the antebellum south (however, this is an antebellum south where airplanes already exists and Lincoln's assassination is seen on television) and depicting Raven Quickskill's and his fellow fugitive's escape from their master Arthur Swille. The entire plot revolves around the relentless search for Raven who is on his way to "Camelot" (i.e, Canada) while his fellow fugitives, Stray Leechfield and 40's go to whatever lengths possible in order to find their own freedom. However, what Reed illustrates in the story is that one cannot so easily escape slavery because slavery exists everywhere and some forms are harder to escape than others, but some bring on slavery themselves. In Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman, Willie Loman also believes in a sort of Camelot --…… [Read More]

Death of a Sales Man

Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" and the death of the American Dream:

The play "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller shows the falseness of the American dream, namely that by obtaining material security for one's self and one's family, one finds true happiness. illy, even during his lifetime expresses dismay he has worked a lifetime to pay for his house, only to not have his favored elder son live in it. He takes his life, feeling that he is better off dead, rather than living and working on commission, and his wife's final outcry at his grave that the family now owns the home and is free and clear seems hollow -- clearly she would rather have a living husband and debt, than a dead husband, an empty life, and a full bank account. Happy states to Linda, "he had no right to do that. There was no…… [Read More]

Self-criticism I Once Heard Cornel

hat you do in life, good, bad, otherwise, comes back to haunt you. And the suicide of Robert X is an embodiment of that lesson.

In reading about this book, in preparation for this essay, I came across a conversation the author had with John Lowe concerning the tight narrative quality of the book, and I think in commenting about it, Gaines underscores one of the book's major themes:

P: There's nothing wasted in that book. It's totally honest and almost foreordained from the beginning, from the first page.

Gaines: A great man falls, and what he's going to do when he gets up. He feels that even God had failed him. He could not even please God any more (Lowe 184).

This theme, or question rather, of how does one deal with failure is an important one, on the individual level as well as on the group level. How…… [Read More]

Decent Man in Death of

The writer's intention was most probably to emphasize how certain behavior can lead to a terrible outcome. This is obvious through harley, considering that he too is a business man, but that his self-control assistes him in understanding the difference between right or wrong. Surely, it would be absurd to claim that harley is not interested in becoming more successful than he is. However, this does not mean that he is willing to risk everything he has in order to have that happen. The fact that harley was satisfied with his position whereas Willy considered his best friend's success to be nothing in comparison to Dave Singleman's illustrates what each of the characters wanted from life. Through giving J.P. Morgan as an example, harley actually demonstrates that one does not necessary has to be well-liked in order for the whole world to appreciate him.

harley is decent enough to let…… [Read More]

Alienation in Different Works of Literature Alienation

Alienation in Different orks of Literature

Alienation is a common theme in many works of literature -- in many genres, across many periods, and of many different forms. The idea that one individual cannot truly know or understand another, or that the rules of society necessarily force those that question those rules to somehow be outside of that society, has been around since the time of Homer and certain of his characters. It can also be seen in more modern works of poetry, short stories, and dramatic texts, from a variety of authors writing in different times and with very different perspectives.

illiam Blake's poem late eighteenth century poem "The Tyger" does not deal with humanity's alienation from itself, or individuals' alienation from each other, but rather addresses the alienation of humanity from the divine. Describing the tiger as "fearful" and asking what "distant deeps or skies" the tiger's maker…… [Read More]

Carl Sandburg Ambrose Bierce Stephen

In a fighting scene, we see how he is filled with an "intense hate" (111) and when he "was firing, when all those near him had ceased. He was so engrossed in his occupation that he was not aware of a lull" (111). After this incident, Henry throws himself down "like a man who had been thrashed" (111). Those around him saw him as "a war devil" (112).

Here we see how Henry has an animal instinct to fighting and it makes him look like a madman. Here we get an example of how we are aware of Henry's thoughts and feelings as well as what is going on around him. Crane also allows us to see the reactions of those around him to emphasize what it is that Henry is experiencing. By leaving the narrative to Henry's experiences alone, we are more apt to believe that it really happened…… [Read More]

Death of a Salesman by

Biff, by no means, was him a lazy bum, he had many different jobs before, but did not stay long at any of them, so he was not a dependent user who would wait for others to provide for him, he actually worked. The perception of Willy on Beff's job is evident when he speaks about Biff's recent job as a farm hand with disdain. He demeans the job without caring that it was a means where he would make an honest living. It indicates that no matter the job he would have picked for himself, Willy would not have supported him unless it was the one that brought the glory and reverence to the Lamon family name (Magil 1365-1368).

Thematic issues like father-son relationships that the author pursues in his writing: Biff and Will's relationship is not only representative of how fathers plan and map out their child's life,…… [Read More]

Arthur Miller's Play Death of

The truth is simply too difficult to accept, so he turns a blind eye to it. For illy, denial is easier than reinventing a new life. He believes that somehow, he will get an advance and "come home with a New York job" (Miller II.1070-1). He believes he can still get a promotion and never have to "get behind another wheel" (II.1071) again. These beliefs, while they are positive, are not productive for illy at this point if his life. He is old and his chances for great success are dwindling. He believes even if he is not the best salesman in the world, he certainly is not the worst and this level of mediocrity has satisfied him for far too long.

One of the saddest facts about illy's personality is the fact that he passes on his negative characteristics to Biff. illy instills his dreamy nature in Biff, which…… [Read More]

Oedipus the King by and

Sophocles writes, "Tiresias: That's your truth? Now hear mine: honor the curse your own mouth spoke. From this day on, don't speak to me or to your people here. You are the plague. You poison your own land" (Sophocles, 2004, p. 47). Each of these men has positive qualities, but their tragic flaw outweighs these qualities, and leads to pity and their downfall in the end. In addition, their tragic ends have tragic consequences on those around them, which is another element these two works have in common.

It is interesting to see the similarities in the plotting of these dramas as well. Essentially, they follow the tragic character from a turning point in their lives to the culmination of their problems and how they choose to face them. Their families and loved ones are left behind to sort out their lives without them, while they take the "easy" way…… [Read More]

Compare and Contrast for the Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman

The three principle ways that one can experience a drama are through reading it, watching it on stage, and watching film adaptations. All three of these media present a unique experience for the reader or viewer. Reading a play in a book, for instance, offers no visual elements. Watching a play on stage provides a lot of visual elements, while watching a play in a movie provides even more visual elements. Still, it largely appears that there is an inverse relationship between a drama's visual elements and its main focus -- words. In some ways, the plentitude of visuals can detract from the simplicity and power of the words of a drama. In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, it greatly appears as though the focus of visuals and other elements provided by the film and the onstage version detract from the focus of the very…… [Read More]

Linda in Death of a

She says, "It seems to me that you're just on another trip. I keep expecting you. Willy dear, I can't cry" (Miller 1054). She cannot cry because she has cried it all out before, and she has nothing left to cry over. Living with Willy was obviously difficult, and it seems living without him may actually be easier in some ways.

Many people might see Linda as unsympathetic or manipulating because of the way she treats Willy and does not understand him. However, she seems to be uncomplicated and a bit simple, and tries to do the best with the resources she has. She has raised a dysfunctional family with Willy's help (or lack of it), but she has a good heart and she is a decent, caring woman who has had to deal with a lot in her life. That makes her a sympathetic character, as opposed to Willy,…… [Read More]

Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller's Play Death Of A Salesman (1949)

Thematic Analysis

One of the central themes in the Author Miller's play, Death of a Salesman, is the concept of the American Dream. The concept of the American Dream has been one of the fundamental beliefs of the American community since the country's inception. The basic concept is fairly egalitarian in nature and states something to the effect that if an individual truly devotes themselves to improving themselves and their situation, then they will ultimately find prosperity through their hard work. This prosperity is possible because there are few truly limiting factors that can prevent someone from reaching their goals in the U.S. of lore and whatever obstacles that are present can be overcome through dedication and resourcefulness.

James Truslow Adams was among the first to explicitly refer to the American Dream in his book The Epic of America, which was written…… [Read More]

Willie the Piano Lesson

Death of a Salesman and the Piano Lesson

Comparison and Contrast of Willy Loman and Charley and Boy Willie and Berniece

Some individuals are under the impression that physical appearance and the way that they look are more important than education and the things that they know. In the play Death of a Salesman by Author Miller, the author paints a picture that illustrates why some people may feel this way. For example, Willy rates the value of appearance, of himself and those people in which he knows, much as a quality that is valued in a higher regard than other values and feels personally that the education his family receives is of little value comparatively. However, most individuals would argue that the importance of appearance is not equal to Willy's impression of it. For example, many people feel that education definitely more important, on many different levels, than physical…… [Read More]

Structure of Ancient and Modern Dramas to

structure of ancient and modern dramas to highlight their differences and similarities. The paper also shows how drama evolved over the centuries with references to Greek, Elizabethan and Modern plays.

MODEN AND ANCIENT DAMA: A COMPAISON

Drama has an inherent ability to adapt itself to the thinking and wishes of the society in which it takes birth. Therefore modern drama with all its intensity, relevance and eloquence is certainly more popular among modern audiences than its ancient counterpart. Still we cannot deny the importance of ancient dramatic concepts, models and devices in the development and evolution of modern drama. While ancient plays are mostly remembered for their grandeur and myths, close analysis reveals that there is more to them than meets the eye. All ancient Greek tragedies contain some similar elements, which set them apart from tragedies of later eras. While they basically concentrated on highlighting the significance of myths,…… [Read More]

Generation Conflict and the American Dream

Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller, and "The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts" by Maxine Hong Kingston. Specifically, it will discuss conflict between generations and the "American Dream" in the two works. Both of these works clearly show the conflict between generations that often results from differing views of the "American Dream," the dream that is so elusive to so many of us.

Author Kingston's story is fact, rather than fiction, but the generational differences between her and her mother are still apparent. She remembers, "We'd have to face four- and five-day-old leftovers until we ate it all. The squid eye would keep appearing at breakfast and dinner until eaten. Sometimes brown masses sat on every dish. I have seen revulsion on the faces of visitors who've caught us at meals" Kingston 108). Her life is far different from her mother's, and she is firmly entrenched…… [Read More]

Messages of the Book the

Assessing Temptation #3: Choosing Certainty over Clarity

Choosing certainty can paralyze a company and slow its progress to a grinding halt. The tendency to be very thorough and analytical to alleviate risk can actually backfire and lead to even worse results. The book makes the point through examples of how certainty being pursued never actually leads to closure; there is always the one last element of information to be gained before a decision is made. In the name of certainty a CEO can procrastinate and kill the momentum their company has towards it goals (Clapp-Smith, Vogelgesang, Avey, 2009). Certainty begets analysis paralysis, which can in turn lead to companies having to pass on opportunities that go by them very quickly.

This temptation of certainty over clarity also robs a business of being agile and able to react extremely quickly to market demands. CEOs, fearing that they will be seen as…… [Read More]

Raisin in the Sun the

alter's desire for financial success and his stories of rich white people are a metaphor for the self-respect he lacks in himself. It's easy to say that alter should pay more attention to what is really important in life: family, respect, love, etc., but what Hansberry is illustrating is that when one lives in a society that looks down upon a group of people, those people have a much more difficult time seeing themselves in a positive light. This makes it difficult for alter to develop as a character.

alter struggles to get ahead in any way he can. He comes up with the idea of getting the insurance money from his father's death so that he can start a business -- even though the money should go to alter's mother who is desperately in need of retirement. She loves her son, though, and decides to give him a chunk…… [Read More]

Making the Familiar Unfamiliar

Familiar-Unfamiliar

Part of the process of staging a play is to make the familiar unfamiliar, to isolate elements so as to suggest reality, the familiar, in an unfamiliar way. Plays do not take place in the real world but in a created world, a world set in one isolated spot (the stage) with several specific individuals isolated from real life (characters) interacting in a manner that conveys thematic issues and concerns to the audience. Such communication is controlled in a way that real life is not. Issues are isolated from the extraneous and conveyed in a way that has been shaped by the playwright for maximum impact. In the play Conduct of Life by Maria Irene Fornes, the familiar is made unfamiliar first in the setting, which is suggested as a set of four horizontal planes selectively illuminated and selectively populated as characters move from one area to another, evoking…… [Read More]

Sales Ethics

Marketing is a multi-faceted discipline within business that incorporate a wide number of theories, philosophies and techniques. All are geared towards a simple objective -- to increase sales. This paper will examine some of the key issues in marketing today. These include the relevance of sales people using a push strategy, ethics in advertising, public relation and publicity and the expectations that a business might have of a sales professional. The essay will conclude by summarizing the key points and providing some final thoughts.

Push Strategies and Salespeople

There are typically two kinds of marketing strategies, the push and the pull. While both have the objective of winning sales, they differ in how the potential customer is approached. In a pull strategy, the customer is enticed or drawn in. This can happen any number of ways, but ultimately the point is that the company is seeking to attract the customer…… [Read More]

Loss of Identity in The Hairy Ape

loss affects not just Yank, who wrestles with it throughout the play, but perhaps also Yank's shipmates, Mildred and her aunt, the rich people on Fifth Avenue, the prisoners, and the union members. In what ways does the play suggest that modern existence is inherently dehumanizing?

The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill focuses on Yank Smith, a leader amidst the stokers within the heaving furnaces in a liner across the Atlantic. In the whole play, Yank's sense of "belonging" during the new order peaks, the profusion of pride that he gets from what he does, degenerates after he receives a message of social scorn and discovers how insignificant his manual work is, in the world's eyes. His work becomes meaningless and he turns into a deplorable creature (hairy ape) who dies after being crushed; literally, by the animal's hand towards the end of the play (Oldman, 2006).

At the beginning…… [Read More]

Play Death of a Salesman

Willy knew if he accepts his wife support, he would have to move on and change for the better, which did not fit his idea of being happy because he could not live in the past.

From a counselor point-of-view, it seems that Willy's emotions affected his rational decisions because he did not want ton accept the changes that were occurring in his life. The chances that emotionality would affect rational decision-making are very high since people who blame others for their problems usually live by their emotions, which does not include rational thinking. Furthermore, at times like these, it would not hurt for the counselor to interject their values in the session so that rational decision-making can have a chance to calm the client. This is true even though there are times where the counselor should not share their values with the client especially when he or she is…… [Read More]

Willie Lowman and Oedipus as

His failure at both appears to perpetuate each other: his failure as provider translates to his failure as business and family man, and indeed to his failure as American success. In this way, the American Dream is representative of ultimate success. By failing at this, Willy represents the doubts and fears of many Americans; he fails in all the ways feared by society.

Oedipus' failure occurs on a much larger scale. His success relates to his status as the person of highest importance in society. He however reacts differently from Willy, who first lies to himself and then crumbles under the pressure of the increasingly obvious truth. As the truth becomes increasingly obvious for Oedipus, he still refuses to turn away from his search. When all is finally revealed, Oedipus displays his true character by taking responsibility for his actions. Although the king can hardly be blamed for what happened,…… [Read More]

Failed American Life Depicted in

Even when has the opportunity to make things better, he does not act. He refuses Charley's job offer because it seems easier to ask for money than it is to do something other than sell. He would rather see the family suffer than try to work at something else for a little while. After he is gone, she tells the kids, "First time in thirty-five years we were just about free and clear" (Requiem 1112). This statement illustrates just how disconnected to two were. She knew enough to know that they were almost at a place where they could stop and breathe but illy does not see things that way. He does not look at retirement as a way of beginning something refreshing with Linda. He fails her because he is not the strong, dependable man she deserves.

illy also fails his children. hile he does not beat his children…… [Read More]

Significance of Music in the Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman

The Death of Salesman is about an individual who in pursuit of the great American Dream, miserably fails, as he is addicted to his false illusions, which finally lead him and his family to utter chaos and dispersion. This paper will focus the musical element in the story and briefly the discuss it's significance.

From the first the flute is used to create a mood or an atmosphere. Even though Willy is a heavy-set, aging man, lumbering in with weighty valises, he is also an individual forever pursuing an elusive vision or dream. And the light music of the flute, never pronounced or intrusive, keeps this side of Willy before the audience. The flute is used to smooth over the frequent shifts and to help set successive scenes. [1]

The flute music derived the theme by playing it to creates a mood and soothing effect in…… [Read More]

Songs From the Musical Oklahoma Specifically it

songs from the musical "Oklahoma!" Specifically, it will include an analysis of "I'm Just a Girl who can't Say No." How does the song transition from the text? What does the song do for the musical? What does the words and music reveal about the character?

OKLAHOMA!

I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say No" is one of the most humorous songs in the musical "Oklahoma!" In it, Ado Annie, a kind of sad character who does not seem to have much chance of catching a man, talks about how she cannot say "no" to kisses and romance. "Other girls are coy an' hard to catch / ut other girls ain't havin' any fun! / Ev'ry time I lose a wrastlin' match / I have a funny feelin' that I won!" (Oklahoma!). Annie recognizes that she may not be the most attractive of the girls, but she is a little…… [Read More]