Death of a Salesman Essay - 1009 Words

Andrew Fishman American Prison Willy Loman, the main character in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, wants to live the American dream. He is consumed with his own misguided beliefs regarding success, which causes his life to be similar what Wyoming Senator Craig L. Thomas said about the American Dream: â€Å"You stuff Someone into the American dream, and it becomes a prison.† Willy’s obsession with the American Dream, believing that being well liked equates with success, keeps both he and his sons in a state of emotional immaturity. These beliefs causes the American Dream to be a prison. The Loman family’s American Dream becomes their prison, constructed of deception and false pride. They cannot escape their immature behavior of†¦show more content†¦Charley realized that working with his hands made him happy. Even though this was the clear choice for Willy’s occupation he was too locked up in the prison that he couldn’t come to terms with himself about h is true occupation.Willy wants to be a handyman but he frowns upon it as a occupation.Willy refuses to realize his true dream of being a handyman, and he refuses to think so because he thinks that his family is above that. This is evident when Willy says â€Å" Even your grandfather was better than a Carpenter†. Willy is too caught up with the American Dream that he fails to consider a carpenter or any physically demanding job as an occupation. Willy is in the prison because he doesn’t do the job that he likes so he is stuck in the jail but he is the only one that could let him out of the prison. This is how Willy is stuck in the American Dream prison. Unlike Willy Biff realizes his dreams. Even though it took the whole play for Biff to realize what he wants he still eventually came to terms with it. Biff fails to find a steady, high-paying job even though hes 30, and he hates the business world, preferring instead to live on a farm in California. For a while Biff was â€Å"Finding himself†(16). During this time Biff goes from place to place searching for what he wants. Biff neglects the fact for a while that he just wants to work on a farm withShow MoreRelatedDeath of a Salesman Essay584 Words   |  3 Pages In Arthur Millers play Death of a Salesman, the protagonist Willy Loman sets out to pursue the American Dream only to find complete failure. With hard work and devotion, Willy believes that he will one day be a success in a booming economy. As one critic states, Willys character is of a common man. He is not anything special, nor ever was. He chose to follow the American dream and he chose to lead the life it gave him (Death of a Salesman: The Culture Of Willy Loman). Willy dies an unsuccessfulRead More death of a salesman Essay653 Words   |  3 Pages In the play, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, Linda Loman’s character is viewed differently by many people. Some critics have seen Linda as a â€Å"controlling mother figure† who is actually the one to blame for this failure of both her sons and her husband. In this report I will defend this view citing specific examples from the play. Linda was undoubtedly the only one in control throughout the play. I belie ve that Linda tried to be a good mother and wife but she did not really know what she wasRead More Death of a Salesman Essay1061 Words   |  5 PagesDeath of a Salesman In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, Willy is both sympathized with and looked down upon throughout the story. Willy is a very complex character with problems and faults that gain both sympathy and also turn the reader off to him. Willy Loman is both the protagonist and the antagonist, gaining sympathy from the reader only to lose it moments later. The play begins with Willy as the antagonist, fighting with his wife Linda and a generally mean personRead MoreEssay on Death of a Salesman836 Words   |  4 Pages The Dysfunctional Family nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In Arthur Miller’s drama, â€Å"Death of a Salesman† the protagonist is a sixty-year-old salesperson by the name of Willy Loman. Willy suffers from self-delusion and is obsessed with the desire to succeed. Willy’s actions strongly influence his family, which contributes to their self-delusions. Willy’s wife Linda is an enabler and is codependent upon him. Linda encourages and participates in Willy’s delusions. She is unselfish and her life revolvesRead More Death Of A Salesman Essay1380 Words   |  6 PagesMiller’s explains that a tragic hero does not always have to be a monarch or a man of a higher status. A tragic hero can be a common person. A tragedy does not always have to end pessimistically; it could have an optimistic ending. The play Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, is a tragedy because it’s hero, Willy Loman, is a tragic figure that faces a superior source, being the American dream and the str uggle for success. Loman also excites pity in the reader because of his defeat and his inabilityRead More death of a salesman Essay821 Words   |  4 Pageslast, ensuring that his family is well cared for and not lacking for any necessities. And, most significantly, a first-class father will make his family his main concern, coming before his job, his friends, or even himself. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is a prime example of a horrific father in every way mentioned previously. Not only is Willy Loman not a good father and spouse, but he furthers his failure by being a typical anti-hero and by failing to accomplish the AmericanRead More DEATH OF A SALESMAN Essay1421 Words   |  6 Pages Death of a Salesman nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In Death of a Salesman, a play written by Arthur Miller, Miller reflects the theme that every man needs to be honest with him self and act in accordance with his nature by displaying success and failure in different lights. Miller embodies the theme through characters in the play by explaining how their success and failures in being true to themselves help shapes their fates. Strongest evidence of Miller’s theme is reflected in the characteristicsRead MoreDeath of a Salesman Essay1047 Words   |  5 PagesBy: Raleigh Mullin In the play, Death of a Salesman, the main character, Willy Lomans tragedy is due to both his own flawed character and societys flaws. Advancements in science throughout this century have led to tremendous advancements in industry. In this case however, advancements in industry have not always led to advancements in living conditions. For some, society has created mass wealth. For Willy Loman, however, mass society has created only tremendous grief and hardship, based onRead MoreEssay on Death Of A Salesman2176 Words   |  9 PagesDeath Of A Salesman In Arthur Miller’s ’Death Of A Salesman’, Miller uses several techniques to show attitudes to success held by the characters. There are many indicators of success in this play which are, the ideas of being wealthy, the performance on their job, to have power and status. Some of the techniques he uses to show this are the use of motifs, the American Dream, language, stage directions and also through sequence in the past. One of the motifs Miller uses to show the attitudeRead MoreEssay on Death of a Salesman2925 Words   |  12 Pagesâ€Å"Death of a Salesman† written by Arthur Miller in 1948 attempts to give the audience an unusual glimpse into the mind of a Willy Loman, a mercurial 60-year-old salesman, who through his endeavor to be â€Å"worth something†, finds himself struggling to endure the competitive capitalist world in which he is engulfed. Arthur Miller uses various theatrical techniques to gradually strip the protagonist down one layer at a time, each layer revealing another truth about his distorted past. By doing this, Miller