There is an optimistic, hopeful mood at the beginning of Act II because Biff and Willy are both looking forward to a new lease on life. Willy is hopeful because he is going to Howard to ask to get a job closer to home in the New York territory instead of the New England territory. Willy is so sure that Howard will take him off the road and give him New York job that he is already talking to Linda about the future. Willy is saying “You wait, kid, before it’s all over we’re gunna get a little place out in the country, and I’ll raise some vegetables, a couple chickens…” Biff is also very hopeful because he is going to go to Bill Oliver, his old boss, and ask him for a loan or an investment in him that he would use to start a sporting goods line
In life, people try to find who they are as a person, but in the process of this, they become someone they are not. They lie to themselves and others of who they really are and can never face who they truly are. In Death of a Salesman, we see that two characters, Biff and Willy, face this issue because they lie about who they are or they let others lie for who they are. In contrast, they both find self-discovery, but may be too late.
How can two people watch or read the same story and yet, interpret it completely differently? Does it have to do with the author’s intentions, or maybe it has to do with the viewers’ own backgrounds and ideologies? Whatever the case may be, viewing one piece of work can lead to a wide array of opinions and critiques. It is through the diversity of such lenses that Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller has become one of the most well-known plays in modern history. There are many different ways in which a play can be criticized, however, criticisms from the approaches of a Marxist and reader-response will be utilized to further dissect Death of a Salesman. Marxist criticism sees pieces of works as a struggle between different socioeconomic classes; what better way to see Miller’s play than for what it is at face value, the struggle of a middle-class man trying to achieve the American dream (1750). On the other hand, a reader-response criticism comes from either an objective or subjective view; in this case Death of a Salesman will be viewed with a subjective lens based on Willy’s deteriorating mental health (1746).
Willy’s biggest issue with his son is that he let him down by not being any more successful than him. He feels like Biff is failing on purpose just to make him look bad. Although, he has no decent job and is single; Biff has become disoriented about life. Earlier in the play Biff tells Happy, “I tell ya Hap, I don't know what the future is. I don't know - what I'm supposed to want” (Miller266). Biff once looked up to his father as a role model, but lost all faith in him once finding out that he was having an affair. Ever since he has rejected Willy’s commitment of being a husband and also a father. To add to his ruins are Willy’s ideas of how Biff should get ahead in life. Willy taught Biff that popularity was the right way to get to the top, rather than hard-work and dedication. Trying to live by his dad’s standards caused Biff to fail high school and become unable to put forth the effort to become
To be dysfunctional is to not operate accordly to normal in a negative way. Death of a Salesman produced by Robert F. Colesberry is a movie based on a play Death of a salesman written by Arthur Miller. The Loman family in the movie is a dysfunctional family, which is clearly show in many scenes,The mother and the father Willy and Linda Lowman. Willy a salesman in the field for over 30 years. The have kids who are older in their late 20s, Bif and Happy. The title of the movie clearly points out Willy Loman will die by the end. Willy often lives in the past where the family was happy and got along, it’s easier for him. Many questions pop up about
In the 21st century, Christians are faced with countless choices every day. The death penalty, a modern moral issue, is a choice that determines life or death. With reference to the New Testament and Catholic bishops and popes, the Christian perspective on Capital punishment is investigated.
The relationship between Willy and Biff is complicated. Actually, Biff is everything for Willy. He doesn’t do well as a salesman anymore, so this situation makes him depressed but at least there is Biff. So Willy believes that Biff will reach the success and his dreams will become true. That makes him want Biff to take some responsibility, in other words this is a big pressure on Biff. “How can he find himself on a farm? Is that a life? A farmhand? In the beginning, when he was young, I thought, well, a young man, it’s good for him to tramp around, take a lot of different jobs. But it’s more than ten years now and he has yet to make thirty-five dollars a week!” says Willy and then Linda says “He is finding himself Willy.” Then Willy answers again “Not finding yourself at the age of thirty-four is a disgrace!” This shows how Willy mad at him because he thinks they couldn’t reach their dreams because of Biff. Willy says “Sure. Certain men just don’t get started till later in life. Like Thomas Edison, I think. Or B.F. Goodrich. One of them was deaf. I’ll put my money
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is based in post-World War II America where a man named Willy Loman has the hopes and dreams of becoming a well-esteemed, successful salesman. However, throughout the play, it becomes evident his pride and delusion interfere with this dream and having the model family. The playwright uses symbolism and several forms of irony throughout the play to deepen the plot and intensify the conflict, as well as further illustrate the characters.
There is an optimistic, hopeful mood at the beginning of Act II because Biff and Willy are both looking forward to bettering themselves. Biff is hopeful because he is going to ask his old boss to invest in his future. In the play he says, “Remember Bill Oliver…If I could get ten thousand or even seven or eight thousand dollars I could buy a beautiful ranch.” Biff believes that he will be able to get a large loan from a man he worked for over a decade ago. This will better his life because he will be able to make money with his own products on his very own ranch. He is optimistic. On the other hand, Willy is hopeful because he is going to ask his boss, Howard, for a new territory closer to home. In the play, Linda asks Willy if he will
Many works of literature have the theme of a failed American Dream, which is the basic idea that no matter what social class an individual may be, they still have an equal ability to achieve prosperity and a good life for their family; however, there has been much debate over whether or not the American dream is still obtainable in modern society. One piece of American literature that substantiates the fact that the American Dream can not be gotten is Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman which describes the tragedy of the average person in America. A number of other writers also draw the inability to capture the American Dream. John Steinbeck demonstrates in his highly acclaimed novel The Grapes of Wrath how hard economic times can
Arthur Miller begins his play with an excellent description of the setting of the play. This makes it easy for the reader to imagine themselves actually watching the play and causes the reader to be able to better relate to the play. Because Death of a Salesman can be considered an emotional play, it qualifies as being a timeless work of literature, especially because it has the ability to touch the human heart. Willy Loman is a salesman, who lives in New York City with his wife Linda. From the beginning of the play, Miller makes it obvious that Willy struggles with many obstacles, such as anger and even confusion since there are many times throughout the play where Willy becomes severely confused. Many characters throughout the play,
Death of a Salesman Quiz The passage I chose to analyze occurs at the end of act II during Biff and Willy’s argument. During this passage, Biff pours out to his father on his failures and Willy gets quite angry at him. This is true up until Biff breaks down in front of Willy and starts crying and pleading.
Willy Loman is a person like everybody else, whose ideals are based on the satisfying life of an American dream, full of values and accomplishments. Willy has been there for his family since the beginning, trying to support them with everything he has, but now he is on an age that doesn’t let him done what he loves to do, to travel and be a salesman like he was younger. At a certain time in the life of Willy, his older son Biff comes to Willy’s home visiting his family and a big deal starts happening only because Willy is trying to pass the desire and values he has into his son. Every time Willy tries to help his son in this way, the same result always happen, rejection and of course Willy gets disappointed.
play says to be successful you have to do your own thing, and it takes
I apologize for the late response. I have received all your letters, but I have been busy unpacking. I will get into more details later. You asked about my family, so I will briefly update you on them. Sadly mama passed away a few years ago, and we are all still mourning her loss. Walter is doing all right I guess, in his terms; he saved up enough money to open the liquor store he wanted, even though mama and I have strongly detested it. But of course, Walter is stubborn and won’t listen to any advice from any one of us. We finally managed to catch Willy, but the money was sadly, already spent. Ruth has 2 beautiful baby girls, who are truly delightful, and Travis is continuing to be a helpful big brother. He works part time with his father. That should bring you up to date with my family.
“Death of a Salesman” is a play that begins with a very mildly successful salesman with a wife and two sons. However, through tragic events, the work became more difficult. The family itself began to fall apart. Due to the death of the salesman, the sons found new purpose through their father’s death.