Death Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller

The recent weeks before Biff tells his father this, Biff works to try and enter the business world, but only for his father’s sake. After failing, Biff finally says to his father: “Will you let me go, for Christ’s sake? Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens?” while “Struggling to contain himself” (133). This is the last straw for Willy’s confidence because his last hope of doing something useful and following through with it is unwilling. Willy thinks that maybe if Biff succeeds in business and grows up to marry and have a family that it will equalize his failures. Taken aback by Biff’s confession, yet also touched, Willy says “isn’t it remarkable? Biff--he likes me?” (Page 133) This seemingly joyous realization has the exact opposite effect on Willy. He now has the ability to come to terms with his life. The overwhelming defeat of Willy’s aspirations leads to him committing suicide. Clearly, Willy’s compulsive relationship with his old potential ends in the worse way possible, complete

“Ben embodies the image of success in Willy’s mind, he also represents the road not taken” (Centola) he associates “Ben with his own missed opportunity” (Centola) Willy respects and honors Ben, like his sons he idolized Ben. He is prepared to achieve whatever Ben says. Willy adores the qualities Ben represents as this is what his American dream entails. Willy relationship with Ben can be seen as a depiction of what Willy yearns for himself and his children. Willy wants his boys to be like Uncle Ben. Instantly rich without hard work, microwave success. He deciphers that if Ben can, so can he. Ben is knowledgeable in Willy’s mind and advises him. But advice construed by your own mind is not always good. In their conversation Willy questions Ben to confirm he’s doing a good job to succeed financially and parenting Biff and Happy or if he’s on the right track (87). There is a scene where Ben fights Biff, but Ben wins only by cheating and denouncing that’s the only way to win. Interesting enough that he educates or encourages these same tactics. But Ben represents fantastic accomplishment craved for him and his sons, but never seem to achieve

My first thought when I read this was the realization of where Willy’s stress and frustration stems from. The successes of his father and brother in difficult environments emasculates Willy. Although he has a great superiority complex when it comes to others, such as Charley when he comes to visit, when Willy speaks to his brother in a hallucination-like state, he acts completely submissive. His brother and father continue to have a strong, dominating hold over him postmortem. My second thought was the realization that this is why Willy is so hard on his children, especially Biff. Although he believes he failed in emulating his father and brother, he views his boys as still

Willy is not much of a likeable character in this story. However, his wife appears to be the only individual that supports his visions and decisions. Willy has some internals issue that he is dealing with. Throughout the story, Willy appears to be someone that be difficult to deal with, but tolerable at times. He tends to live in the past

Willy started to become delusional. He started to merge the past and the present together. He couldn't distinguish reality from past life. He believed this was lowering his self-worth. Linda even told the boys “attention, attention must finally be made to such a person. You call him crazy- you don't have to very smart to know what the trouble is. This man is exhausted. I tell you there’s more good in him than other people.” His wife knew he was a good man but had a lot of pressures on top of everything that they were going through. Biff even told Miss Forsythe that his father was “a fine, troubled prince. A hard working unappreciated prince.” Willy had many redeeming qualities but his fatal flaw ended up killing him in the end and that is a true

Death of a Salesman deals with a struggling salesman, Willy, who fails to achieve his twisted version of the American Dream that he desires so greatly. His pride, his stubbornness, and his misplaced values cause tension in his family and create a divide between his sons and him that cannot be mended. Biff, Willy’s eldest son, struggles to find himself in a world full of possibility. The story focuses on the decline of Willy and the drama that the Loman family faces. As the story progresses, Willy tries to succeed in business and when he continually fails, he then puts the pressure on his sons to succeed where he could not. Throughout it all, Willy’s wife, Linda, stays loyal and selfless, serving her husband despite his cruel words. In the end,

The American dream, a lie that has been told for generations and yet not many question it. Through Arthur Miller 's playwright “Death of a Salesman”, he provides an entertaining way to show the many faces of the American dream. What is the American dream? For most, it means being successful by having a car, a house that is well furnished, and money. Willy Loman, the main character (and most complex), is a metaphor for showing the struggle of obtaining the American dream. His wife Linda represents the blind consumer, someone who never questions and just accepts. His son Happy represents the irony of having reached the American dream. Finally, Willy’s other son Biff represents the anti-american.

One of Willy’s biggest challenges is thinking a successful life is a happy one. This misjudgment derives from his childhood and the abandonment of his father. With his father gone, Ben was left as the only male figure in Willy’s life. Ben eventually leaves Willy too and ends up finding diamonds, becoming rich. Willy interprets Ben’s instant wealth with being successful.

In “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman, a salesman in New York, struggles with his internal beliefs of what makes America great. His lovely wife attempts to support him and as his sons grow, they defy his passions and ideals. Willy goes through his days committed to being a likable person and has goals to support his family. Unfortunately, Willy Loman’s ideals become outgrown as the technological age develops. Due to the protagonist’s motivations, he represents the tragic hero in a few ways.

Arthur Miller’s play titled “Death of a Salesman” offers a plethora of morals pertaining to the human condition. One moral, shown in Aesop’s fable “The Peacock and Juno”, pertains to that one should be content with that of which they are given, for one cannot be the best at everything. In Death of a Salesman there is, without a doubt, a paucity of content and happiness within the Loman family. But what does it mean to truly be content?

Death of a Salesman can be described as modern tragedy portraying the remaining days in the life of Willy Loman. This story is very complex, not only because of it’s use of past and present, but because of Willy’s lies that have continued to spiral out of control throughout his life. Arthur Miller puts a modern twist on Aristotle’s definition of ancient Greek tragedy when Willy Loman’s life story directly identifies the fatal flaw of the “American Dream”.

The abandonment by Willy’s father causes him wanting to be liked through his job, making Willy become unstable. When Willy was fired he felt unsuccessful and he looked for love and likeability through his affair and Biff’s football game which caused Willy to struggle throughout his life. Willy imagines the people at his funeral, but is disappointed when Biff says that he need to give up on his american dream but Willy won’t give up on his dream. You shouldn’t be stuck in a cycle of wanting to please yourself always and acting on a decision in order to satisfy yourself. Sometimes you have to accept the outcomes of life no matter how big or how small that they really

Willy has created a world inside his head that Biff is suave with the females and is going to shape up to be a salesman. Biff, not wanting to argue and stress his father, tells Willy he is going to get a loan from Bill Oliver to start a business. Willy tells Biffs friend Bernard that Oliver recruited and schmoozed him from out west for the job. “WILLY: Well, Bill Oliver—very big sporting-goods man—he wants Biff very badly. Called him in from the West. Long distance, carte blanche, special deliveries.” (Miller 56). Biff confesses later on that he did not get the loan and he stole Oliver’s pen when leaving. Again showing to be incapable of living in reality and being a father Willy tells Biff to take lunch with Oliver and return the pen. Willy travels through all the states between New York and New England. Howard meets with Willy but is sidetracked. After many request Howard tells Willy that there is no position for him. “HOWARD: I appreciate that, Willy, but there just is

The problematic relationships that Willy has established with all the people around him seem to all be tarnished because of his own flaws and insecurities. This includes his son who never lived up to his high expectorations, his only friend Charley who only wants to help, or Bernard, who became everything he wanted his son to be and he doesn’t understand how. Willy’s guilt and other issues make it impossible for these people to have a healthy relationship with him or help him fix his own

The most obvious thing about Willy is that he functions off the lies that he has told himself. He has convinced himself that he is good at his job and well-liked, when the truth is, he is neither. Throughout the play, Willy switches between the present and scenes from the past as he recounts events of the past. Some believe that this is a sign of dementia, however, it appears to be a way for him to escape the truth of his situation and the reality of who his sons are.