Long's Journey Into Night

In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman’s life seems to be slowly deteriorating. It is clear that Willy’s predicament is of his own doing, and that his own foolish pride and ignorance lead to his downfall. Willy’s self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife, his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children, Biff and Happy, and lastly his inability to productively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his “American Dream”.

The play "Death of a Salesman", by Arthur Miller, follows the life of Willy Loman, a self-deluded salesman who lives in utter denial, always seeking the "American Dream," and constantly falling grossly short of his mark. The member’s of his immediate family, Linda, his wife, and his two sons, Biff and Happy, support his role. Of these supportive figures, Biff’s character holds the most importance, as Biff lies at the center of Willy’s internal conflicts and dreams, and Biff is the only one in the play who seems to achieve any growth.

     The plays, The Glass Menagerie and A Raisin in the Sun, deal with the love, honor, and respect of family. In The Glass Menagerie, Amanda, the caring but overbearing and over protective mother, wants to be taken care of, but in A Raisin in the Sun, Mama, as she is known, is the overseer of the family. The prospective of the plays identify that we have family members, like Amanda, as overprotective, or like Mama, as overseers. I am going to give a contrast of the mothers in the plays.

The relationship between a parent and their child is a very important relationship in anyone’s life. An example of children being affected by their relationships with their parents is evident in the following pieces of work. Death of a Salesman and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz both share similarities between the father and son relationships shown within the novels. The two books both share the idea of having false ideals within the relationship between a father and son, the father does not treat women with any respect, therefore the son follows in his footsteps, and the relationships simply lack a bond between father and son. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler, show significant

Family relationships, in many literary works, are often essential to the entire plot; not only is there hardship and agony, but confrontation and conflict that arise in the family. The pressures brought upon growing up a particular way, in addition to succeeding are all a reflection based off the parents themselves, and there standards. In Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” the relationship between Willy and his sons, Biff and Happy Loman can be considered -- not “typical.” It is a relationship based on success and the persistence to lead a life, that in reality, cannot be lived. Willy and his relationship with his

The role of a father could be a difficult task when raising a son. The ideal relationship between father and son perhaps may be; the father sets the rules and the son obeys them respectfully. However it is quite difficult to balance a healthy relationship between father and son, because of what a father expects from his son. For instance in the narratives, “Death of a Salesman,” and “Fences” both Willy and Troy are fathers who have a difficult time in earning respect from their sons, and being a role model for them. Between, “Death of a Salesman,” and “Fences,” both protagonists, Willy and Troy both depict the role of a father in distinctive ways; however, in their struggle, Willy is the more sympathetic of the two.

Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman follows protagonist Willy Loman in his search to better his and his family’s lives. Throughout Willy Loman’s career, his mind starts to wear down, causing predicaments between his wife, two sons and close friends. Willy’s descent into insanity is slowly but surely is taking its toll on him, his job and his family. They cannot understand why the man they have trusted for support all these years is suddenly losing his mind. Along with his slope into insanity, Willy’s actions become more aggressive and odd as the play goes on. Despite Willy and Biff’s “family feud”, his two sons Happy and Biff truly worry about their father’s transformation, Happy saying: “He just wants you to make good, that’s all. I

In his stage play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller introduces us to the family of Willy Lohan. There is greater influence of the parents to the children as is portrayed in the play. Willy Loman laxity has weighed heavily on the conduct of his sons, Happy and Biff. The main theme in the play is sustained in the play with the sons of Willy attaining their personality from their father. We learn that one’s upbringing shapes their behavior. The actions of those within one’s surrounding influence one’s behavior. This is quite evident in the case of a parent child interaction as portrayed in the play. Since most the time the child will look up to their parents, their ethical and

“I’ll start out in the morning. Maybe I’ll feel better in the morning.” (13) This not only proves Willy’s idealistic American Dream where he is rich and well-known and his continual effort to succeed even though it may not be the best option showing his lack of acceptance towards aging, but also is related to a religious crusade because they fail to accept when they are defeated and have grown old for something. They believe that they will be healed and be able to complete whatever they wish if they have the strength of the higher power, just as Willy believes with his higher power being money. Both continually try after they have failed or been told they are wrong or they can not succeed. Finally, the American Dream can be related to a religious crusade through a lack of acceptance of the past in general throughout the play The Death of a Salesman. Willy refuses to accept that his sons have grown older along with him and none of them have achieved the success as a businessman that he wants and has trained his sons for since birth. This can be shown through all of Willy’s flashbacks because he is continually thinking about the past and all of the opportunities he had then. They also represent his dreams and aspirations seeing that he was raising his

In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman, the tragic hero, is an old salesman that has two sons, Biff and Happy. Willy had this dream that his sons would eventually become huge and successful business men and complete the dream that he never achieved. Willy became so set on this dream that if it were to not happen he would feel as if he was a failure as a father. Willy’s dream that he had turned into an expectation was not

Family relationships always have a way of playing a key role for the duration of most literary pieces. According to Arthur Miller’s novel, Death of a Salesman, the interaction of Willy and his sons, Happy and Biff, shows that family ties usually are connected either physically or emotionally in some way or another. Willy Loman is just like every father in a father/son bond, yet all he wants is to be a part of his son’s life. Even though Biff and Happy admire and have so much love for their father when they are younger, later down the road when they are older suddenly they realize he had failed to prepare them for the real society in life.

As though to recreate the connection in life, literature often shows the relationship between past events and a character’s present actions and values. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy is haunted by memories of his older brother, father, and salesman Dave Singleman. Willy’s character and values are constantly influenced by the memory of the three men, compounding upon his deliria throughout the play. Willy considers these men the epitome of success, thus explaining his dependency on all three. Miller’s view on society, men, and the success of the American Dream are portrayed through Willy’s interactions with the men. The American Dream is synonymous with the phrase “the world is your oyster,” but Miller uses Death of a Salesman to criticize the American Dream through Willy Loman and his interplay between the past and present.

The study spotlights on the familial dysfunctionality as presented in the plays of Tennessee Williams. The families presented in most of his plays are dysfunctional because of multiple incompatibilities. A family whose interrelationships serve to detract from, rather than promote, the emotional and physical health and well being of its members. Dysfunctional families are characterized by following characteristics which are blaming or failure of responsibility, loose or rigid rules or relationships, and set family rules. Sexual or physical abuse, addiction to alcohol or drugs, behavior problems, mental diseases, and aggression can all attribute to dysfunctional families, physical evidence found in The Glass Menagerie, A Cat on Hot Tin Roof and A Street Car Named Desire.

A parent-child relationship specifically that of a mother and child is one of the most important relationships a person can have. It is the tie that keeps a family together. In Things Fall Apart and A Doll’s House, the whole concept of parent-child relationships is different. This essay will discuss the contrast as well as the comparisons of this relationship in both the story and the play.

Family is meant to care for each other, love each other unconditionally, and support each other. Of course, as any holiday at home can prove, complete support is not always possible. Sometimes family members hurt each other and even, in worst-case scenarios, kill each other over issues as important as protecting another or as petty as fighting over a boy. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, and The Winter’s Tale, if family members operate with selfish motives, they hurt the hero and contribute to his fall; but if the family supports each other with only love, the hero can redeem himself from his fall and even succeed in finding lasting happiness.