Main Theme Of Death Of A Salesman

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”.

Many workers today go through a low time or a struggle and give up. Today’s workers do not necessarily commit suicide when they are in a low point but they do things such as quitting the job or relying on government assistance. Willy strives to achieve the American dream and he eventually realizes that he has failed and gives up on life. This dream is a belief in America and that all things are possible if you work hard enough (Criticism of ' the American Dream' in 'Death of a Salesman'). Arthur Miller uses this story to expose the problems with pursuit of such a dream: “What Miller attacks, then, is not the American Dream of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, but the dream as interpreted and pursued by those for whom ambition replaces human need and the trinkets of what Miller called the ‘new American Empire in the making’ are taken as tokens of true value” (Bigsby). “Death of a Salesman” creates a challenge to the American Dream and shows that an American should live a prosperous and plentiful life instead of get lost and die tragically (Criticism of ' the American Dream' in 'Death of a Salesman'). Gradually throughout the play, Willy gets farther and farther away from achieving his idea of the American Dream. His income slowly decreases to nothing: “as a salesman, Willy stages a performance for buyers, for his sons, for the father who deserted him, the brother he admired. Gradually, he loses his audience, first the buyers, then his son, then his boss” (Bigsby). His problem is that he completely surrenders to the American Dream and by the team he realizes his mistake, he has nothing to fall back on (Panesar). If Willy would have embraced his natural talent for manual labor and his family’s love for the countryside, the Lomans could have a totally different lifestyle (Panesar). Towards the end of the play, Willy became overwhelmed

In the play The Death of a Salesman, it is a play of how one dream can affect your whole look on life, that dream can either make your life or break it, it all depends on how you pursue it. It is a tragic play, the Loman family faces a lot of difficult circumstances due to all of the lying, betrayal and the one dream Willy is trying pursue for his family. Willy then confuses the difference between reality and illusion, he is so caught up in trying to reach the perfect life, which was the “American Dream”, that he lost track of himself and his own

The play, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, takes issue with those in America who place too much stress upon material gain, at the expense of other, more admirable human values. Miller uses flashbacks to provide exposition, to foreshadow the upcoming tragedy, and most importantly to reveal character traits. An analysis of the main character, Willy Loman, illustrates the underlying theme that the concern over material success breaks down the bonds between men that form the basis of a smooth-functioning society.

In Theatre Mitu’s “hyper-theatrical” production of “Death of A Salesman” by Arthur Miller many aspects were added to heighten the messages and morals of the story about the American Dream. One major choice was the use of objects to signify characters as well as add to characters. Willy carried a empty, open briefcase. Linda carried a sun parasol. Biff carried football gear. All the other characters are objects themselves. Happ is a punching bag. Charley is a refrigerator door, and Bernard is a bug repellent light. The Women is a fan. Ben is a big light, and the waiter is a champagne bucket. Almost all of the characters excluding Biff, Willy, and Linda are recording voices which creates a degree of separation from the outside world. Happ is somewhere in between by being an actor with a microphone.

Considering each character individually, it is obvious that Miller wanted to make a point that dreams are whatever we want them to be. The American dream is more or less just an outline or blueprint, and the individual determines the specific goals they themselves would like to achieve. Such thoughts applied to all characters in the play, Miller’s most extreme case being Willy Loman. A working man, a husband, and a father of two, Willy was traditional in his belief that a man in America could be prosperous and successful, but only if he was viewed

The story ‘Death of a Salesman’ written by Miller focuses on a man doing all he can to allow him and his family to live the American dream. Throughout the story it is shown how the Loman’s struggle with finding happiness and also with becoming successful. Throughout their entire lives many problems come their way resulting in a devastating death caused by foolishness and the drive to be successful. Ever since he and his wife, Linda, met she has been living a sad and miserable life, because she has been trying support his unachievable goals. Also by him being naïve put his children’s lives in jeopardy and also made them lose sight of who they really were. Miller uses the Loman family to show how feeling the need to appear a certain way to the public and trying to live a life that is not really yours can turn into an American nightmare.

In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, the contrast between expectation and reality has a crucial role throughout the play. One day, before going to work, Willy expresses a desire to his wife to retire to the countryside and start a farm. However, in doing so, Willy creates the unrealistic expectation of retiring to start a farm when his current circumstances wouldn’t allow him to do so. This moment is emblematic of the play as a whole because it exemplifies the recurring theme of reality falling short of unrealistic expectations.

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 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 lives of the Loman’s from beginning to end seems troubling, the play is centered on trying to be successful or trying to be happy, and the sacrifice which must be made of one to achieve the other. The environment that these characters live in encourages them to pursue the American dream, which can be said to devalue happiness through the pursuit of material success. Death of A Salesman written by Arthur Miller has several themes that run through the play, one of the most obvious is the constant striving for success. Willy Loman put his family through endless torture because of his search for a successful life. Willy, Biff, and Happy are chasing the American dream instead of examining themselves

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

Arthur Miller wrote many plays in his time, but one in particular, written in 1947 and directed in Beijing in 1983, was the “play that established him as a great American playwright” called “Death of a Salesman”. This play was about the difference between a New York family’s life in reality and what they dreamed it would be. An old man, by the name of Willy valued popularity and his friends way more than skills or even a real personality. His goal was to die a man that had all of these things, and he ends up killing himself in the end. Miller’s goal was to “take the audience on an internal journey through the mind, memories, fears, anxieties of his central character.” “Death of A Salesman” has been very popular for over a decade, performed internationally, and was even produced into movies (Kristofoletti). Many people remember this play because of how inspiring it was, also because it did not compare to any other of the ones he had ever written.

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,

By providing the story with foils such as Ben and Howard being successful, Miller sheds a bit of hope on America then proceeds to thwart that same hope with the fact that they lose their moral integrity, which is a key component of the American Dream; therefore Miller clearly displays how society will continue to deny Americans the coveted dream they aspire to attain. Literary critic Thomas Porter states: