Pressure to conform to the societal norms of a culture can often be so weighty that those who balk against it are likely to be crushed. Usually the world wins in a very few cases though, the individual comes out the victor, beating the odds, a stronger human being as a result. In the case of Arthur Miller’s Death of A Salesman, the world devours Willy Loman in his search for the American Dream. It broke him down and eventually destroyed him. Nora Helmer, of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, was also consumed by the world, but after being broken, fought her way free and defeated society’s expectations of her. Both seek fulfillment in their lives, falsely finding it in society’s expectations; Nora discovers this dichotomy between what she should …show more content…
Within seconds of his scathing condemnation though, Torvald learns that his reputation will not suffer from Nora’s actions and he “forgives” her with an open and willing heart. How could one not crack under such pressure as this? Willy, like Nora, had a dream. Willy dreamt of success: personal success, success in his family life, and success for his sons. For him, salesmanship was the measure of his success; throughout the many flashbacks he would often exaggerate his sales, boosting his image in the eyes of his children. He felt as though his place as a meaningful member of society hinged on this success. Therefore, he would only admit his shortcomings to Linda, who understood and never judged him. In the eyes of his young children, Willy could do no wrong: he made top sales records; he was “well-liked,” nothing could defeat him, further adding to his societal pressures (Miller 1.509). Willy also had to deal with the pressure from his brother who had struck diamonds in Africa by mistake, constantly living in that shadow, that stigma as the “little brother” who turned down the chance of a lifetime and instead became a salesman. Pressured to pursue his American Dream, Willy gives himself over to the overwhelming waters of society, drowning himself in its expectations and demands.
Nora finds strength in realizing her failure, resolving to find herself as a human being and not in what society expects of her. Nora’s recognition comes when Torvald so
In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Biff Loman silently questions his ability to fulfill his father’s wishes. His father, Willie Loman, holds high expectations for Biff’s future and constantly brags to others about how successful Biff will be. Out of respect for his father, Biff conforms to the path that Willie has planned for him. In the beginning, Willie lives vicariously through his son, Biff, who has no choice but to conform in order to preserve father-son respect. However, when the mutual respect that his father holds so dear dissolves, Biff’s concealed questions expand their influence from his thoughts to his actions as Biff becomes his own man.
When Torvald finds her hairpin stuck in the keyhole of the letter box, Nora tells him it must have been their children trying to get into it, not willing to admit that she had tried to break into his things. Although the truth about her is about to be discovered, Nora wants to preserve the last bits of dignity that she has left, finally worrying about herself before anyone else. This last lie however, leads up to her finally speaking the truth and expressing that she no longer feels that she loves Torvald. Her husband is furious at her, insulting her, and fails to see that every lie that she told was for his sake. Realizing that Torvald can’t see her side of things and will only find fault in what she did, she comes to her decision to leave her family. Nora states that she is not happy and never really was, her marriage to Torvald was as fakes as a doll house according to her. Rather than lie, she is completely honest now and states that she wants to become her own person and learn that which she doesn’t know despite what society might think.
Willy’s self- image that he portrayed to others of being successful was a lie that he had lived with for so long
To begin, Willy could be described as having a case of misguided life goals paired with self-deception. Willy was unable to admit to his faults. His pride was so boisterous that he would lie to his own family, borrowing money every week from his neighbor, Charley, and claiming that it was his salary. Due to extreme insecurities, Willy compulsively lied to himself and his family in effort of making himself feel better about who he really is, disguising his self doubt and inner anxiety with profound arrogance. Willy raised his sons to believe that in order to be successful, one must be well liked. “Be liked and you will never want.” (1.3) He often lied to them and exaggerated his success, which led them to believe that everything was as good as he claimed them to be. Willy even encouraged deceit in his oldest son by urging him to steal things and cheat on tests. In Willy’s own delusional world, he is a largely successful and well liked salesman with sons destined for greatness, taking every opportunity to brag about these false perceptions. He lied about almost everything, even the quality of
While Mrs. Wright lashes out against her perceived cage, her gender role, by killing Mr. Wright, Nora’s character ultimately decides to trip the latch, to fly free from the bars. Nora’s complex personality proves to be difficult to predict to the very end, when she decides to shirk her duties to her husband and children to focus on herself, to serve her own needs for individuality, a decision that was not entirely popular with readers and audiences alike. Indeed, Nora quite easily refuses to be the “doll” in Torvald’s house, and abandons her loving, though misguided husband, and her children. She feels driven to do this once she realizes that she and Torvald had never exchanged a serious word in
Willy’s difficulty with change in his life can be seen when Linda tries to help him. Linda tells Willy outside their bedroom, “...life is a casting off. It’s always been that way.”. (Miller, p.15) She states the truth that life is about change and not knowing the future ahead. She attempts to get Willy to see that he needs to take chances to be successful but he does not want to accept that. Willy wants
Nora’s need to please her father and later her husband made her lose her true self and it is through the flow of events that she realizes that she needs to go and find her true self
As a salesman, Willy shows he perceives himself highly when talking to Linda about his job: “I’m the New England man. I’m vital in New England” (14). One can also see Willy’s inflated sense of self-worth when he talks to his children about his job: “They know me, boys, they know me up and down New England... I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own” (31). However, even though he is extremely confident about his value as a salesman to his family, the reality of Willy’s reputation at his job is almost completely opposite: “I’m fat. I’m very—foolish to look at... they do laugh at me” (37). Although he essentially brags to his family about his expertise in business, Willy acknowledges the reality that his career is much less successful than he expects it to be. In fact, the inner turmoil inside of Willy from his unrealistic expectation of himself of being a fantastic salesman leads Willy to become mentally unhealthy, and eventually results in Willy committing suicide when he believes that he doesn’t have any self-worth anymore. Willy’s previous inflated self-worth is demonstrated yet again at his funeral, when no one shows up even though Willy thought he had a lot of friends from his job: “Why didn’t anybody come...
Nora’s first rebellion was when she took out a loan so that she could pay for her husband, Torvalds medical treatment. It was against the law for women to take out a loan without their husbands consent. When she did this she proved that she wasn’t as submissive and helpless as Torvald
Nora’s character development and maturity begins after Nora has been confronted by Krogstad and Torvald for being a “lying mother.” In
It is easy to forget how far our society has come in the last hundred years in recognizing the equality of all people. Often when we take a look into the past what we see is very shocking. Such is the case in a Doll House by Henrik Ibsen. Here we see Nora presented as a victim of her father and male dominated society; however she also plays the role of victimizer against her husband, family, and friends. As Nora takes both sides of the conflict we see how she is forced into both roles.
Regardless of his fraught looking to the past, Willy's character creates internal conflict which makes him to realize that he does not have the knowledge to be a tragic hero. His attempt to kill himself gives him a limited awareness to real life situation. Whereas he accomplishes a self-realization learns the essential nature of the sales career, Willy misunderstands his own failure. He is not able to control the true sensitive and mystical understanding of himself as a correct “loman” or else “low man.” Willy is too ambitious about his world that he creates
However, Nora does eventually realize that she has been treated like a child all her life and has been denied the right to think and act the way she wishes. When Torvald does not immediately offer to help Nora after Krogstad threatens to expose her, Nora realizes that there is a problem. By waiting until after he discovers that his social status will suffer no harm, Torvald reveals his true
Nora's second, and strongest, break from society's rules was shown by her decision to leave Torvald and her children. Society demanded that she take a place under her husband. This is shown in the way Torvald spoke down to her saying things like "worries that you couldn't possibly help me with" (Ibsen Page #), and "Nora, Nora, just like a woman" (Ibsen page #). She is almost considered to be property of his: "Mayn't I look at my dearest treasure? At all the beauty that belongs to no one but me - that's all my very own" (Ibsen page #)? By walking out she takes a position equal to her husband and destroys the very foundation of society's expectations of a wife and mother. Nora also breaks society's expectations of staying in a marriage since divorce was frowned upon during that era. Her decision represented a break from all expectations placed upon a woman by society. Throughout the play Nora is looked down upon and treated as a possession by her husband. She is
Here, Nora pulls together the tragic circumstances. She sees that she was never truly happy in the house, just content. Her father kept her as a child would a doll, and Torvald continued this when they were married. They formed her opinions for her, set expectations to which she was supposed to adhere, and wrote a vague script of how she was supposed to act. She was like a puppet, with no thoughts or actions of her own. When she finally realizes the injustice being done to her, she decides to free herself.