Wily Loman

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Shattered Dream - The Delusion of Willy Loman

The jagged edges of a shattered dream. Do you find that the play leaves you with such an impression?

Death of a Salesman tells the story of a man confronting failure in the success-driven society of America and shows the tragic trajectory which eventually leads to his suicide. Willy Loman is a symbolic icon of the failing America; he represents those that have striven for success but, in struggling to do so, have instead achieved failure in its most bitter form. Arthur Millers tragic drama is a probing portrait of the typical American psyche portraying an extreme craving for success and superior status in a world otherwise fruitless. To some extent, therefore, Death of Salesman is concerned with the jagged edges of a shattered dream but on another more tragic and bitter level, it also evokes the decline of a man into lunacy and the subsequent effect this has on those around him, particularly his family.

Miller amalgamates the archetypal tragic hero with the mundane American citizen. The result is the anti-hero, Willy Loman. He is a simple salesman who constantly aspires to become great. Nevertheless, Willy has a waning career as a salesman and is an aging man who considers himself to be a failure but is incapable of consciously admitting it. As a result, the drama of the play lies not so much in its events, but in Willys deluded perception and recollection of them as the audience gradually witness the tragic demise of a helpless man.

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In creating Willy Loman, Miller presents the audience with a tragic figure of human proportions. Miller characterises the ordinary man (the low man) and ennobles his achievements. Willys son, Biff, calls his father a prince, evoking a possible comparison with Shakespeares Hamlet, prince of Denmark.. Thus, the play appeals greatly to the audience because it elevates an ordinary American to heroic status. Death of a Salesman seems to conform to the tragic tradition that there is an anti-hero whose state of hamartia causes him to suffer. The audience is compelled to genuinely sympathise with Willys demise largely because he is an ordinary man who is subject to the same temptations as the rest of us.

Miller uses many characters to contrast the difference between success and failure in the American system. Willy Loman is a deluded salesman whose vivid imagination is far greater than his sales ability. Linda, Willys wife, honorably stands by her husband even in the absence of fundamental realism. To some extent she acknowledges Willys aspirations but, naively, she also accepts them. Consequently, Linda is not part of the solution but rather part of the problem with this dysfunctional family and their inability to face reality. In restraining Willy from his quest for wealth in the Alaska, the New Continent, ironically the only realm where the dream can be fulfilled, Linda destroys any hope the family has of achieving greatness. Even so, Linda symbolically embodies the plays ultimate value love. In her innocent love of Willy, Linda accepts her husbands falsehood, his dream, but, in her admiration of his dream, she is lethal. Linda encourages Willy and, in doing so, allows her sons, Biff and Happy, to follow their fathers fallacious direction in life.

Willys close friend Charlie on the other hand, despite his seemingly ordinary lifestyle, enjoys far better success compared to the Lomans. Charlie differs to his friend considerably he is financially secure whereas Willy can barely afford to pay the next gas bill. Similarly, Charlie never indoctrinated his son, Bernard, with the same enthusiasm as Willy. Subsequently, Charlie stands for different beliefs to Willy and, ironically, ends up far more successful. He is a voice of reason for his friend but is only useful if Willy follows his advice. Instead, Willys proud and stubborn nature ensures that he will never accept Charlies many generous job proposals. The Dream, as Willy perceives it, is still within grasp of the Lomans thus an ordinary job would not fulfil the true expectations Willy holds of either himself or Biff. Ironically, these job proposals are the one gate left open to Willy and his hopes of becoming great.

According to Biff, his friend, the anemic Bernard, is not well liked. However not well liked he may be, Bernard, through constant persistence, has grown up to be an eminent lawyer. He appears to be proof enough of the systems effectiveness and affirms the proposition that success is achieved through persistent application of ones talents.

Whilst everyone around Willy experiences success and wealth, the Lomans themselves struggle financially. The play romanticises the pioneering dream but never makes it genuinely available to Willy and his family. Willy reveres success. He wants to be successful, to be great, but his dream is never fulfilled. Indeed, he feels the only way he can actually fulfil his dream is to commit suicide so that his family may subsequently live off his life insurance.

It seems Willys dead brother, Ben, is the only member of the Loman family who has ever achieved something great when he proclaims, -when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by God I was rich. Ben is idealised by Willy since he fulfilled the genuine American Dream to start out with nothing and eventually become rich through effort and hard work. Ironically, this wealth is achieved outside America suggesting that there is little left available for the ordinary individual within the countrys own boundaries. Instead, one must look elsewhere for true greatness, underlining the fact that, for the majority, the much sought after American Dream is a myth. The play is ambiguous in its attitude toward the business-success dream, but certainly does not rebuke it openly. Nevertheless, when Charlie declares, Nobody dast blame this man, Miller hints at the responsibility of the state influenced Everyone should have a dream campaign behind Willys death, suggesting that the salesman was driven too far, pressurising himself into suicide. Miller also seems to judge America in hinting that there is far greater success to be found outside of its land. Indeed, it seems there is a lot of room for failure (and ruin) as well as greatness in America. Hence, Willy is a foolish and ineffectual man for whom we feel pity.

Willy detaches himself from reality, living in a life of idealism and dreams that never materialise. One example of Willys deluded perception of reality lies in his constant disgruntlement with the American car industry. In truth, Willy has always scorned his cars. Even in the 10s when, according to Willy, the Chevy was at its prime, the Chevy is still insulted by its owner! These, and other such instances in the play, evoke a prime flaw in Willys character he is never, fully content with what he possesses at present. Instead, he lives in a deluded world where imagination and past experiences collude and, frequently, appear as far more desirable eras. As a result, Willy continually finds aspects of his life remarkable but never actually realises that as a salesman and a father, he is a failure. This lack of understanding eventually leads to his tragic death; a death he could not escape for he brought it on himself.In killing himself, Willy finally becomes a man of purpose and reason. He had been trying to make a gift that would crown all those striving years; in this instant, all those lies he told, all those dreams and vivid exaggerations would now be given form and point. In American Society the only option open to Willy as such was to be a salesman. Tragically, he eventually feels he must, symbolically, trade his own life for his familys wellbeing whereby they will hopefully experience a life of greatness without, ironically, himself present.

Death of a Salesman has a form that allows for the simultaneity of past and present, enabling the events in Willys life to proceed from the fragmented logic of his own experiences. Thus, while Miller ensures that the audience experience Willys perception of reality, it also recognises it as objectively real. Indeed, Millers juxtaposition of incidents from Willys internal and external experience brings the audience to sympathise with Willy. Consequently, the audience is able to share the nightmare experience of the protagonist and eventually deduce their own opinions of the death of a salesman.

Miller said of Death of a Salesman that it was a slippery play to categorize because nobody in it stops to make a speech objectively stating the great issues which I believe it embodies. Subsequently, no single character acts as Millers mouthpiece, nor does any one speech offer a direct reflection of his opinions. And, although there are no genuine soliloquies in the play, Millers juxtaposition of events from the anti-heros past and present enable the playwright to illustrate Willys insanity with similar effectiveness. Consequently, this expressionistic device allows the audience to genuinely symphathise with Willys jaded state of mind and allow them to eventually deduce their own opinion of Willys character.

Death of a Salesman may also be interpreted as an allegorical representation of America. Willys garden can be perceived as a microcosm of American society as tower blocks continued to be raised around him. This suggests that, for the ordinary person, the literally Lo-man in comparison to the skyscrapers, life has become overshadowed at the cost of capitalism. The audience is left with the image of the garden that will never grow; the ordinary person has been left behind and even rejected by wealthy capitalists. With everyone succeeding except Willy, Miller also suggests that there is far more success outside America. Indeed, there are nothing but fruitless hopes and shattered dreams to be found within the nation. And, in one last vain effort, Willy attempts to grow something for his family in his buying of seeds to plant in the garden. Nevertheless, even Willy has come to realise that his life is a failure when he declares, Oh, Id better hurry-Nothings planted. I dont have a thing in the ground.

Nevertheless, it seems that Millers intention in writing about the death of a salesman, a seemingly mundane occurrence in twentieth-century society, was to express the playwrights own vision of American Society and the nature of individuality. Death of a Salesman may be interpreted as being solely a play about the failing America and the jagged edges of a shattered dream but it does, nevertheless, engage Millers belief that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy as kings are.

Death of a Salesman - Willy

Charley says something in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

that sums up Willy's whole life. He asks him, When the hell are you

going to grow up? Willy's spends his entire life in an illusion. He

sees himself as a great man that is popular and successful. Willy

exhibits many childlike qualities. Many of these qualities have an

impact on Willy's family. His two sons Biff and Happy pick up this

behavior from their father. He is idealistic, stubborn, and he has a

false sense of his importance in the world.

Willy is like an impetuous youngster with high ideals and high

hopes. Children always have high hopes for their future. They all

want to be astronauts or millionaires. Willy always believes he can

achieve that kind of success. He never lets go of his wasted life.

He dreams of being the man who does all of his business out of his

house and dying a rich and successful man. Furthermore, Willy also

dreams of moving to Alaska where he could work with his hands and be a

real man. Biff and Happy follow in their father's footsteps in their

lofty dreams and unrealistic goals. Biff wastes his life being a

thief and a loner; furthermore, Biff, along with happy try to conjure

up a crazy idea of putting on a sporting goods exhibition. The problem

with Willy is that he never grows up and deals with his obstacles.

Willy is also a very stubborn man. He is like a little child

that wants to do something their way even though they know that

another option would be the wiser choice. Charley practically sets a

potential job into Willy's lap and he refuses it. Willy just was

fired and needed a job. He refuses one. Willy is too stubborn to let

go of his old job and take a new one. He still believes that he is at

the top of his profession. When Willy does not get his way he acts

just as a child would. He has tantrums such as when he basically

challenged Charley to a fight after he told him to grow up. Biff is

also stubborn like his father. He never gives up being a child. He

steals and lies. Biff cannot handle being ignored, so he steals a pen.

Willy's childlike stubbornness hampers him throughout his life.

Willy, like most children thinks that he is more important than he

actually is. During the whole story, he brags himself up, calling

himself a great salesman. He says that he is known everywhere. When

his funeral is to occur, Willy believed that it will be a major event.

Many will come to pay their respects to New England's greatest

salesman. He is just an old broken down man who never was good at his

job. Willy is not well known. Few attend his funeral. When one is a

child, they believe that they are more important than they really are.

As people grow older they realize that they are just one of many in

the world. Willy Loman never does realize this fact. Biff and Happy

never realize it either. They continue to believe that the Lomans are

an extraordinary family above all others. After Willy dies, Happy

proclaims that he will continue his fathers quest as the great

salesman. Biff believes that the Lomans are not liked because they

are rough and tough men who use their hands. Willy goes through his

entire life believing that is a great, well known, and well-liked

salesman.

Willy Loman is a child trapped in a man's body. He never lets

go of his dreams. He does not come to grips with his failure as a

salesman, father, and husband. Willy runs away from responsibility,

and he asks others for handouts when in need. These traits have a

negative impact Biff and Happy throughout their lives. At the end of

his life he lives with delusions of what his life was and is. Willy

never does grow up.

Death of a Salesman- Willys Escape

No one has a perfect life. Everyone has conflicts that they must

face sooner or later. The ways in which people deal with these

personal conflicts can differ as much as the people themselves. Some

insist on ignoring the problem as long as possible, while some attack

the problem to get it out of the way. Willy Lowmans technique in

Arthur Millers play Death of a Salesman, leads to very severe

consequences. Willy never really does anything to help the situation,

he just escapes into the past, whether intentionally or not, to

happier times were problems were scarce. He uses this escape as if it

were a narcotic, and as the play progresses, the reader learns that it

can be a dangerous drug, because of its addictiveness and its

deadliness.

The first time Willy is seen lapsing off into the past is when he

encounters Biff after arriving home. The conversation between Willy

and Linda reflects Willys disappointment in Biff and what he has

become, which is, for the most part, a bum. After failing to deal

adequately with his feelings, he escapes into a time when things were

better for his family. It is not uncommon for one to think of better

times at low points in their life in order to cheer themselves up so

that they are able to deal with the problems they encounter, but Willy

Lowman takes it one step further. His refusal to accept reality is so

strong that in his mind he is transported back in time to relive one

of the happier days of his life. It was a time when no one argued,

Willy and Linda were younger, the financial situation was less of a

burden, and Biff and Happy enthusiastically welcomed their father back

home from a long road trip. Willys need for the drug is satiated

and he is reassured that everything will turn out okay, and the family

will soon be as happy as it was in the good old days.

The next flashback occurs during a discussion between Willy and

Linda. Willy is depressed about his inability to make enough money to

support his family, his looks, his personality and the success of his

friend and neighbor, Charley. My God if business doesnt pick up , I

dont know what Im gonna do! (6) is the comment made by Willy after

Linda figures the difference between the familys income and their

expenses. Before Linda has a chance to offer any words of consolation

Willy blurts out Im Fat. Im very--foolish to look at, Linda (7).

In doing this he has depressed himself so much that he is visited by a

woman with whom he is having an affair. The womans purpose in this

point of the play is to cheer him up. She raises his spirits by

telling him how funny and loveable he is, saying You do make me

laugh....And I think youre a wonderful man. (8). And when he is

reassured of his attractiveness and competence, the woman disappears,

her purpose being fulfilled. Once again the drug has come to the

rescue, postponing Willys having to actually do something about his

problem.

The next day, when Willy is fired after initially going to ask

his boss to be relocated is when the next journey into the past

occurs. The point of the play during which this episode takes place is

so dramatic that willy seeks a big hit of the flashback drug. Such a

big hit in fact, that he is transported back to what was probably the

happiest day of his life. Biff was going to play in Ebbets field in

the All-Scholastic Championship game in front of thousands of people.

Willy couldnt be prouder of his two popular sons who at the time had

everything going for them and seemed destined to live great, important

lives, much more so than the liked, but not well liked boy next

door, Bernard. Willys dependency on the drug is becoming greater by

the hour, at this rate, he cannot remain sane for much longer.

Too much of anything, even a good thing, can quickly become a bad

thing. Evidence of this statement is seen during Willys next

flashback, when the drug he has been using for so long to avoid his

problems backfires, giving him a bad trip, quite possibly a side

effect of overuse. This time he is brought back to one of the most

disturbing moments in his life. Its the day that Biff had discovered

his fathers mistress while visiting him on one of his trips to ask

him to come back home and negotiate with his math teacher to give him

the four points he needed to pass math and graduate high school. This

scene gives the reader a chance to fully understand the tension

between Willy and Biff, and why things can never be the same.

Throughout the play, the present has been full of misfortune for the

most part, while the opposite is true for the past. The reader is left

to wonder when the turning point occurred. What was the

earth-shattering event that threw the entire Lowman family into a

state of such constant tension? Now that event is revealed and Willy

is out of good memories to return to. With the last hit of Willys

supply of the drug spent, what next?

The comparison between Willys voyages into the past and the use

of a narcotic is so perceptible because of its verity. When Willys

feeling down, or life seems just too tedious and insignificant, or

when things just arent going his way, why not take a hit of the old

miracle drug, memories. The way he overuses his vivid imagination is

sad because the only thing its good for is enabling Willy to go

through one more day of his piteous life, full of bitterness,

confusion, depression, false hopefulness, and a feeling of love which

he is trying very hard to express to his sons who seem reluctant to

accept it.

Death of A Salesman

In the book Death of A Salesman, author Arthur Miller shows how cruel life can be through the life of Willy Loman, the main character. His feelings of guilt, failure, and sadness result in his demise.

Willy's sense of pride is a very big issue in his life; he doesn't like people to give him handouts, although he may need them. But the feeling of failure overrides him when he learns about the loss of his job. "But I got to be in 10-1 hours a day. Other men-I don't know-they do it easier. I don't know why-I can't stop myself I talk to much." (p.7) Willy being a hard working man that tries his best realizes times have changed. His youthfulness and life have begun to fade. A man his age working ten to twelve hours a day is very unlikely. "I don't want you to represent us. I've been meaning to tell you a long time now!" (p.8) When Willy first heard this from his boss, that is a man younger than him begins to cry. A man his age working in a company that long doesn't really deserve to be fired. It makes his life seem a waste, and makes him imagine himself as a failure. "I was fired and I am looking for a little good news to tell your mother, because the woman has waited and suffered." (p.107) Willy is clueless of what is to come of his family and feels he has let everyone down. He failed to support his wife along with his sons. His life was basically devoted to impressing others and the one job he had led him to failure.

In Willy Loman's life, guilt played a big role. He lived many years feeling remorseful of what led and followed after cheating on his wife. "Now look Biff, when you grow up you'll understand about these things. You mustn't overemphasize a thing like this." (p.10) When Biff first caught his father cheating on his mother he reacted in a very harsh, way leaving his father feeling guilty. Biff began to realize his whole life was a fake. "You fake! You phony little fake! You fake! Overcome, Biff turns quickly and weeping fully goes out with his suitcase. Willy is left on the floor on his knees"(p.11) Biff, Willy's main pride, left him. Biff never trusted him again. Willy's guilt of lying to his loving son stays in his mind-leaving Biff to hate his father. Whatever relationship they had before what shattered into millions of pieces. It killed Willy that his once loving son grew to hate him as much as he did. "Will you stop mending stockings? At least while I'm in the house. It gets me nervous please! (p.75) Seeing his wife Linda mending stockings leads him to a great deal of guilt. The woman with whom he was cheating with was constantly given gifts of stockings from Willy. It reminds him of how he should have given the new stockings to his loyal wife. The feeling of guilt and losing the trust of his son leaves him with great pain and the many attempts of suicide.

As the play ends, we begin so see more clearly towards Willy's flashbacks. His suicide attempts become stronger and the painfulness of his life turns to sadness. "I was looking for a fuse down in the cell and behind the fuse box-it happened to fall out-a length of a rubber pipe-just short." (p.5) Linda, suspicious of her husband wanting to kill himself, finds a hidden rubber pipe connected to the gas line of the water heater. Linda, scared, tried to take the pipe away every day but always found herself putting it back thinking she was betraying her husband. She began to confide in her sons with what she should do, but finds them thinking the opposite. "Pop I'm nothing! I'm nothing pop! Can't you understand that? There's no spite in it anymore. I'm just what I am that's all!" (p.1) Biff begins to find his father unbearable. He always relied on Biff to come home and surprise him with good news, but Biff tells Willy he can't do that any more because their lives are both shams. Biff begins to realize he and his father never were important and never will be. Biff cries to his father to make him understand. Biff's speech was the last meaningful thing that Willy, heard and he dies knowing his son did love him and never blamed him for his life. "Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." (p.18) For all of the feelings of guilt, sadness, and failure in Willy's life, at his requiem everyone praised Willy for his good doings, forgetting his bad doings. Charley, Willy's only best friend, explains how a salesman must dream to be successful. Willy may have had the wrong dreams but did what he was meant to do in life.

Willy's sad ending left him to remain a salesman. He never made it to the top as he planned or ever got his son to trust him. His death was basically based on the ways of the world and his wrongdoing. But what human being is perfect? Some get dealt good cards others may not. What Willy should have done was follow his heart and not his needs, and his life may not have ended as sadly as it did.

To what extent is 'Death of a Salesman' a criticism of the values of modern American society?

'The American Dream' is based on the 'Declaration of Independence'

'We believe that all men are born with these inalienable rights life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' (Thomas Jefferson, 1776).

This 'dream' consists of a genuine and determined belief that in America, all things are possible to all men, regardless of birth or wealth; you work hard enough you will achieve anything. However, Miller says people have been 'ultimately misguided'.

The origins of the American Dream seem to have been rooted in the pioneering mentality of the 18th and 1th century immigrants, most of whom came to America because of a promise of a new and better life. In particular, the opportunity to own one's land. But land 'ran out' and so cities developed and massive variations arose in wealth, which meant that this 'American Dream' changed from being a potential reality, into being a dream, like the name implies.

Most of Miller's plays are directly or indirectly about the American Dream, because ultimately this dream wasn't going to succeed as lots of people wished. 'Death of a Salesman' written in 14, is a moving destruction of the whole myth.

To be hard working, honest and have ambition were the ways of the American Dream. This lead onto success, wealth and in due time power. But this dream for everyone developed, and encouraged greed, selfish behaviour, pride and rivalry between one another.

Willy Loman was 'caught-up' in this American Dream. It causes business to develop in the world. Capitalism and also the profit motive and competitive instinct, makes Willy have a weakness in his personality. This weakness was caused by a combination of business pressures. Willy wants to prove himself through successes a salesman, but as he fails, his own life destroys him.

'I'm the New England man. I'm vital in New England.'

'Never leave a job until your sixty.'

Willy's quotes above shows that he is insecure, and is not the successful businessman he says he is.

Miller based Willy's character on his own uncle, Manny Newman. Miller said,

'That homely, ridiculous little man had after all never ceased to struggle for a certain victory, the only kind open to him in this

society selling to achieve his lost self as a man with his name and his sons' name on a business of his own.'

This explains exactly what he had in mind for Willy to be as he was, 'trying to achieve his lost self'.

The things that are meant to happen in business are success, wealth and esteem. This is what Ben has achieved and done. Miller stressed his success and material reward in Ben. He does this by Ben repeating himself a lot, ' I walked into the jungle, and when I came out I was rich.' But Ben also has emptiness in spite of his success. In the eyes of the audience, he has no real happiness.

When Dave Singleman was mentioned, by Willy when he was trying to tell Howard what being a salesman used to be like, we only have Willy's evidence, as all we know, this man maybe maid up in Willy's head. But this man is a huge icon for Willy to look up to.

'He was eighty-four years old, and he'd drummed merchandise in thirty-one states'.

Also Willy desperately wants a funeral similar to Dave's,

'When he died, hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral.'

This was because Dave was greatly valued, whereas Willy isn't, nor is he loved as much. I think that this marks Willy's failure as a businessman. He hasn't realised the demands of the business world. Rather than the old way of Dave Singleman's time. Howard isn't interested in the story of Dave. To have a successful business, it has to be efficient, sometimes having to be ruthless. Now people buy products, not for dreams or personalities.

Willy said, ' There was respect, and comradeship, and gratitude in it. Today, it's all cut and dried, and there's no chance for bringing friendship to bear or personality.'

In my opinion, Howard Wagner treats Will harshly, because Willy has been very loyal to the business, and has had no reward for his length of service.

'They don't even know me anymore.'

He has the feeling of being used by the firm, and with no gratitude.

'I put thirty-four years into this firm…You can't eat the orange and throw away the peel a man is not a piece of fruit!'

He needs to believe he is 'vital in New England', but knows he is not; he is just kidding himself.

Biff said about Willy, 'He had all the wrong dreams. All, all wrong, and he never knew who he was.' Being a salesman is very unpredictable, and precarious as a living.

'He's a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back that's like an earthquake.' You would have to give a good impression.

Charley has realised that Willy's view of success is seriously flawed.

Charley said,

'The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell.'

And as Willy can't sell anything, his has got nothing. Willy has lost all self-respect. Eliza Kazan, director of the original Broadway production, said, 'Willy's fatal error is that he built his life and his sense of worth on something completely false. This is the error of our whole society.'

Willy can't function as a salesman, also a human being, because he's not liked.

'Willy's liked, but he's not well liked', is the opinion of other people.

Will has been a failure in life. But he feels even more so because of the fact that success in the American Dream is supposed to be available to anyone. This figure has significantly effected his family especially his sons. Biff is just as hopeless as Willy in a lot of ways.

The values of the city are power, brings money. Willy though has never liked the city, and prefers the country, because there is not s from essaybank.co.uk o much pressure. He is attracted to the wild, free and open countryside.

'The way they boxed us in here. Bricks and windows, windows and bricks.'

Willy finds the city very claustrophobic.

The lighting effect with leaves and trees are very symbolic.

The American Dream has been centrally built around the idea of the family. This is the spiritual side.

Biff sums it up, 'We've never told the truth for ten minutes in this house. The man don't know who we are! The man is gonna know!'

It is Willy's fault the way Biff feels,

'And I never got anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air I could never stand taking orders from anybody! That's whose fault it is!'

Willy's loneliness, unfaithfulness to Linda and his insecurity, leads to his affair in Boston with another women. Willy buys new stockings for this woman in Boston and makes Linda mend her own, old ones. But Linda cares for Willy a lot, and constantly tries to cover up for him and also tries to understand him.

Willy says, 'That's funny, I could have sworn I was driving that Chevy today.' He is forgetting things, but Linda covers this up by saying, 'Well, that's nothing. Something must have reminded you.'

Should Linda have questioned his behaviour more?

Willy feels guilty for Biff, as he knows about Willy's affair, which would have had an incredibly traumatic effect on Biff's life. It would be devastating. Because of this, Biff went to prison for 'steeling a suit'. Biff went onto steeling to compensate his feelings inside.

Unfortunately, Happy is doomed to repeat his father's mistakes, with his attitude to women. He has casual relationships. He isn't as honest as Biff at the end of the day either.

I think that these values of society the 'American Dream' aren't the only values in the play. The characters are not conditioned solely by the society they live in. They often have choices but often choose wrongly. I believe that there are three ways of viewing 'Death of a Salesman'.

Firstly, this play is a modern tragedy. Willy is a tragic figure. The whole of his life has been totally unpredictable,

'He don't put a bolt to a nut, he don't tell you the law or give you medicine. He's a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back, that's an earthquake.'

Any man could turn against Willy at ant time, if he makes the wrong impression.

Although Will is always 'falling', the audience sympathise with him. John Mason Brow said,

'Miller's play is a tragedy modern, and personal, not classic and heroic; its central figure is a little man sentenced to discover his smallness rather than a big man undone by his greatness.'

Arthur Miller once said,

'I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its higher sense as kings were.'

Secondly, it is a play about relationships. With Willy and Linda Willy doesn't look after, or care for Linda as much as he should, but Linda does.

'Linda has developed an iron repression of her expectations to Willy's behaviour she more than loves him, she admires him, as though his mercurial nature, his temper, his massive dreams and little cruelties.'

Also I think that Willy and Biff, both failures, contrast totally to Charley's and Bernard's success. Biff 'flunked math', whereas Bernard

got all the correct results he needed for college. Now Biff has no job. Bernard is a top lawyer.

Bernard says, 'I've got a case in front of the Supreme Court.' But Willy can't understand why Biff isn't as good or powerful in life, as Bernard,

' What…what's the secret?' asked Willy, 'Why didn't he ever catch on?'… 'After the age of seventeen nothing good ever happened to Biff.'

Bernard replied, ' He never trained himself for anything.' Whereas Bernard did, he worked hard.

Willy has a worse life as a salesman, because of this 'American Dream'. Charley has a highly paid fore filling job.

Thirdly, this is a play of original structure. Miller was going to name this play 'Inside his head'. We can understand why because, regularly we see Willy's 'daydreams', within his mind. It is a very clever

Way to tell the audience, what happened in the past, and why things are how they are, now in the present day. An example of this is Biff having not got on with Willy. We understand why, when we see a 'daydream' in Willy's mind of what happened in Boston. Biff found out about Willy's affair. Miller wanted to make the transitions form scene to scene seamless.

Miller said,

'There are no flashbacks in the play but only a mobile concurrency of past and present… because in his desperation to justify his life, Willy Loman has destroyed the boundaries between now and then'.

The various lighting effects used in the play were to see how Willy felt, being in the city. He wants to be in the countryside lighting of leaves and trees.

The music involved was clever, because some characters have different instrument and music, to help the audience to realise, in Willy's 'daydreams', who it is. Willy's was a flute. And Ben also has a distinct type of music.

The staging was clever too. No walls were in between the rooms. But when it was the present day, people walked through a doorway. But when it was in one of Willy's 'daydreams' they ignored the walls. Again to allow the audience to be aware of the characters being in real life or in Willy's 'daydreams'.

'Death of a Salesman' contains much that is critical of modern American society. But, this was not Arthur Miller's sole purpose in writing it.

Willy's misjudgement of his failure in life is demonstrated in 'Death of a Salesman'. He feels as though he has failed because he has no fortune to show for it, in either his or his son's names. What he has truly failed in is his family life, and his married life. That is the corruption of the true 'American Dream'.

Miller portrays his main character, Willy Loman, not as an evil selfish person, but as a well meaning yet misguided person. Willys character is one of a common man, he isnt anything special, nor ever was he. He chose to follow the American dream and he chose to lead the life it gave him. Willy made the American dream his culture, and the American dream made Willy its victim.

The American dream is the belief that through sheer hard work alone, any man can gain professional success and thus receive personal gain (wealth, brand name goods etc.). The major flaw in this dream is that it produces selfish individuals who will go to any extent to receive personal gain. To show how different this dream is to any other and what this dream can do to people if they take it too seriously, Miller gives Willy two sons, Biff and Happy.

Biffs the opposite of Happy and Willy. Biff doesnt care about the amount of money he earns, all he really cares about is that he enjoys his work. All he really wants is to be outside working with his hands. Biff rejects the American dream and makes one up for himself. Biff defines his own idea of success and takes control of his life.

Happy however takes the American dream and eats it all up. He becomes just like his father but is more greedy and cynical. He wants everything for himself and wouldnt spare a dime to anyone else. In the end Happy will probably take a road similar to that of his father and perhaps killing himself as well.

The death of Willy at the end of the play is a death caused by the flaws of the American dream, the one that killed Willy is the one that says that some people will work hard all their life and end up with nothing, this is what happened to Willy. The American dream sucks people in and doesnt let them leave. The American dream becomes the American cult. This cult will sucker people in by promising riches and success and then wont let them leave simply because it states that if you quit a job you become a quitter and, according to the American dream, quitters are failures. Willys demise was one of a common man. It was not anything special. Millers book is one about the tragedy of a common man, unlike Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannos or Shakespeares King Lear Miller portrays this tragedy as something common rather then something unique. This play is a play about an unlucky man who had no real career whereas Oedipus Tyrannos is about a specific man who killed his father and married his mother. As you can see Millers play is a lot more from essaybank.co.uk common then Sophocles play.

Biffs character is one of a popular nature. When he was at school he was always popular, athletic and full of potential. All this changed however when he went to see his father in Boston. This is when Biff found out about Willys affair. Finding this out crushed Biff and destroyed his image about his father, he discovered that his father was a phony he says You fake! You phony little fake! You fake!. This shows how devastated Biff was when he found out about his fathers affair. Before Biff discovered about his fathers affair Biff believed in the American dream, but when he discovered that his father, who relied so heavily on the American dream, had deceived him and his whole family, he realised that the American dream was as phony as his own father. This is where Biff rejects his fathers dream and his relationship with his father begins to deteriorate.

The idea behind the whole play is to show up the numerous flaws in the American dream and to show that you must define success for yourself else it will define you. Willy believes sincerely that wealth is happiness and your wealth is shown by the number of brand name goods you have. Willy then looks around and notices he has little brand name goods, thus little money and thus he is a failure. Willy also believes that failure cannot be tolerated in his family so he then lies to his family about how popular and successful he is. His lying then gets his children to lie, thus having a continuing circle of lies. This is pointed out when Biff says We never told the truth for ten minutes in this house!, to this statement Happy responds We always told the truth!. This shows how that even when faced with the truth, the Loman family still cant accept it. Biff however refuses to lie any more and he accepts the truth, he accepts that he was never anything big and that he stole his way out of every job since high school. Willy however still wants to be a big success, he wants it so much that he starts living in his own fantasy dream world. He lives in the past because then there was hope for him whereas know there is no hope for him and he is doomed to failure.

Willys demise was one that could only have been avoided by him changing his dream and Willy was not going to do this. Willy would stick by his dream until the end, in the hope that it would eventually pay off. In the end the dream did not pay off and nor did his plan for Biff to have his life insurance money since his death was written off because it was suicide. As said by Biff he had the wrong dreams.

As a matter of fact , in 14 Arthur Miller wrote the play, Death of a Salesman. The play is a parody on the concept of the American Dream. The aim of my essay is to explain in what ways this statement can be said to be true. But at first; what is the American Dream?

Well, if you are an American and if you have a family, a house and a car, a decent job with a good salary and if you consider yourself to be surrounded by people who respect you for who you are, you can be said to have reached the American Dream. The concept of the American Dream became a popular idea during the nineteenth century when millions of people immigrated to America in search of better lives. At that time, a better life could mean a cottage or perhaps a house, some cattle and a piece of land to cultivate. Even today the meaning of the American Dream is quite the same; be sure to have valuable possessions, a social life with high standard and keep up good standards .

The phrase the American Dream came into the American vocabulary starting in 1867 when writer Horatio Alger came out with his book "Dick." It was a rags-to-riches tale of a poor boy in New York City who saves his pennies, works hard and eventually becomes rich. It became the model that through honesty, hard work and determination, the American Dream was available to anyone willing to make the journey.

There are several connections to the concept of the American Dream in Death of a Salesman. One can be found on page when the principal charachter Willy Loman expresses his jealousy towards the successes of his brother Ben. Ben knew what he wanted, Willy says. He started with the clothes on his back, walked into the jungle and came out enormously rich at the age of twenty-one owning several diamond mines. Willy continues "That man was a genius, that man was success incarnate!" () Another example of a man's success, and therefore also of the American Dream, is found on page 8. Willy's imaginary memory of Ben describes their father as a great inventor who travelled with his whole family westwards through America. He was successful in selling his inventions and he also became rich. On page 54 Willy remembers one occasion when his son Biff was playing at Ebbets Field. There was this glow around him and people cheered his name when he came out. He was a star then and this kind of personal success is also a typical example of the American Dream. And as described on page 6, Willy himself experienced a personal success in his work. It reached its peak in 18, when his commission average was at its highest level.

The whole story of the play is in itself justifiably so a parody on the American Dream. Willy Loman is a weary 6-year-old man who wants nothing more than to reach the American Dream, but in reality he fails (has failed?) big time. He is no longer a good salesman, he does not earn enough money, he does not manage to communicate with his family, his sons' lives are a disappointment to him and he disrespects his own family by having a mistress. The parody lies in the gap between Willy's wishes and his actual accomplishments. Willy does not have a healthy ideal self, compared to his real self. The rift is too deep for two feasible reasons. Firstly, it is not possible for Willy to achieve all of his goals due to external circumstances such as a changed labour market and the free will of his sons. Secondly, it is not possible for Willy to achieve all of his goals due to internal circumstances such as a decreasing capacity to master social situations and a consciously made choice to commit adultery.

Willy Loman, in his naive world between determined hope and painful awareness, represents a parody of the American Dream. But at the same time, he represents a memorable saying by George Bernard Shaw "You see things as they are and ask, 'Why?' I dream things as they never were and ask 'why not?'" Please note that this sample paper on Wily Loman is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on Wily Loman, we are here to assist you. Your persuasive essay on Wily Loman will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality.

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