Death of a Salesman
Willy Loman is a man who believes with every ounce of himself in the American dream, after being inspired by the ?death of a salesman.? Willy longs to follow in the footsteps of Dave Singleman, a salesman who died acquiring all that Willy thought significant to achieve happiness in life. However, Willy?s prime goal of one day acquiring all that Mr. Singleman died with is not the life he thinks it to be and his life ends tragically in despair and failure. Willy misses the fact that Dave Singleman was still working at the age of eighty-four and died on the job. Having to work at that age and being unable to retire shows that Singleman was not as well off as Willy had thought. Arthur Miller uses Death of a Salesman to show the people observing and reading his play the importance of who and what you are, not the slanted idea the American dream and the world perceives as success. He encourages them to examine their lives and find the important things they already possess, and not to put as great amount of value on social status and material wealth, in Willy?s case to look at things like his family and friends, and not to put so much weight on the American dream. In a sense the American dream is not all that bad, but Willy misses what
The Loman house is one object that symbolizes Willy?s dreams. At the time the house was purchased, it was Willy?s first step toward success. It was a nice house, the American ideal, with room for a hammock, a swing from two large elm trees, and a garden in which to grow fresh vegetables. However, things do not turn out as Willy had hoped for both the house and his dreams it represents. The spaciousness of the house?s yard begins closing in on Willy as apartments begin being built around them, and the growth makes hammocks and gardens unrealistic. Willy explains it as being all boxed in. ?Bricks and windows, windows and bricks. The street is lined with cars. There?s not a fresh breath of air in the neighborhood. The grass don?t grow anymore, you can?t raise a carrot in the backyard,? (Willy, 17). As Willy?s dreams fade, so do the house and all the hopes it once stood for. Willy finally sees that his only hope for Biff?s is success is to give up his life and have Biff receive all of the insurance money. The imagined Ben created in Willy?s mind begins to tell him that ?the darkness is full of diamonds.? The diamonds give Willy success because the insurance money would allow for Willy to have something to pass onto his children. It would also give all of the work he has done in his life some sort of meaning and importance. To Willy, suicide, or the darkness in which the diamond is located , means that he has finally achieved the greatest diamond of all, the American dream. Willy is constantly reminded of his infidelity through Linda?s stockings. Seeing Linda try to repair her tattered stockings repeatedly reminds Willy of the stockings he gave to the woman, originally meant for Linda, and the situation represented there through him and Biff. Not only do the stockings make Willy feel guilty, but they are a reminder to him that even small things like stockings are hard for them to afford due to the small amount of money that Willy makes. It makes him feel even more inadequate in providing for his family, furthering him into his misery over not achieving his dream. At the very end of the book, the reader sees that Willy?s life ended as blinded as it was lived. The reader gets the impression that Biff either will not receive the money or he will still continue with the plans he made before Willy?s death, either way, making Willy?s end worthless. The flute music played at the end, which throughout the entire play represents Willy?s failure in achieving the American dream, is the final clue to the reader that Willy never achieves all that he had hoped. the American dream really emphasizes. Miller shows that placing importance in these things can only end in disappointment and destruction.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Willy Loman, Listening Biff, Biff Willys, Dream Willy, Seeing Linda, Death Salesman, Bernard Charley, Bill Olivers, Dave Singleman, american dream, willy misses, death salesman, willy constantly, Willy Biff, pass onto children, constantly striving, material wealth, listening biff, striving meet, willys failure, onto children,
Approximate Word count = 2008
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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