“Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller
Lilit Torosyan
English 102
Death of a Salesman
“Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller is a narration about American society, its expectations and attitudes that shape people’s lives. It is told through the lives of a salesman Willy, his family and several other people who, in some way, have an impact on them. Willy, who falls into his imaginary word of the past frequently during the day, is regretful for some of his actions in the past that ‘prevented’ him of becoming rich. Now, he wants his sons to succeed who are in their 30s and are of different characters. Although the genre of the play is realism, the author uses attributes of surrealism that help in developing the story. The protagonist of the play has an imaginary word that reminds him of his past; thus helping the audience to see the motives of his or his family’s current actions. The play starts when Willy has already gotten into a trouble because of dreaming while driving which suggests that the play is not about an ordinary person. For the reader, the shift from reality to dreams of Willy is sometimes warned by the long speech of his or by the reaction of the people around him. As for the audience, there are visual effects that the author recommends for the play in order to illustrate his story clearly. “… in the scenes of the past these boundaries are broken, and the characters enter or leave a room stepping “through” a wall onto the forestage”. Moreover, the play is full of symbols and diverse characters. The ‘new” critic would notice the significance of the names. Some of the names of the characters reflect to their personalities; such as the name of the younger son of Willy whose name is Happy and he is careless and self-assured. Biff (which also means a hit, a clout), is the elder son who has a troubled relationship with his father. He goes against his father’s wish of getting a prestigious job in New York since he finds himself unfit for it. In contrary to his father, he
English 102
Death of a Salesman
“Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller is a narration about American society, its expectations and attitudes that shape people’s lives. It is told through the lives of a salesman Willy, his family and several other people who, in some way, have an impact on them. Willy, who falls into his imaginary word of the past frequently during the day, is regretful for some of his actions in the past that ‘prevented’ him of becoming rich. Now, he wants his sons to succeed who are in their 30s and are of different characters. Although the genre of the play is realism, the author uses attributes of surrealism that help in developing the story. The protagonist of the play has an imaginary word that reminds him of his past; thus helping the audience to see the motives of his or his family’s current actions. The play starts when Willy has already gotten into a trouble because of dreaming while driving which suggests that the play is not about an ordinary person. For the reader, the shift from reality to dreams of Willy is sometimes warned by the long speech of his or by the reaction of the people around him. As for the audience, there are visual effects that the author recommends for the play in order to illustrate his story clearly. “… in the scenes of the past these boundaries are broken, and the characters enter or leave a room stepping “through” a wall onto the forestage”. Moreover, the play is full of symbols and diverse characters. The ‘new” critic would notice the significance of the names. Some of the names of the characters reflect to their personalities; such as the name of the younger son of Willy whose name is Happy and he is careless and self-assured. Biff (which also means a hit, a clout), is the elder son who has a troubled relationship with his father. He goes against his father’s wish of getting a prestigious job in New York since he finds himself unfit for it. In contrary to his father, he