The Ideal of Socialism in, The Death of a Salesman
Socialism: What Is The Ideal?
As a Salesman myself, I feel that I can relate to Death of a Salesman, to the extent of understanding what the job entails. In this essay, I shall depict the effects that socialism had on the characters of Death of a Salesman. I will include the social struggle of society, the contradictions involved, and the ideas of success, the character’s goals, and Willy’s downfall. I shall also include how Socialism has affected the real world and our nation’s society.
Willy Loman’s world enticed him to become something he was not. Society placed a burden upon Willy’s head, of which he could not bare. “But he was agonized by his awareness of being in a false position, so constantly haunted by the hollowness of all he had placed his faith in, so aware, in short, that he must somehow be filled in his spirit or fly apart, that he staked his very life on the ultimate assertion” (Miller 1594). Miller’s statement implies that Willy was in such a rut, knowing that he could not afford to pay for his appliances or even for his automobile, that he risked everything to succeed. The government however, in Willy’s world, defined what succeeding really is. “Socialism means the substitution of governmental judgment for that of the individual and for individual ambition as well” (Myers 3). Willy’s ambitions involved obtaining a new career closer to his family and being able to afford all of his material objects. “Committed himself so completely to the counterfeits of dignity and the fake coinage embodied in his idea of success that he can prove his existence only by bestowing ‘power’ on his posterity, a power deriving from the sale of his last asset, himself” (Miller 1594). It is clear that the government played a major role in creating those ambitions. Biff’s social struggle included living up to his father’s expectations, of which his father did not necessarily approve of, until the end of the
playwright. The government as a whole decided
As a Salesman myself, I feel that I can relate to Death of a Salesman, to the extent of understanding what the job entails. In this essay, I shall depict the effects that socialism had on the characters of Death of a Salesman. I will include the social struggle of society, the contradictions involved, and the ideas of success, the character’s goals, and Willy’s downfall. I shall also include how Socialism has affected the real world and our nation’s society.
Willy Loman’s world enticed him to become something he was not. Society placed a burden upon Willy’s head, of which he could not bare. “But he was agonized by his awareness of being in a false position, so constantly haunted by the hollowness of all he had placed his faith in, so aware, in short, that he must somehow be filled in his spirit or fly apart, that he staked his very life on the ultimate assertion” (Miller 1594). Miller’s statement implies that Willy was in such a rut, knowing that he could not afford to pay for his appliances or even for his automobile, that he risked everything to succeed. The government however, in Willy’s world, defined what succeeding really is. “Socialism means the substitution of governmental judgment for that of the individual and for individual ambition as well” (Myers 3). Willy’s ambitions involved obtaining a new career closer to his family and being able to afford all of his material objects. “Committed himself so completely to the counterfeits of dignity and the fake coinage embodied in his idea of success that he can prove his existence only by bestowing ‘power’ on his posterity, a power deriving from the sale of his last asset, himself” (Miller 1594). It is clear that the government played a major role in creating those ambitions. Biff’s social struggle included living up to his father’s expectations, of which his father did not necessarily approve of, until the end of the
playwright. The government as a whole decided
Cited: Kimball, Roger. "The Death of Socialism?" Literary Reference Center. Web. 21 July 2010. Miller, Arthur. "Death of a Salesman." Literature and Its Writers. 5th ed. 1423-492. Print. Miller, Arthur. "On Death of a Salesman as an Ameircan Tragedy." Literature and Its Writers. 5th ed. 1592-597. Print. Myers, William Starr. "Introduction Materialism and Socialism." Literary Reference Center. Web. 21 July 2010. Nilsen, Helge Normann. "Marxism and the Early Plays of Arthur Miller." Literature and Its Writers. 5th ed. 1608-611. Print.