The Theme Of Loss Of Identity In Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman

Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman identifies the loss of identity and a man’s inability to accept the change within him and within society during those times. The underlying thought of the play is the consistent theme of the “American Dream” that Willy believes he’s living by but in reality his interpretation of the dream is slightly flawed. He believes that by becoming successful you have to be well known by everyone and well-liked by everyone. But the American Dream is actually if you work hard you will live a better life. So his ideals are conflicting with the American dreams very rapidly. And things are at a very low point when Willy comes home at the beginning of the play. As the plot develops and characters develop we
When I was twenty one. And, by god I was rich”. (Miller-52) He offered Willy a huge piece of land in Alaska for him and his family. There are multiple reasons he said no to Ben. One which is the most obvious is that Linda said no for him and Willy kind of became a push off and allowed Linda to make the decision for him. Another one is a little bit hidden under it. Willy said no because he doesn’t want his pride to be tarnished by him taking Bens offer. It makes him feel inferior towards Ben. But Willy envy’s Ben because of how “successful” he became. And Willy provides an example of why he doesn’t want to, it’s that he sees a guy travel on the train all the time who is a salesman. And believes that because he is 81 years old working that it’s because he’s “dedicated” to his job. But in reality its most likely because that old salesman is working because he’s flat broke and can’t afford to
Willy grew up this way because his father “ran” away from their family and he wanted to make him proud by becoming popular and well known because he believed that’s what his father wanted. Willy always tried to take care of his family even towards the end of his life he figured that his life is worth money and they could take that money and set themselves up to make them happy in their life. Willy figured this out with the help of Ben’s “spirit” or memory placed in Willy’s head. Willy also seemed to have lost control of his reality and is eventually stuck in the past or stuck in his thoughts of how he wants his family to live without him or how they should take care of each other. It seems that Willy also has a severe case of schizophrenia a case where you see stuff or people that aren’t there. And because Linda made excuses for him he wasn’t officially diagnosed and able to get the correct treatment to help him control his illusions stuck in his