Although Death of a Salesman is not a direct critique of the American dream‚ Arthur Miller strives to show the damaging effects of the idea on the lives of the society. Throughout his life‚ Willy Loman has created a distorted image of the American dream‚ which proved to be the cause for his downfall. The protagonist believed that being well-liked‚ as opposed to hard work and ambition‚ is the key to success. The real tragedy is that Loman became so entangled in his dream that he ignored such values
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The human world has always been a place of struggle - the struggle of those whose instincts tell them what to do‚ come what may‚ and those striving for the respect going both ways. This has formed the societies all around the world‚ different yet rather similar in their core‚ looking for tolerance‚ respect and equity. They passed laws regulating social relationships; they had unwritten laws‚ too. But this was never enough. Until the people at last found the perfect means of translating
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family could be defined as successful. Willy’s affair with another woman‚ while gross and unforgivable‚ allow others in the story to demonstrate the perseverance of love. In fact‚ it is throughout the entirety of Death of a Salesman that Arthur Miller uses his characters to question society‚ and then demonstrate their unwillingness to fall to adversity. Willy Loman‚ while indeed a pathetic man‚ falls through no weakness of his own
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The Death of a Salesman is a play created to evoke thoughts and emotions. The audience sees mental decline and personal demons manifesting themselves in various ways. Three characters stood out more than others. They made the audience feel many more emotions than all the others and cause the strongest reactions. Wily Loman is a salesman who is struggling with everything going on in his world. He loses both his job and his sanity. He is loud‚ abusive‚ and prideful amongst many other things. The opening
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to survive or stay alive is by being aware of your surrounding. As Klosterman states‚ “ From a creative standpoint these fear projections are narrative linchpins; they turn creatures into ideas‚ and that the piont” (387). As long as we look to the future and turn away from the materialistic culture‚ then‚ we are able to escape the zombie way of living. The only way we could sustain our humanity is by being aware of our need to survive. And vowing not to be persuaded into thinking these worldly matters have some of value‚ or raise our status
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Although there are many themes in the play Death of a Salesman‚ one that particularly stands out is the idea of the American Dream. This set of ideals‚ which are recognized nationally in the United States‚ states that since America is a free land it can offer many opportunities for success. It allows people to move upward or forward on both a financial and social scale. Willy Loman genuinely believes in those ideals‚ but he ends up seeing them in a delusional way. To him any man who is humane‚ attractive
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In death of a salesman by Arthur Miller‚ one of the characters works as a salesman who appears to be insecure. Willy the salesman lies to those around him in order to feel emotionally better about his insecurities. Willy looks for anything that will emotionally keep him stable while suppressing his insecurities‚ which leads him to excessively lie to others. Ultimately he is looking for a means to escape his failures in life. Later towards the middle of the story Willy fails to remember or would rather
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"The relationship between an individual and his or her society is responsible of the sacrifices he or she makes." This statement questions the role society plays in the actions and sacrifices of the individual. Playwright Arthur Miller‚ uses Loman to demonstrate that the troubled common man holds the ability to become a tragic hero. Willy holds the strong American Dream of becoming successful and having a leisurely lifestyle yet he struggles through his entire life trying to fulfill that dream. His
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English 12 Period 4 13 December 2015 Abraham Lincoln once said‚ “Nearly all men can stand adversity‚ but if you want to test a man’s character‚ give him power.“ Both men‚ Macbeth and Willy (from the stories “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “The Death of a Salesman”) seek power. Macbeth is yet slightly hesitant on killing the King Duncan in order to see if the witches prophecy is true about him becoming the new king. Willy also‚ is trying to do whatever he can to thrive for power in the business world
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Infidelity is a sickness that can ruin relationships and tear families apart since it is a betrayal of the love that a husband entrusts in his wife and vice versa. In both fictional plays‚ Fences by August Wilson and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller‚ infidelity is a clearly evident theme as both of the protagonists‚ Willy and Troy‚ betray their wives and have relations with other woman. Both men have a sense that what they are doing is wrong‚ but both continue to do so anyway. The major difference
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