Specific and Societal Shortcomings
Shortcomings, whether it is of a person, society, situation, or nation, are often revealed through literature and media. In Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, the specific shortcomings of American life are explored, with an emphasis on social, economic, and personal issues. Willy Loman could be seen as a possible embodiment of all of these flaws, but an argument could be equally made that he is an innocent victim, due to the inherent problems in all societies, but especially in American life.
Willy’s social skills are less than impressive. His frequent public outbursts are embarrassing to those around him and also inappropriate for someone of his age. In public, his sons feel the need to act as if “he’s just a guy” (Miller 115). His outbursts, first at his former employer’s office, and then later at a restaurant, continue to get worse and worse, causing awkward feelings between him, his friends and family, and the general public. Societally acceptable behavior is definitely not one of the eldest Loman’s strong suits. As time progresses, America has strayed further and further from this aforementioned acceptable behavior. Those from before Loman’s time would have described even his most normal actions as, especially “in the business world…, crazy”, and because of all his added “crazy” actions, he feels that those in the business world “don’t seem to take to [him]” (61; 36). He fears that his sons will be “a worm like Bernard,” and his obsession with these impressions that they would make on people ends up backfiring and practically ruining the rest of Biff’s life (40). However, it could be argued that Willy is simply a product of his environment. Everything that befalls him j...
... middle of paper ...
... downfall as well.
Many personal issues in American society are also explored through Miller’s telling of Willy Loman’s life, or rather, his road to death. These factors interact and join together, causing greater and greater troubles; his unsound economic and social statuses are both a factor and a product of his unstable family life. In a country plagued with debt and a fifty percent divorce rate, it’s obvious that the “American dream” isn’t necessarily a reality. An obsession with the “American dream” and an obsession with trying to achieve it will almost always lead to the exposure of the reality of American life—all that glitters isn’t gold. Even a seemingly perfect, nuclear family can have the biggest of issues. In some cases these issues are completely hidden, in others they are completely obvious, and yet other situations may be somewhere in between.
The play, “Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller, presents Willy Loman, as a salesman, who fails to earn a living and slowly loses his mind. Willy continuously seeks the past to find out where he went wrong. During his years in life, Willy wanted his two sons, Biff and Happy to become someone they’re not; Willy wanted them to become a salesman like him. However, because of his obsession in the American Dream of easy success and wealth, he created a life full of lies for himself and his sons. In the end because of “his misconception of himself as someone capable of greatness” leads to his downfall and the end of his life (Death of a Salesman).”
In brief, it is apparent that Willy’s own actions led to not only his own demise, but his children’s as well. The salesman tragically misinterpreted the American Dream for only the superficial qualities of beauty, likeability and prosperity. Perhaps if Willy had been more focused on the truth of a person’s character, rather than purely physical aspects, his family’s struggles and his own suicide could have been avoided. On the whole, Arthur Miller’s play is evidence that the search for any dream or goal is not as easy and the end result may seem. The only way to realize the objective without any despair is the opposite of Willy Loman’s methods: genuineness, perseverance and humility.
Willy Loman was an unsettled soul. With vivid, frequent flashbacks, he suffered an inability to progress through the future productively. His thoughts about the inability to obtain his American dream haunted him, and affected his life negatively. Willy worked hard for a living, and expected the same from his kin. His son, Biff worked hard, but Willy believed that Biff’s work did not build dignity. Willy’s youngest son, Happy, followed in his father’s footsteps in sales as well as the promiscuous behaviors.
Although, his narcissism exhibits the common issue with American capitalism-it leads to greediness, unhappiness, and anger. This yearning for success can also cause an obsession with appearance and the self, which is a main focus in Willy Loman’s life. He says that to get somewhere, it is good to be “built like (an) Adonis,” which he tells his sons. At one point in his life, he felt he never had to ask for anything, and that when he walked in a room, he got what he wanted because “‘Willy Loman is here!’” Eventually, Willy ages and lacks the flair that he once had, and is left with unimpressive salesman skills. Due to America’s obsession with appearance, old-age is a plague to American society. The superficiality causes those to enjoy charisma over passion. This leads to arrogance, a common American worker to be. Willy Loman is a mirror being held up to the faces of American worker-bees. He avoided risks, and continued living a monotonous, easy life. Miller is attempting to say, monotony is a dangerous habit America has. This play intends to steer readers into a direction of following their own path, rather than following the norm; the norm is nothing new, and fails to reach anything
Like countless characters in a play, Willy struggles to find who he is. Willy’s expectations for his sons and The Woman become too high for him to handle. Under the pressure to succeed in business, the appearance of things is always more important than the reality, including Willy’s death. The internal and external conflicts aid in developing the character Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.
Miller amalgamates the archetypal tragic hero with the mundane American citizen. The result is the anti-hero, Willy Loman. He is a simple salesman who constantly aspires to become 'great'. Nevertheless, Willy has a waning career as a salesman and is an aging man who considers himself to be a failure but is incapable of consciously admitting it. As a result, the drama of the play lies not so much in its events, but in Willy's deluded perception and recollection of them as the audience gradually witness the tragic demise of a helpless man.
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman tells the story of a man trying and failing to obtain success for him and his family. Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, has been trying to ‘make it big’ for the majority of his life. Miller’s play explores the themes of abandonment and betrayal and their effects on life’s success. Willy sees himself as being abandoned by his older brother, Ben, and constantly views his sibling’s betrayal as one that changed his prospects forever. Willy, in turn, is guilty of a different type of abandonment and betrayal of his sons, especially Biff.
There has been much discussion of Arthur Miller’s play Death Of A Salesman, in subsequent years since its release, arguing different perspectives of many aspects of the play. In B.S. Field Jr.’s article “Hamartia in Death of Salesman”, he puts forth his views detailing why he feels Willy Loman is adequately and justly punished for his many crimes against his family. By highlighting literary evidence, Field is able to detail a strong argument against Willy as an amoral human. Although Willy is justly punished for his crimes, Field fails to go into the depth of Willy’s crimes. The extent of Willy Loman’s corruption makes his crimes far more severe, for he has left his family in shambles and to continue to be his future conduits. Willy Loman’s addiction to his own delusions have made him curse his sons to the same amoral mind frame that he had put on himself, and continues to use against his wife, while still feeling convinced he is a well liked person that deserves to be treated better than he treats others.
Miller uses the misapplication and failure of the "American Dream" to captivate the audience and make them feel sorrow for both Willy and Biff Loman. It is heart breaking to see this sixty-year-old man finally come to the realization that he is really not who he thought he was. In addition to that, the fact is pointed out by his own son, who turns out to be wiser than him. Unlike Willy, Biff finds out who he is, and that the American Dream is not for everyone.
Many dilemmas throughout the recent decades are repercussions of an individual's foibles. Arthur Miller represents this problem in society within the actions of Willy Loman in his modern play Death of a Salesman. In this controversial play, Willy is a despicable hero who imposes his false value system upon his family and himself because of his own rueful nature, which is akin to an everyman. This personality was described by Arthur Miller himself who "Believe[s] that the common man is as apt a subject for a tragedy in its highest sense as kings were" (Tragedy 1).
“…He died the death of a salesman, in his green velvet slippers in the smoker of the new York, New haven, and Hartford going into Boston-when he died, hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral.” (Miller, 1949). In the “Death of a Salesman”, by Arthur Miller, the tale of a hardworking father named Willy Loman who faces cruel challenges is told. He covers up the ugliest parts of his life up with lies even though he means well, but this makes his mind sick. The theme of this novel is to be true to whom you are and lead an honest life. The author develops his theme through the characterization of Willy Loman with his mind, his relationship to his family, and the way his family used to live.
“Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller in 1948 attempts to give the audience an unusual glimpse into the mind of a Willy Loman, a mercurial 60-year-old salesman, who through his endeavor to be “worth something”, finds himself struggling to endure the competitive capitalist world in which he is engulfed. Arthur Miller uses various theatrical techniques to gradually strip the protagonist down one layer at a time, each layer revealing another truth about his distorted past. By doing this, Miller succeeds in finally exposing a reasonable justification for Willy’s current state of mind. These techniques are essential to the play, as it is only through this development that Willy can realistically be driven to motives of suicide.
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller concerns itself with the fall of a simple man perpetually in a steadfast state regarding his own failure in a success-driven society. The protagonist of the play, Willy Loman, will follow a tragic trajectory that will eventually lead to his suicide. Arthur Miller's tragic play is an accurate portrayal of the typical American myth that sustains an extreme craving for success and a belief in the illusion of the American dream, a dream attainable only by a handful of people. Having chosen a career in sales Willy Loman constantly aspires to become 'great'. Nevertheless, Willy is a poor aging salesman that considers himself to be a failure when comparing himself to his successful father and brother, but he is incapable of consciously admitting it. Consequently, Willy will measure his level of success with the level of success attained by his offspring, particularly his eldest son Biff. Their difficult relationship contribute to the play's main plot. Willy unfolds his deluded perception and recollection of the events as the audience gradually witnesses the tragic downfall of a man shadowed by a mental illness that has already began to take it's toll on his mind and personality.
Arthur Miller's, "Death of a Salesman," shows the development and structure that leads up to the suicide of a tragic hero, Willy Loman. The author describes how an American dreamer can lose his self-worth by many negative situations that occur throughout his life. The structure and complications are essential because it describes how a man can lose his way when depression takes over.
Willy Loman is a firm believer in the "American Dream:" the notion that any man can rise from humble beginnings to greatness. His particular slant on this ideal is that a man succeeds by selling his charisma, that to be well liked is the most important asset a man can have. He made a living at this for 30 years, but as he enters the reclining years of his life, people have stopped smiling back and he can no longer sell the firm's goods to support himself. His ambition was one of greatness, to work hard and to be a member of the firm; and if he could not succeed in this respect, that he should at least be well-liked and be able to sell until the day of his death: When his friends would flock from all over the country to pay their respects.