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Role of family in death of a salesman
Role of family in death of a salesman
Death of a salesman short paper analysis
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Harold Loman (Miller 79), or Happy as one may know him, never truly saw the epiphany of the ‘American Dream.’ He was just “blown full of hot air,” he never knew what was reality and what wasn’t (105). From the day that Happy was born, to the day his father died, and most likely till the day he would die, he never once saw the truth behind his ‘phony’ of a father. Happy, not only being portrayed as a static character, but also somewhat of a stock character, would end up just like his father, dying the “Death of a Salesman” (111)
As a young lad Happy was the younger of the sons, just like his father. His older brother Biff Loman, was prototype of today’s ignorant jock; he was handsome, well built and athletic, exceptionally popular with both sexes, yet he had no intelligence, book smart or wit, what so ever, in essence he was the epitome of today’s high school athletes. Their father had increasingly more affection for Biff, and Happy was always thrown into his shadow. Like Willy, Happy was the neglected by his father as well. From Happy’s beginning he tries to draw the attention from Biff towards himself. When Willy is talking to Biff, congratulating him on his asinine efforts, Happy buts in multiple times with, “look dad I’m losing weight…” (17). Then near his father’s demise, after Willy and Biff get in a fight and then Willy condoles Biff, he tries to make his father notice him again with an ‘out of the blue’ comment, “I’m getting married, Pop, don’t forget it…” (107). The...
support is a pathetic effort to protect his identity. Linda will never admit to herself,
Willy Loman’s false pride leads him to believe that he has been successful as a father. He remembers how he was once looked up by his children, especially by his son Biff. However, Willy fails to realize that the relationship he once had with his son Biff has been broken, due to the fact that Biff caught Willy in an affair he was having with another girl; Biff was heartbroken to fin...
The overarching theme in Miller’s play is living the American dream. Willy believes he is the best salesman. That he is well known all over New England. Which would mean he was living the American dream. Willy tells the boys, “I never have to wait in line to see a buyer. ‘Willy Loman is here!’ That’s all they have to know, and I go right through” (Miller, 2121). Even though he does not make a lot of money and people do not show up at his funeral. Linda asked, “Why didn’t anyone come? But where are all the people he knew?” (Miller, 2174).
Happy Loman has grown up to be a well-adjusted man of society. He has developed from a follower to a potentially successful businessman. Throughout his childhood, Happy always had to settle for second fiddle. Willy, his father, always seems to focus all his attention on Happy's older brother Biff. The household conversation would constantly be about how Biff is going to be a phenomenal football star, how Biff will be attending the University of Virginia and be the big man on campus, how Biff is so adulated among his friends and peers, and so on. Young Happy was always in Biff's shadow, always competing for his father's attention but failing each time. Happy would resort to such antics as laying on his back and pedaling his feet backwards to capture his father's attention but to no avail. Willy would continue to not take notice of his younger son and maintain his attention on other matters that he thought were of greater importance. Growing up under these conditions is what motivated Happy to be the man he is today.
BANG! Your father is dead. Within a few seconds, although he attempted many times, your father dies. He gave up. All the fights, all the disrespect, and all the struggles are behind you. However, all the hope, all the passion, and all the love is still there. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the main conflict is between Willy Lowman and his son Biff. Most of their struggles are based on disrespect; however, much of the tension throughout the play is also caused by the act of giving up.
...the passive salesman and the aggressive quitter. Where Willy Loman quickly makes society's ideals his own and then falls victim to his own dissatisfaction, Lester achieves happiness because he rejects the standards that society sets for a middle-aged man.
Arthur Miller provides us with a character who is both pathetic and tragic. Willy Loman spent his life chasing a false dream. His failure to live the "true" American Dream was what brought about his own downfall.**
Biff is a perfect symbol for society in the play. Biff knows his father has problems, but even as a son, "can't get near him. " Even though he accepts his father as a fake later in life, Biff tries over and over again to reach his father and to help him, but an unseen barrier prevents Biff from doing so. Happy is the type that knows what's going on with his father but won't try to help him.
Barack Obama made history by being elected President of the United States, twice. This is just one more example that the American Dream is without a doubt achievable. Its pursuit is not easy; it requires undeniable hard work, modesty and optimism. Armed with these characteristics, seekers of this lifestyle will undeniably succeed. Success, though, is an interesting concept, for it can entail many superficial qualities. Willy Loman, the tragic hero of the play Death of a Salesman, sees only the superficial qualities of this dream. He views success solely as likeability (linked with attractiveness), and wealth. Ignoring all methods to honorably achieve these, Arthur Miller demonstrates how Willy’s search for the superficial qualities of the American Dream lead him to his own despair.
Although Willy’s relationship with Biff was scarring, conceivably his relationship with Happy was even more tragic. Happy was ignored by Willy. Where Biff could not measure up to Willy’s high expectations, nothing was expected of Happy at all. Happy tried unsuccessfully to get his father’s attention by calling Willy’s attention to his having lost weight. Willy does not respond. Interestingly enough, Happy is the son who is following in his father’s footsteps but again, Willy does not notice. Where Biff will never measure up to Willy’s expectations for him, Happy will never measure up to the expectations he has for himself.
“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.
That kind of favoritism has a profound effect on a child, in order to be acknowledged by his father, Happy believes he must become Willy’s version of success by acquiring wealth and popularity. Happy has been living his entire life in a way that he believes will bring him attention from his father, yet his father ignores him and he becomes more miserable that if he had gone his own way. When a father chooses to favor upon one son over another, the father-son relationship occurs as well as in the son’s life. Within this relationship, the responsibility of the father is to provide values, a role model and leadership for his sons. In almost every family, the sons will look to their father as role model and a hero, which in this case Biff does but Happy does not. It is in the father’s best interest to use this opportunity to give these qualities and allow his sons to become responsible
This provides the reader with evidence that the ideas that Willy presented to his sons would make history repeat itself in the next generation. Unlike his brother and father Biff Loman feels compelled to seek the truth about himself. He is Willy's pride and joy, being the first-born; Biff is the personification of all of Willy's dreams, he would be respected and "well liked". As a teenager, Biff worshipped his father. He was everything Willy wanted him to be -- star athlete, popular with the girls, "well liked" by everyone, he was "Like a young god.
It is evident that Happy only found happiness in pleasing Willy. Even though Willy ignored Happy, his devotion to his father was strong and this is evident because he would stand up to Biff and defend Willy. Happy states: All right, boy. I’m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He has a good dream. It’s the only dream you can have to come out number-one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I’m gonna win it for him” (Miller, 139). This quote is said at Willy Loman’s grave and Happy says that he will continue his father’s illusions and become the next generations, Willy Loman. Willy always favoured his son Biff, and it turned out that Happy was the son who obeyed his
Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” ends with the tragic suicide of Willy Loman, the lead character. It is the end of a life spent futilely chasing “the American dream”. Willy has been unsuccessful in achieving the success he so desperately craves because his perception of the formula for success is fatally flawed. Willy believes that the American dream is only attainable for the popular and attractive few, and he does not believe he belongs to this elite group. Yet, Willy still works his entire life pursuing his dream.