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Shanna Ellis PSYC 4160 April 29, 2014 Death of a Salesman: Cheating and Stealing The present paper spotlights merely the immoral matter such as cheating or stealing in Death of a Salesman. Stealing is of a moral subject in the play. Despite the fact that Willy, the Salesman did not steal while he did his business; he pardoned shoplifting and supported his sons, while they stole. In reality, he was more or less swollen with pride for their nerve. He is keen on this in conversing the stealing of lumber when he says "I gave them hell, understand. But I got a couple of fearless characters there." (Miller, 1949)Willy was furthermore culpable of reducing the burglary in the houses there. Most mendacious and unethical things go on in Death of a Salesman. Some of these happenings do crop up in real life, such as being deceitful to consumers and tricking them. The unjust termination of Willy Loman forms another moral problem in the play. The company should have paid Willy a little in lieu of his thirty four years of service for the company. The reader still assesses the devotion that Willy illustrates right through his profession. This further explains that the reader makes out that the company had moral responsibility towards its workers, at the same time as the worker has moral duty towards his company. The notion of faithfulness seems to be shifting for the company and the workforce. Howard, Willy’s boss, had many choices to fire Willy. It is right that Willy was no more one of the prolific salesmen in business and his merchandise was not so much skillful. Furthermore, it is probable that he could have gripped a lesser province better. An additional problem come across, is the concern of corruption. For instance, Happy discu... ... middle of paper ... ...eller. Biff is generating a corrupt visualization of his bygone days, like his father. His fabrication is persuaded as much as necessary to turn into reality. Inept of realizing the idyllic, he grows to be solicitous, making certain the feats of his sons, specifically that of Biff. He perceives that he is fated for prominence in sports. "Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!" (Act 2, Part 7, pg. 105) dejectedly, his efforts dish up only to buttress Biff's prudence of scantiness and lack of personality. Willy finds near the finishing juncture that it is not necessary for him to vend himself. His death, an act in mutiny of the social structure, is a glimpse of his satisfaction to retrieve his vision.
Gioia, Dana, and X.J. Kennedy. "Death of a Salesman" Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, Compact Edition, Interactive Edition. 5th ed. New York: Pearson; Longman Publishing, 2007. 1212-1280. Print.
Willy Loman, one of the few tragic heroes in the modern era, is not very different from other tragic heroes which precede him. Willy, similarly to other protagonists in Aristotle’s tragedies, has a tragic flaw which leads to his eventual downfall. However, Willy’s demise in the 1940s play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, cannot be contributed purely to Willy’s own faults, but also to the actions of surrounding characters. These characters will go on to push Willy into a corner, making it even harder for him to overcome his circumstances, eventually playing a part in the tragic end of Willy Loman. By the end of the play, it is Ben, Biff, and Charley who contributes the greatest to the ultimate demise of Willy Loman.
When Willy sees Bernard, a successful lawyer fighting a case in the Supreme court, in Charley’s office, Willy’s excessive pride shatter. Solidarily, he asks, “Bernard, was it my fault? Y’see? It keeps going around in my mind, maybe I did something to him. I got nothing to give him” (71-72). Until this interaction, Willy blames Biff’s failure on his lack of motivation to succeed; however, after Howard fires Willy, he considers the possibility that he is reprehensible. As a fruitless salesman, Willy cannot cope with his own shortcomings but finds potential in his son Biff; however, Willy attempts to control his son’s life and instill his false perception of success in him. The difference in desire between father and son leads to conflict because Willy is obstinate and unwilling to yield to his son’s ideas; therefore, in a heated confrontation, Biff shouts, “Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am!” (105). Because of Biff’s anagnorisis of “what a ridiculous lie [his] life has been,” Willy, too, realizes his fault. Biff has spent his life trying to live up to Willy’s impossible vision, implying that Willy’s illusions about
Of course the tragedy of “Death of a Salesman” still moves to its ordained conclusion. Willy’s discovery of his son’s unshakeable love, the love that kept him wandering the country, fitfully attempting to fulfill his father’s dreams even as he knew they had poisoned his very soul, cannot release him from the grip of a life spent chasing after the only goal he recognized as worthy of a man’s laying down his life: financial success.
As a husband, he fails to be loyal to his wife, and fails to be an inspiration for his sons because of the tension between himself and Biff, with the discovery of him cheating on his wife. With his perfect dream destroyed, his delusions of lies to himself and family become his disguise, because he does not want to face reality. Willy’s delusional self and interpretation of sustaining success of the American Dream, is completely opposite of reality. “I’m the New England man. I am vital in New England.”(Willy). In actuality, he is not and despite his efforts, it is clear that he is not very well-liked. Not willing to accept truths, the people around him try to support and guide him, though he does not entirely accept it. His stubbornness to get things done on his own, torture of his failures, and lack of reality coils him downward into causing his own death, without truly acknowledging his
the battle in business. Willy's character is full of pride he doesn't really care about. anything else. If he has his pride, he is happy. He has pride in his sons and pride in being independent.
The first comlication which occurs in Act I, is when the reader acknowledges that Willy put his whole life into his sons, Biff and Happy, and they turned their backs on him. Willy always believed that biff would be this great, successful businessman and it turned out that Biff is still searching to find himself, which disappoints Willy in the worst way. The conflicts between Willy and Biff are rooted very deep. It all started when Biff was younger and he had failed his math class. He traveled to Boston to visit Willy, who was on a business trip. He had told that he had let Willy down and comes to find out that Willy is with another woman. Biff leaves and never takes that math class over. Willy felt guilty about this and believes that deep inside that he is responsible for Biff's choices in life and his failure to be successful. This conflict makes Willy weak and tremendously guilty, which stays with him as a reminder.
Willy Loman’s tragic flow leads him to purse the idea that reputation in society has more relevancies in life than knowledge and education to survive in the business. His grand error of wanting recognition drove him crazy and insane and lead to his tragic death. Willy’s hubris makes him feel extremely proud of what he has, when in reality he has no satisfaction with anything in his life. Willy Loman’s sons did not reach his expectations, as a father but he still continued to brag about Biff and Happy in front of Bernard. Willy Loman caused the reader to empathize with him because before his tragic death he did everything he could for his family. Empathy, Hubris , and Willy Loman’s tragic flow all lead him to his death that distend for him the beginning.
Obviously, Willy rationalizes Biff’s behavior in addition to his own. Reality, in the play, is represented by the character of Charley, the woman’s neighbor. He is Willy’s only friend, and offers him a job when the old salesman is fired. Willy’s egotism gets in the way, however, and he cannot bring himself to work for Charley, since this would be an admitted failure.
Death of a Salesman is centered around one man trying to reach the American dream and taking his family along for the ride. The Loman's lives from beginning to end is a troubling story based on trying to become successful, or at least happy. Throughout their lives they encounter many problems and the end result is a tragic death caused by stupidity and the need to succeed. During his life Willy Loman caused his wife great pain by living a life not realizing what he could and couldn't do. Linda lived sad and pathetic days supporting Willy's unreachable goals. Being brought up in this world caused his children to lose their identity and put their futures in jeopardy.
Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ is a play about tragedy. If his protagonist, Willy Loman, is a hero, then he is certainly a flawed one. His major flaw — the stubborn mentality that prevents him from taking risks — is realised too late during a belated epiphany at the close of the story. Willy sacrifices himself in an attempt to make amends and fulfill his ultimate goal of being the best father. His suicide serves as a tragic yet heroic act.
Willy Loman is one of the most tragic heroes in American drama today. He has a problem differentiating reality from fantasy. No one has a perfect life. Everyone has conflicts that they must face sooner or later. The ways in which people deal with these personal conflicts can differ as much as the people themselves. Some insist on ignoring the problem as long as possible, while some attack the problem to get it out of the way. In the case of Willy in Arthur Miller’s, Death of a Salesman, the way he deals with his life as a general failure leads to very severe consequences. Willy never really faced his problems in fact in stead of confronting them he just escapes into the past, whether intentionally or not, to those happier childhood times where problems were scarce. He uses this escape as if it were a narcotic, and as the play progresses, we learns that it can be as dangerous as a drug, because of its ability to addict Willy, and it’s deadliness.
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman examines outside influences on the individual. These influences include society as a whole, the family as a societal unit and beliefs which the individual thinks he should espouse. In order to understand Willy Loman and the struggles with which he is dealing, the society in which he exists must first be understood. He is relying upon a slightly different set of values and motivations than everyone else seems to be, and this sets him apart. A prime example of the rest of society is Willy’s brother, Ben.
Willy's most prominent illusion is that success is dependant upon popularity and personal attractiveness. Willy builds his entire life around this idea and teaches it to his children. When Willy was young, he had met a man named Dave Singleman who was so well-liked that he was able to make a living simply by staying in his hotel room and telephoning buyers. When Dave Singleman died, buyers and salesmen from all over the country came to his funeral. This is what Willy has been trying to emulate his entire life. Willy's need to feel well-liked is so strong that he often makes up lies about his popularity and success. At times, Willy even believes these lies himself. At one point in the play, Willy tells his family of how well-liked he is in all of his towns and how vital he is to New England. Later, however, he tells Linda that no one remembers him and that the people laugh at him behind his back. As this demonstrates, Willy's need to feel well-liked also causes him to become intensely paranoid. When his son, Biff, for example, is trying to explain why he cannot become successful, Willy believes that Biff is just trying to spite him. Unfortunately, Willy never realizes that his values are flawed. As Biff points out at the end of the play, "he had the wrong dreams."
Death of a Salesman can be defined as a tragedy, with Willy Loman as the tragic hero. Willy Loman has a tragic flaw characteristic of all tragic heroes, however, it is not “necessarily a weakness.” Willy has a lot of dignity, and he is unwilling “to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status.” His tragic flaw leads to his demise.