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Structure, Themes, and Motifs in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
At first glance, Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman appears to be a simple story of the tragic life of an ordinary man. Through a few flashbacks, it would seem that his whole dreary life is told and that is about it. However, this can not be the case, as we know that Arthur Miller is one of the greatest playwrights alive. After reading the play for the fourth or maybe fifth time, I became fully aware of the intricate structure, many themes, and different motifs that Miller used to make this play a classic.
In the case of this work, the title would just about sum it up. It is about a salesman, Willy Loman, who is quite ordinary and very unsuccessful. In the end, to no ones surprise he kills himself. The play takes place in the span of three days (including the funeral) and revolves around the return of Willy's two sons who are grown up. He has worked for decades traveling all over New England selling goods for a firm and seems to think that because he is well liked (which really isn't all that true), he is successful. He wishes that his sons too could be like him while they know that they will never be decent businessmen. This is a source of major conflict between the brothers, Biff and Hap, and Willy. Linda, Willy's wife, is very naive and thinks that her husband is just an innocent confused old man and faithfully loves him. She can not stand to see her sons argue against their father even thought they often are right.
Through flashbacks and events in the play, it is apparent that Willy, at least subconsciously, believes his life has been terrible. He wishes he could have been as great as Uncle Ben, who made his fortunes in the African diamond mines and not on the rice patty. Willy was having an affair with another woman in Boston and Biff found out about it after his last year in high school. Incidentally, this event probably led to Biff's failure to complete math in summer school, which led to him not graduating high school. Willy tried numerous times to commit suicide with his car and the gas furnace. In the end, the salesman became convinced that he was worth more dead than alive and finally succeeded at something, killing himself with his car.
Throughout the play, Willy has hallucinations of his brother Ben, who left Willy when he was young, “Well, I was just a baby, of course, only three or four years old,” (Miller 47), and the man later offered to take Willy with him, but Willy had a dream “There’s a man eighty-four years old-” (Miller 86) and he felt that he was going to accomplish that dream. “Willy retreats into a dream world consisting of his roseate recollections of the past and of fantasies,” (Hadomi), he hallucinates often, and this is a better way of saying he’s delusional. He did not, he failed miserably, he had to borrow money from Charley “If you can manage it-- I need a hundred and ten dollars,” (Miller 96), then he pretended it was a loan from him “I’m keeping an account of everything, remember,” (Miller 96), that he would pay back “I’ll pay every penny back,” (Miller 96), but Linda and Charley knew he was not going to pay any of it back. Willy had a hard time accepting defeat, and he wanted his boys to succeed where he failed, but Biff was always better with physical labor “when all you really desi...
In a flashback Willy has, it is shown that Willy jokes about Charley’s son, Bernard, a “nerd” who helps Biff with his math so he doesn’t fail, by claiming that despite Bernard being smart, he will not get far in life because he is not as “liked: as Biff, who at the time was a football star. After Biff saw his father with is mistress, he began viewing his father more negatively, rejecting all of Willy’s future plans for him, calling him a “phony little fake”. Biff’s rejection of Willy’ future plans for him sends Willy into a downward spiral, making him more and more delusional. Ironically, Willy failed to sell his plans to his own son, when his main profession is selling products to people, as he is a
Murray, Edward. “The Thematic Structure in Death of a Salesman.” Readings on Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman. San Diego: Greenhaven Press Inc., 1999.
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.
At the beginning of the play it is evident that he cannot determine the realities of life, and so he repeatedly contradicts himself to establish that his conclusion is correct and opinion accepted. These numerous contradictions demonstrate that Willy is perturbed of the possibility that negative judgements may come from others. Willy strongly believes that “personality always wins” and tells his sons that they should “be liked and (they) will never want”. In one of Willy’s flashbacks he recalls the time when his sons and him were outside cleaning their Chevy. Willy informs Biff and Happy the success of his business trips and how everyone residing in Boston adores him. He mentions that due to the admiration of people he does not even have to wait in lines. He ultimately teaches his sons that being liked by others is the way to fulfilling one’s life and removing your worries. These ideals, that one does not need to work for success, demonstrate Willy’s deluded belief of achieving a prosperous life from the admiration and acceptance of others. This ultimately proves to be a false ideology during his funeral, when an insufficient amount of people arrive. Willy constantly attempts to obtain other’s acceptance through his false tales that depict him as a strong, successful man. In the past, he attempts to lie to his wife, Linda, about the amount of wealth he has attained during his
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.
The play “Death of the Salesman” by Arthur Miller, introduced the dramatic story of Willy Loman, a salesman who has reached the end of the road. Willy Loman is a washed-up salesman who is facing hard times. In “Death of a Salesmen,” Willy Loman has been deluding himself over the years to the point he cannot understand what is wrong with him. This leads to the problems with is sons, wife, and career; it ultimately is what ends his life. I believed that the character of Willy 's delusion caused him to fall. While there were many contributing factors to Willy 's demise, his failure to cope with such circumstances and to become trapped in his own delusion is what tears Willy apart from himself and his family. Rather than facing the reality, Willy
First of all, it is important for us to know what logic in itself is. Logic comes from a Greek word “ logike”Firstly it describes the use of valid reason in performing an activity. Secondly it tends to name normative study of what reasoning is.Logic was studied in several civilizations from China to Greece.
Having diversity in the workplace allows for greater growth within a company due to the different opinions and perspectives of people from all walks of life. To remain competitive, many companies are being advised to recruit, develop and retain men and women of all different backgrounds, ages and races (Cox and Blake, 1991). By doing this and also accommodating the needs of their demographically diverse workforce, companies will become much more appealing places to work therefore reducing turnover and absentee
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is a story about the dark side of the "American Dream". Willy Loman's obsession with the dream directly causes his failure in life, which, in turn, leads to his eventual suicide. The pursuit of the dream also destroys the lives of Willy's family, as well. Through the Lomans, Arthur Miller attempts to create a typical American family of the time, and, in doing so, the reader can relate to the crises that the family is faced with and realize that everyone has problems.
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is a tragic play about an aging and struggling salesman, Willy Loman, and his family’s misguided perception of success. In Willy’s mind, being well-liked is more important than anything else, and is the means to achieving success. He teaches this flawed idea to his sons, Biff and Happy, and is faithfully supported by his wife Linda. Linda sympathizes with Willy’s situation, knowing that his time as an important salesman has passed. Biff and Happy hold their father to impossibly high standards, and he tries his best to live up to them. This causes Willy to deny the painful reality that he has not achieved anything of real value. Willy’s obsession with a false dream results in his losing touch with reality and with himself.
Differences are an undeniable common thread in American culture and the global community at large. It should be expected that every individual is unique in his or her own experiences, views, beliefs philosophies and ideologies. Fortunately, these distinctive differences that have become a driving force for change and acceptance in the workplace environment. “Workforce diversity acknowledges the reality that people differ in many ways, visible or invisible, [by] age, gender, marital status, social status, disability, sexual orientation, religion, personality, ethnicity and culture (Shen, Chanda, D’Netto, & Monga, 2009, p. 235). Support of individuals’ unique differences has assisted organizations in creating a business culture, which allows its workforce to thrive. Moreover, effective management of diversity has enabled organizations to better understand the many facets of the communities they reach and has allowed companies to successfully compete in an increasingly competitive global market.
Diversity in the workplace has been a hot topic around organizations in the United States for several years. Diversity is the state of employing a staff of people that are different within the same organization. It includes, but is not limited to age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and even education (Nixon & West, 2000). Many organizations participate in diversity programs to ensure that all employees felt like they are part of the team not discriminated against. Research shows that having a diverse work environment improves profitability, employee performance, and better customer service.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (n.d.) defines diversity as “the condition of having or being composed of differing elements; especially, the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization”. In general, diversity is often only related with differences in race and gender. In actuality, numerous elements can determine diversification in the workplace. Elements such as skills, abilities, experience, values, age, and education could be part of a diverse footprint in an organization. Other important attributes related to diversity include disabilities, religion, sexual orientation, and marital status (Guillame et al., 2013). The adoption of diversity in the workplace has the potential to increase organizational effectiveness in many ways. Organizations that practice diversity tend to increase their capacity to innovate and make better decisions.
Diversity in the workplace is very important in today’s global workforce because workers in the economy all over the world are currently made up of many different ethnicities, varied cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds. People that are involved in management such as managers, and supervisors could greatly benefit from being accustomed to diversity in the workplace because their job entails dealing with a multicultural work environment on a daily basis. Knowing how to handle diversity in the workforce and having the necessary skills for supervisors would be beneficial not only to them but also to the success of the company and economy because a strong, diversified workforce will create a more “creative, innovative, and productive workforce.” (Kerby, 2012).