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Character of Willy Loman in death of a salesman
Death of a salesman play review(essay
Briefly comment on the character of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman
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Arthur Miller is one of the greatest playwrights of contemporary history. I also believe he is an extraordinary critic of contemporary American society. His work often portrays American men as heroes bitterly fighting against the entire system of what Americanism is. Arthur Miller is a distinctively dramatic writer. Examples of how he is like this would be his use of dramatic elements in his plays with things such as sound, attention to stage settings, and his dialogues. There are quite a few logical aspects in this story “Death of a Salesman” one being a big debate on its central character. Numerus amounts of critics have reflected on his work and the fragile nature of Willy Loman. Willy is believed to be the protagonist of the play by many …show more content…
The play is about Loman’s struggles to gain success, to be one with American society. He often drags the entire family into situations that are hard to deal with or get out of, and he attempts to influence their lives to gain satisfaction, as he seems resigned to his fate. Loman is the commanding role of head of the household. He’s not afraid to reproach and reprimand people when confronted with a situation, you see this when he continuously reprimands Biff, or talks about him and his laziness in life. However, Willy’s burst of anger are shown to be quite hollow when he interacts with people outside the span of his house this displays further disconnection to …show more content…
Willy never really gives them a chance, trying to influence them with his concepts of success. His son Biff has tasted his father’s version of success the most. He knows that all these achievements are extremely fickle in nature, and wants his father to realize that. The relationship between father and son is volatile, but it is also extremely strong. At the same time, Biff knows the ins and outs of his father, while Willy however knowledgeable he may be about his son’s traits does not want to accept him for who he is. He is always looking for an opportunity to change Biff in order to satisfy some deep personal ambition, but Biff is unaffected by his father’s attempts, even disgusted. This line from the story says a lot about that resentment and bitterness he has, “ HAPPY(getting into bed): I wish you’d have a good talk with him.(The light of their room begins to fade.) BIFF(to himself in bed): That selfish, stupid... HAPPY: Sh... Sleep, Biff.
Willy Loman receives a deserving punishment for many reasons, but the lesson he leaves behind to his sons is one of the most everlasting to his family. Field in his article claims “what he has taught them does not look to him like what he had wanted them to learn” (21), but Willy’s failure is that Biff and Happy have learned exactly what he has taught them their whole lives. Much of the conflict stems from their similarities rather than their differences. Much of the contradictory nature of Willy’s own thoughts are the same as that of Biff’s. For instance when Biff catches Willy with another woman, he is furious with his father shouting, “You fake! You phony little fake!”(2. 745), but even though Biff is angry with his father h...
to be a sensitive subject, as Willy says he became “a moody man”. We also learn Willy disapproves of Biffs’ career as a farmhand. Although Linda tries to defend her elder son by saying that he needs to “find himself” Willy continues to say “not finding yourself at the age of thirty-four is a disgrace” and concludes by labelling his son. as “lazy”, he sees Biff as an underachiever. There is clearly tension.
Willy feels that it is important to find evidence to prove that he is successful to others. One example is when Biff tells his Dad, “I’m takin’ one play for Pop. You watch me, Pop, and when I take off my helmet, that means I’m breakin’ out. Then you watch me crash through the line!” Then Willy tells Biff, “Oh, wait’ll tell this in Boston!” (Miller, 2120). Like he has to prove to the people in Boston how much of a successful father he is. Willy wants his sons to also be successful and better than anyone else. Willy tells his sons, “That’s just what I mean. Bernard can get the best marks in school, y’understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y’understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him” (Miller, 2121). The ironic thing about this is Bernard ended up as a very successful lawyer. Happy and Biff struggle between what they truly need and what Willy has told them they
The relationship between Biff and Willy is not good. Since Biff found that his father Willy was cheating to her mother he left the home. In the play The Death of a Salesman Willy Loman and Biff seems they don’t like each other. Although Willy love his son Biff. When Biff was young Willy was always there supporting Biff in everything and was very proud of him. And he was the son that Willy had attached him dreams upon. According to the statement “I am not the leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were anything but a hard working drummer who landed in the ash-can like all the rest of them”. Biff’s observation was that he sees his father as a failed to achieve, although he work hard to success. Willy loves Biff his oldest son since he was at school. In his mind he was thinking that Biff will become a successful man in life, but it didn’t happen’. Biff is a man who got the job but fail to keep his job. That makes Willy become frustrated. But Biff he tried to find himself. Here Biff compare his self and Willy’. Willy is the hard worker trying to achieve an American dream, and when he look at Ben his brother who achi...
In the onset of the play, Willy told Linda that you “work a lifetime to pay of a house. You finally own it, and there is nobody to live in it” (Cohn 56). This quote shows how Willy strives his whole life to make a home for his family and by the time he sees the realization of that one dream, his family has drifted apart and he is alone with his haunting thoughts and his ghosts. Willy has such high expectations for himself and his sons, and when they all failed to accomplish their dreams, they were unable to accept each other for what they truly were. Willy raised Biff with the idea that success depends on whether or not a person can sell himself and not how smart a person is. Biff’s tragic flaw is his acceptance of Willy’s values and not creating any of his own. When Biff realizes his father is a fake, he becomes a lost individual and he does not speak to his father for 14 years. In Willy’s family it is always Biff who receives recognition, however, Happy strives for attention too...
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.
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.
Although it is never actually said verbatim, it is obvious that Willy has some kind of mental problem that needs attention. Yet even in his own home, he can't get any help because his family can't bring it upon themselves to help him. This instance depicts the way society would rather "let someone else handle it" than take action and go against what is popular. This example is probably the saddest and most heartbreaking part of the play. A final instance of Willy Loman's alienation is the way he excludes himself from society.
Willy Loman’s character in Death of a Salesman portrays him as a tragic hero. Willy Loman continued to want recognition and his reputation, but never forgets about his family. These characteristics describe him as a tragic hero in Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman’s tragic flow leads him to pursue the idea that reputation in society has more relevance in life than knowledge and education to survive in the business. His grand error of wanting recognition drove him crazy and insane and led to his tragic death.
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.
The definition of revolution is a total or radical change. The American Revolution brought about the America we all know today. But did the American Revolution bring about major change? Most people in America today would say yes it was revolutionary. However, I believe there is evidence that would state the contrary to this popularly held belief.
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.
Death of a Salesman is a play relating to the events leading to the downfall of Willy Loman, an aging salesman who is at one time prosperous, but is now approaching the end of his usefulness (Atkinson, 305).
Biff, his 34-year-old son, has been unable to 'find himself' as a result of his inability to settle down (caused by Willy drumming into him the need to'make it big within two weeks'), and Happy, the younger son, lies shamelessly to make it look like he is a perfect Loman scion. In contrast, Charley (who, Willy tells his boys conspiratorially, is not well-liked), is now a successful businessman, and his son, Bernard, a former bespectacled bookworm, is now a brilliant lawyer. We are told how Willy had at least one affair while out on business trips, one particularly that was witnessed by Biff (who broke his faith in Willy). Finally, Willy is haunted by memories of his now-dead older brother, Ben, who at an early age left for Africa: "And when I walked out, I was rich!"