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Character of Willy Loman in death of a salesman
Briefly comment on the character of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman
Character of Willy Loman in death of a salesman
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The American Dream The American Dream is what every US citizen desires to live their life which is the opportunity that every individual gets an equal chance at life such success. Willy Loman is a salesman who believes that someone's life will be successful if you have a popular stance socially, have a personality that everyone loves, or just pure luck. Willy was materialistic and he worried so much about providing for his family such as luxuries that he believed he deserved even though he did not have the sufficient funds to be able to afford these luxuries he still attempted his hardest to try and give his family everything he could.
Willy is a very materialistic person when it comes to having luxuries such as the car that he owns which he had just finished paying payments on and it was already out of date, also how he is trying to please his wife by wanting to buy her a new refrigerator. He wants to have what other families have even though he can not afford them making his debt increase over time, Struggling his whole life and never having a break in his life is not enough
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"The Secret Life of Willy Loman: A Miller-Thurber Connection." Midwest Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 4, Summer2012, p. 317. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=78091474&site=ehost-live.
Siegel, Lee. "Willy Loman's Secret." Nation, vol. 294, no. 18, 30 Apr. 2012, p. 28. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=74412109&site=ehost-live.
Ribkoff, Fred. "Shame, Guilt, Empathy, and the Search for Identity in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman." Modern Drama, vol. 43, no. 1, Spring2000, p. 48. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=3952275&site=ehost-live.
THOMPSON, TERRY W. "Built Like Adonises": Evoking Greek Icons in Death of a Salesman." Midwest Quarterly, vol. 57, no. 3, Spring2016, p. 276. EBSCOhost,
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 8th ed.Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford, 2008. 1908-1972. Print.
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.
Miller, Arthur. "Death of a Salesman" in Literature, Reading, Reacting, Writing, Compact Fourth Edition. Harcourt, Inc.. 2000. 1187, 1184, 1221, 1229, & 1230.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman,The Heath Introduction to Drama, Fifth Edition. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath and Company, 1996, pp. 731-808.
Koprince, Susan. "The Secret Life of Willy Loman: a Miller-Thurber Connection." 2012/06/22. Student Resources in Context. Monroe High School, Monroe, NC. Web. 2 November 2017. <http://find.galegroup.com/openurl/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&req_dat=info:sid/gale:ugnid:ncowl&res_id=info:sid/gale:SUIC&ctx_enc=info:ofi:enc:UTF-8&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:unknown&rft.artnum=A297138805>.
... Helene Wickham, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Death of a Salesman. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice, 1983.
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.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem. New York: Penguin, 1998. Print.
There are many angles that Willy Loman can be examined from to sort out what type of man he really was. He was a man who lacked vision, drive, and ambition, which lead to his failure. Willy believed that he would one day retire with all the riches that a successful businessman deserved. During the time period he lived in, it was a given that if you worked hard at a profession the American Dream was a guaranteed deal. Willy thought he had everything it took to be the best; unfortunately he lacked the necessary prudentials to succeed.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Seventh Edition. X.J. Kennedy, and Dana Gioia. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 1999. 1636-1707.
Tierney, John. "The Big City; Willy Loman: Revenge Of a Nephew." The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 Feb. 1999. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
“The Jungle is dark but full of diamonds,willy”(Miller 134). Willy Loman is the main character in the novel Death Of A Salesman and Mr. Loman was the type of person that would always focus on the simple things. Instead of looking for new opportunities and for a better change, everything went downhill for Mr. Loman. For that reason, Arthur Miller utilizes the title Death Of A Salesman not just to predict Willy Loman’s death and failure, but also how Mr. Loman’s dreams died alongside him. Showing that one little mistake can make a big change in your life.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman: Text and Criticism. Ed. Gerald Weales. Viking Critical Library. New York: Penguin, 1996.
What is the "American Dream"? The "American Dream" cannot be defined. I know that my "American Dream" consists of a Porsche, a large house, and a happy family. Willy Loman's definition does not differ greatly from mine although while trying to pursue this dream, Willy's mind slowly drifted further and further away from reality. The "American Dream" is the idea that any man or woman can make his or her own fortune, despite his or her past. Willy is trying to achieve success through this thought, believing that being "well liked" and working hard will be enough to ensue his success. Willy was wrong.
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.