Catharsis of the Lomans

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Natsumi Kajisa Dr. Brett A. Hudson Literature 2030-002 1 May 2013 Catharsis of the Lomans Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” is a tragic drama about the Loman family living in Brooklyn, which is based on the mundane struggles of every day life, or realism. The protagonist, Willy Loman, is a traveling salesman who is obsessed with the intangible antagonist, which is a distorted view of the American dream, and causes him and his sons to be obscured from the haze that block their clarity of reality to become successful in life. In act II, the Lomans experience a catharsis, or the process of releasing and providing relief from strong, repressed emotions, because of Biff’s impatience with the lies being told in the house. The catharsis purifies their minds from the lies, which reveals their character through the dialogue and reveals their true selves through Biff’s confrontation with Linda and Willy after they return home from Frank’s Chop House. Linda is a strong, positive, sweet wife and mother who is an enabler for Willy. She deeply loves Willy and says, “Willy, darling, you’re the handsomest man in the world” (Miller 1415). She knows how much he was looking forward to eating out with his sons. Therefore, when Biff and Happy abandoned Willy in the bathroom of Frank’s Chop House, she became furious, which is foreshadowed when the boys enter the kitchen: “Inside, Linda, unseen is seated, Willy’s coat on her lap. She rises ominously and quietly and moves toward Happy, who backs up into the kitchen, afraid” (Miller 1457). Happy brought her flowers as if it would fix everything and saying that Willy had a good time, but Linda bursts at them to leave and reveals how she feels about her sons. Linda shouts, “Did you have to go to women tonight? You and your lousy rotten whores!” (Miller 1457) She does not want the boys to torment Willy anymore and orders Happy to
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