Due to General Zaroff’s savage doings for satisfaction, he seems to have lost his humanity and de-valued human life far more than the Villagers and their customs did. Both characters in these two short stories felt that what they were doing was the right thing. In “The Lottery,” they mention “that over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery.”(Jackson, paragraph 32). Old Man Warner calls the north village a “pack of fools” stating that, that is not the way to go. He believes they must carry on this tradition and he never has come to realized how awful it is.
No longer useful to the story, he is 'killed off' rather quickly after being effectively killed of as a living, breathing character. It should be his father's moral failures that 'humanize' him, but it seems in reality even more the fact that he now works in a gas station. Amir is such a mean character that he is almost glad that his father has fallen, never mind that the man is working himself to death to pay to educate Amir and give him an aristocratic wedding. It is obscene that Amir accepts the wedding, since he is, more than his father, an American now. He perhaps should have at least entertained the possibility of not allowing his father to spend so much money.
He, as well as the other townspeople, believe that because of their yearly sacrifice, God blesses the town and keeps them out of harm. The irony in this however, is that the lottery is harmful. The people of the town believe it is okay to stone somebody to death every year because God blesses them. Even though this is illegal, the people, and especially the mayor, believes that if they stop doing this, the town will stop having good luck. Just because they’ve done the same thing for years, does this make it socially justifiable?
Willy knows deep down that he is overall a pretty unsuccessful man but he continues to tell his two sons that he is successful and that all they need in life is to be well liked in order to be like him. Although this is very untrue and Willy is not very well liked and is certainly not successful he puts on a front like its all one needs in life. Willy thinks that his attempts to kill himself are secret but all along Linda knows what he is doing
Mr Birling is a very selfish man who ‘has to make his way’ and doesn’t think of anyone but himself and his family; he thinks the community is stupid. He likes to make predictions on future- the unsinkability of the titanic, the impossibility of the war and the promises of technology. Sheila is presented as a very pretty and a quite honest character. She is engaged to Gerald Croft and they have just had their engagement party. When the inspector tells Sheila about Eva Smith she showed a lot of emotion and felt that she had to tell the inspector everything that happened.
This lack of sudden change wouldn't also fit in with the play's stark and down-to-earth style; demoralisation of a man is far more commonly a slow-acting process, and an attempt to adhere to Aristotle's decree would have been ultimately detrimental to Miller's fundamental aim for DoaS: to create a play relevant to 'every man' of his time. Willy's 'Harmartia' (fatal flaw) is his unwavering belief in the American Dream and his innate stubbornness. He refuses to accept the unconditional love of his family (in particular, Linda) and instead tries to 'win them over' as he would a customer. He appears to have a fundamental misunderstanding of the way the world works. His perception of the world may have been
This is where the audience finds out about Willy not only betraying Linda, but Biff as well, "You fake! You phony little fake!" (121). Biff's anger after seeing his father cheat made him lose all his hopes and dreams. Moreover, Willy tries not to blame himself for Biff's failure in life, "Don't blame everything on me!
Walter Younger described how much he longed to be a part of the “American Dream”. His tone throughout the book suggested that he was disgusted with his lifestyle but very passionate about doing whatever it took to be well off and accepted by society so that his family wouldn’t have to struggle and be an example to his son of what a man should do for his family. Money probably meant the most to Walter because that’s all he talked about from the time he woke up at the start of the play until the end after he refuses Mr. Linder’s money. Walter works as a chauffeur for a rich white man making very little money leaving him feeling less
An interesting insight into the character of Edmund is the fact that his father goes out of his way to let the audience know that he is a bastard; ‘though this knave came something saucily into the world before he was called for, yet was his mother fair; there was good sport at his making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged.’ The fact that his “noble” father decides to pay for the mistake he made by keeping Edmund is rather unsettling. It is common knowledge that ‘bastards’ at this time had no rights to any family possessions and where more or less banished from society as it was seen that they had no legitimate rights. It is therefore possible to say that Edmund is born a Machiavel due the fact that he is a bastard. To be a true Machiavel, you must posses the ‘Dark Triad’ a group of three personality traits. The first is the Machiavellian personality, which is characterised by the ‘manipulation and exploitation of others’.
In "Death of a salesman" by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman plays a character with characteristics that haunt people of modern America. His delusions fused with his superficial views of life is a concoction for the downfall of himself, and his sons Biff, and Happy. Willy Loman is delusional about how to be successful, and how to live a successful life. Willy displays his delusions in many ways, for example: personal attractiveness and charisma outweigh hard work and dedication. Bernard reveals to Willy that Biff is going to fail his class if he doesn't "Buckle down" and begin to study, to Bernard's astonishment and dismay, Willy responds by saying to Linda: "There’s nothing the matter with him!