One play in which a character challenges the beliefs of others is Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”. In the play main character Willy Loman challenges the beliefs of his son Biff and friend Charley. Miller effectively uses dramatic techniques such as symbolism and foreshadowing to portray these differences in beliefs. Willy believes in the ‘American Dream’ and believes that you have to be successful in life to be happy. Throughout the play Miller has Willy boast about his life to his family telling them how he is “vital in New England” and that “if old man Wagner were alive” he’d be in “charge of New York by now”.
The major conflict of this play is that Willy doesn’t realize he is losing his mind, but everyone around him does. Not wanting to embarrass Willy or make things any worse for him, his loved ones play along with him. Willy’s son, Biff, returns home from his failed life in the city to find out all this news from his mother. Your attention is gotten rather quickly when you realize, Willy, seemingly happy and content, is actually suicidal. In a somewhat sub-plot, Biff wants to try again at his city life and get a good job that will not only take care of his families’ financial problems, but will also make his father proud of him.
Although the line, “no-one had got around to fixing it up yet”, shows that he is still seeing everything as a product that has the potential to be fixed. The fifth stanza has an angry tone as Dawe describes people as being “godless, money-hungry, backstabbing and miserable”. In this stanza, his childhood ends and he enters adulthood, this is shown through the line “goodbye stars and soft cries in the corner”, the once innocent child has now become a greedy business man who is selfish and ruthless. In stanza six, his wife (Alice), is driving him home from a not so good dinner party, as he is angry and getting annoyed with his wife, “now take it easy on those curves, Alice, for God’s sake…” they crash. His last words “watch it” demonstrates the irony of being a product, as if to watch it on
As an old man, Willy is currently having a nervous breakdown that he frequently daydreams the past and often idealizes it. He is at his best condition when he hears Biff is coming home, but he becomes worst when Biff arrives the house. This contradictory shows Willy’s uncertain feeling toward Biff: he is afraid that if Biff hates him. Willy daydreams not just because he wants to escape from the unhappy present, he also regrets about the past; he refuses to knowledge that he had destroyed Biff’s future by letting him failed math in high school so that Biff couldn’t graduate. Willy always loves Biff and wants him to have a better life.
So even if he somehow avoids his fate, and still remains king, he will not be truly happy without the companionship of his wife. These emotions are also evident in the line, “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more.” (5.5.26-28). When he says, “it is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury / Signifying nothing.” (5.5.28-30), he admits that life is meaningless, and expresses that he is in despair and hopeless to living. Ultimately, Lady Macbeth’s death was justifiable because it brings conclusion to the consequences of actions leading to guilt: “All of our yesterdays have lighted fools / The way to dusty death.” (5.5.24-25), meaning that the foolish actions done in the past has only led to
His dream seems to be of acceptance and freedom. In the novel, Crooks begins to ridicule Lennie about his plans on the farm. Although Crooks becomes bitter, he feels he is realising his dream of being accepted whilst talking to Lennie. However, just like all dreams, his are crushed too, when Curley’s wife enters the scene and reminds him ‘to keep [his] place, Nigger’. Through this, the composer enables the reader to understand how dreams usually do not come true and when they seem so close, they slip away.
Willy's criticism of his son likely stems from criticisms of his own self. Happy continually seeks similar accomplishments and big dreams like his father. Willy's antics finally push Happy to deny his own father saying to his female companions "No, that’s not my father. He’s just a
Dreams play a vital role to the development of plot and character within Death of a Salesman; it drives the main characters with their need to obtain their aspirations to a point of obsession that dominates their lives. This never ending pursuit of a non-existent perfection is what leads Willy, Biff and Happy and those around them into a false idea of happiness. They believe that wealth and reputation are the path to success, unfortunately this road leads to only poor and selfish choices leaving everyone unsatisfied and full of regret. Willy’s dreams for himself and his sons set the stage for the novel’s sequence of events. They are the reason that Willy cannot seem to find success, and when he cannot meet his high expectations for himself, he lies and cheats in order to keep the unachievable ideal alive instead of being satisfied with less than perfect.
First Impressions of the Loman Family In Arthur Miller’s beloved American play ‘Death of a Salesman’, he presents the Loman family in one way, but uses subtle clues to give us, the audience, Miller’s direct interpretation of the characters. The first characters we are introduced to are the protagonist, Willy and his wife, Linda. From the start Miller portrays Willy as a struggling salesman, his last name being ‘Loman’ which is a homophone for ‘low man’. During Willy and Linda’s first exchange, we are introduced to her as a doting wife who cares deeply for her husband, but treats him in a slightly childish manner. She even goes as far as taking his shoes off for him.
Be liked and you will never want,” (25). Time, however, proves Willy wrong when Bernard manages to land himself a successful career because of his good grades while charm and popularity gets Willy’s sons nowhere. Indirectly because of his fixation on popularity, he is alienated from Biff. Although Biff had been extremely close to him when he was young, his relationship with his son disintegrated after the latter found out about his affair. His obsession with