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. Another sub-plot suggests that Willy once had an affair, this somewhat strained his relationship with his son. The overall inciting incident of the play is when the mother tells Biff about what’s really going on with his father. That they’ve been borrowing money to pay their bills, their father drives all over the country and doesn’t actually sell anything. She also tells her two sons about how their father is suicidal and she has found a piece of rubber tubing in the basement that he will use to kill himself.
Newman was a man who refused to accept failure, and demanded the appearance of great confidence in his family. Thus, it was this chance meeting with his uncle that inspired Miller to create Loman and the Loman household characters as they are. Wealth, hard work, job security and family union are some of the concepts that involves the well-known term, the American Dream. Few people think this dream is something that is automatically granted. Many others however, as in the story Death of a Salesman, view it as something that has to be achieved in order to be successful.
He is obsessed with this ideal of greatness and an “American Dream” that is completely unattainable due to his imagination. He wants to leave a legacy of being known as the best salesman in town. He also wants his sons to follow in his exact footsteps while obtaining much wealth. His downfall arises directly from his continued misconception of himself as someone of more success that he has. His pathological visions of being successful and his ungrateful acceptance of his own American Dream push him to cause arguments within his family, envision suicidal thoughts and ultimately take his own life.
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”.
Biff knew that the life of a salesman was not his own dream but his father’s dream for him. All Biff really wanted was to be able to work with his hands and enjoy the simple things in life. Towards the end of the play, Biff tries to confront his father and get him to see how false his dreams were, and accuses Willy, of having false dreams. In accepting the truth about his father, Biff is able to make a decision about his own future based upon a realistic view of his
Shakespeare uses the noble prince, Romeo, as a tragic hero in his play by ending Romeo’s life of prosperity and nobility. The great potential of this young noble shapes the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In the novel, Gatsby, like Romeo, performs the task of a tragic hero, one who possesses nobility, large potential and a fatal flaw. Jay Gatsby turns his life into that of the American dream. For example Jay begins his life as a poor innocent boy constantly overcoming obstacles in his life such as fighting in the first Great War and losing his love Daisy, yet he pursues his journey to wealth and a celebrity life.
Chris loved books and found company in the characters in the books he loved, his favored author was Jack London who also hoboed around the country and returned to school at the age of 19. Mr. London became a writer because he wanted to escape from the horrific prospects of life as a factory worker, just like Chris who doesn’t like the
Finding Biff In the dramatic play, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, there is an interesting mix of rounded and flat characters. Linda, the mother, and Happy, one of the sons, were among some of the flat characters in the story. Even though they were flat their reactions to the more rounded characters certainly had an effect. One of the most well rounded characters is Biff Loman. The character of Biff develops and grows immensely by searching his past and examining relationships with himself and others to find his true self.
Interpretation Typhoon (by Theodore Dreiser) The text under analysis is taken from the story “Typhoon” written by a celebrated author Theodore Dreiser. Being an outstanding American practitioner of a literary movement called naturalism, he adhered very much to depicting plausible everyday reality in his novels and stories as opposed to romanticism. Among other themes, his works dwell upon the new social problems that had arisen in rapidly industrializing America such as poverty, explicit behaviour and what not. The choice of topics takes root from his family life as well. His father, a German immigrant, was an unemployed millworker, which resulted in his stern and preconceived attitude towards everything American and bad living conditions.
As we know everything in our life depends on freak of chance, but old Anthony thinks that money can decide all problems of his life. Old Anthony is a wealth tycoon of Rockwell’s Eureka Soap. He is very fond and proud of his son Richard. Old Anthony is absolutely sure that money is omnipotent and he tries to convince his son that money can do everything. From one side we can see Anthony and his wealth (his views about real feelings, about love) and from another side we see Richard and his feelings.