Unfulfillment in Life in Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller says “ I think it's a mistake to ever look for hope outside one's self.” In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, both Biff and Happy show that they feel unfulfilled in life due to their father, Willy's, unrealistic expectations of them; his lack of affection and approval towards them as people; and his selfishness by committing suicide. Being mistreated by their father causes Biff and Happy to feel unfulfilled in life. The first way Biff and Happy are mistreated by their father, Willy, is by the amount of pressure/expectation that he puts on the both of them. Biff has the most pressure put on him to have a successful career in business, but that is not what he actually wants. Willy doesn't understand why Biff wants to be a farmer, and thinks: “How can he find himself on a farm?
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Script Analysis by Patrick D Quinn Death of a Salesman is a play about an aging salesman and family man who is slowly losing his mind. The play takes place in about the 1950’s in the suburbs of New England, mostly around Boston. The title character, Willy, is an aging husband and father of two who has worked for the same sales company for many years, but is starting to fall into financial trouble as a result of his slow loss of sanity. The author uses strange hallucination sequences to visualize the sad and weakening mental state of Willy as he deteriorates mentally throughout the play. The major conflict of this play is that Willy doesn’t realize he is losing his mind, but everyone around him does.
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. Willie envisions his son, Biff, as this successful salesman that was a great football player, but Biff returns from the west as a confused bum. Willy becomes irritated by Biffs visit because of how he pictured Biffs’ life and the reality that he’s not a salesman. Charley and his son, Bernard, both become successful throughout the play and Willie troubles himself on what went wrong with his two boys. Why didn’t his sons become successful?
“Paul’s Case” is about a young boy named Paul, who is miserable with both his home life and his school life. Paul shows his happiest times when he is at Carnegie Hall, working as an usher; whereas here, Paul daydreams a great deal about the performers in front of him and how he wants their lavish lifestyle that results in failure of his school life. Once his father, a single parent, discovered his behavior, he forces him to quit working at Carnegie Hall, apologize to his teachers and go work elsewhere. Paul’s father spends his time setting a good example for him, not realizing that he is pushing Paul away when he constantly keeps pressuring his son to follow a neighbor of theirs for he believes that he would be a good role model for Paul. Paul’s teachers are also giving up on him, saying that he is nothing but impolite and a disturbance in class.
But when does this white lie turn black? When does it become detrimental to one’s self, and ultimately ‘crush’ a person? In Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’, Willy is both literally and figuratively ‘crushed’ as a result of his own self-deception. His steadfast belief in the American Dream ultimately leads him to suicide and physical destruction, as a result of his own mental deterioration. However, as we all know that life is not simply black and white, we are able to see that the lies in the play not only affect Willy, but also the people around him, especially poor Biff.
I tell ya,' he cried, `I tell ya a guy gets too lonely, an' he gets sick. '"(Crooks page 77, Of Mice and Men.) Companionship is a key element in John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men. The novel is based on two migrant workers, during the Depression. The two men travel around with each other, looking for work, but we soon learn that both of these characters, George and Lennie are two very different people for Lennie is mentally disabled, he has the mind of a five year old.
Emily Stewart ENGL 1302 Villarreal 04/03/2014 Paper 2 Rough Draft In Paul’s Case, author Willa Cather elaborates heavily on the temperament of a young man, Paul, and his struggle and triumphs in and around his home on Cordelia Street. Paul goes through the motions of life completely dissatisfied by his normal surroundings. School, his home on Cordelia Street, and most importantly, his father, all drive him into a hole of depression that he can only escape through arts. All though the arts–music, theatre, art– alone did not relate to Paul, the setting mixed with the arts “seemed to free some hilarious spirit within him” (Cather 126). Paul’s father, as described by Paul’s thoughts, is a wealthy business man who believes in
English 215 Both Wily from death of sale man and Gregor from the metamorphosis are men that feel worn down and exhausted from their jobs. In this essay I will compare and contrast how each exhibits the wear and tears of the working life and how it affect their families. By using sources and examples that discuss the America relationship with their jobs. Wily Loman who has been working as a salesman for long time. Started having bad luck and in order to dare with his failures in life, he started thinking about his past and it seem that he doesn't know what's real or fake in life.
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. The theme of dreams as aspirations, in this way, is what drives the main characters choices and therefore the entire play. Dreams also represent an escape from reality in Death of a Salesman, many times in the form of hallucinations. It is through Willy’s hallucinations that the audience is exposed to the past and they also provide a window into his feelings of regret. The audience learns about Willy’s affair through his delusional memory at the Chophouse, this form of a
In the play Death of a Salesman, I believe that money is the main theme and which initiates many of the conflicts between characters. Money can combine many symbols together, such as Wheels; Willy continuing his job that he very much dislikes but works anyway just to be able to pay for his house, refrigerator and other house related things. Also the symbol math, that recognizes the hopes and dreams that aren’t being accomplished because no one has a high enough job to pay for anything. William Loman borrows money from Charley pretending he’s keeping a cautious account, knowing he will never have the money to pay him back. Eventually leading to the death of Willy, hoping that his insurance will give his family $20 000.