Antigone is the play by Sophocles. It opens with the deaths of Antigone’s two brothers, Polynices and Eteocles. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, doesn’t allow Polynices to be buried on the ground because Polynices attacks his own city. Antigone thinks burying her brother is her duty, so she violates Creon’s decree and throws some dusts on her brother’s corpse. Creon is offended by her behavior and gives an order that is locking Antigone into a cave with a little food. When Antigone’s fiancé, the son of Creon, finds her death, he kills himself.
Biff failing math and not going to summer school may have been instigated by Willy encouraging him to blow off his studies and Biff discovering that Willy was having an affair. One cannot lay the blame totally on Willy because while he may have been the catalyst Biff made that decision not to study or go to summer school. Willy is kind of responsible for his family not being wealthy. He turned down an opportunity to go to Alaska with his brother a decision that would eventually cost him. Had he gone with Ben he could have been rich from finding a diamond mine in Africa. Although in a way one can understand him not taking the risk and going to Alaska. Finally, Willy is responsible for his own death. I see this as a tragedy because Willy felt that the only way for him to make up for the fact that his past actions contributed to Biff’s failure in life was to commit suicide. In order that Biff would get an inheritance that would allow him to achieve the “American
“The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (33). In Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses foil characters to elucidate Willy’s flaws that ultimately prevent him and his family from succeeding. The contrast between Charley and Willy and Bernard and Biff serves to highlight how Willy’s obsession with achieving his version of the American Dream impacts both his life and his children’s. His poor values are passed on to his children producing even more failures.
Tragedy can spread. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is the protagonist, however he not the only person in the play who’s story ends tragically. His view on life spreads to those close to him. Primarily, Willy teaches it to his children who look up to him while his wife simply attaches herself to him, rooting for him in blind support while really she should be waking him up to the cold and dark reality that is their life. Throughout the play, the Loman family evolves differently. Willy finds out his dream of being an popular, well respected salesman is impossible and takes his own life. Linda supports Willy despite the abuse and confusion he puts her through with his various attempts to take his own life, with his delirious ramblings and hallucinations, and with his constant deception. Happy still sees his father as a hero and Biff finally begins to grasp the truth of the “American Dream”. When Willy kills himself, all of the Loman family, including Willy, break free from the web of false dreams he spun and begin to understand Willy’s failings. They also realize their own flaws. In doing so, they show the audience how each and everyone of them was slightly to blame for Willy’s tragic fate.
The members of the Loman family are living in denial. They have denial towards themselves and others. In the story, I feel that Willy is the main one who is stuck in denial, because of his lost identity, and his pride. For example, Willy’s much loved memory of his son Biff last football game. He brags
Willy Loman is a salesman; he is someone who thinks that success should come to those who are popular and attractive. This ideology shows when he is talking to Linda about Biff, “Biff Loman is lost. […] a young man with such—personal attractiveness gets lost.” (Miller 16).
Willy had high hopes for his son Biff and wanted him to follow in his footsteps of having a career in business. In the past, Willy believes Biff was capable of achieving anything. He pushed Biff to be a confident and well-liked individual by telling him “The man who creates personal interest is the man who gets ahead.” (Miller
All of Willy Loman’s family suffers because of him. This is an example of how one person affects the whole family. Willy Loman believes success in life is having nice things, having money, and being known by people. Unfortunately, Mr. Loman never realises that success is much more than having material things. Hopefully Biff and Happy learn from their dad’s mistakes, and reach the real American
Happy Loman is recognized by his excessive insecurity. He reliably depends on other individuals ' opinions to settle on his own decisions. In spite of his respectable achievements in business and the numerous, numerous indents on his bedpost, Happy is amazingly lonely. His dishonorable approach towards women makes him an immature man. The reason he 's so insecure is a result of the example his dad, Willy, set for him. Happy is continually taking after the feelings of other individuals. Whether it 's his dad Willy, or his mom Linda, he quite often ensures that his opinion happens in the meantime as others '. In spite of the fact that he is generally successful in his occupation, he has his father 's absolutely impractical self-confidence and
There are many similarities in the play Fences by August Wilson and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. One of which are the fathers, Troy and Willy. Neither of them seem to have the best relationships with their sons, both of them have loving wives who would do just about anything to make their husbands happy, and who put them on a pedastool, making them seem like the greatest men around.
When expectations are high from the people you love it’s difficult not falling for the pressure. Willy constantly felt uneasy about the wedge between him and his wealthy older brother Ben. Ben was a symbol of success and fortune: “No! Boys! Boys! Listen to this. This is your Uncle Ben, a great man! Tell my boys Ben!” (Miller 33). This showed the influence that Ben had on Willy, Willy was eager to show his sons, Happy and Biff how prestigious Ben was. After Willy’s father passed away he always made an effort to have Ben as a reminder to do better than average. He regularly told his wife Linda the plans he has set for the future; however Linda knew that he had acquired all he could and old age was not a good contribution. He was delusional about his reality
willie loman was not happy where he was in life. he constantly lied to himself and others around him about how the world worked and where he stood in it as a way of making himself feel better. in willie 's mind, he had failed at what he was supposed to do with his life. by the time he had kids, he had
His family are not ready to recognize the miserable realness on their specific souls, Biff perceives self dissatisfaction and over the long haul makes sense of how to confront it. In fact, even the difference between their names reflects this furthest point. Albeit Willy and Happy enduringly and euphorically misdiect themselves, Biff flourishes firmly at self-cheating. Biff 's disclosure that Willy has an extravagant lady strips him of his trust in Willy and Willy 's yearnings. Thus, Willy sees Biff as an underachiever, Biff sees self to be gotten in Willy 's ostentatious dreams. After his epiphany in Bill Oliver 's office, Biff chooses overcoming the untruths including the Loman family remembering the final objective to come to reasonable terms with his own life. Point on revealing clear and humble truth behind Willy 's fantasy, Biff throbs for the area (the regularly free West) obfuscated father 's outwardly hindered trust in a skewed, realist adjustment of the American Dream. Biff 's character crisis is a component of his and his father 's foiled desire, which, to recoup identity, he must reveal. outwardly hindered craving
Throughout the play, Loman seems to do just that. For example, when he tells his boys about the “American Dream”, that becomes their everything. His obsession for Biff to become a successful football player become Biff’s life. In act one, his family revolves around him and they participate in Willy’s fantasies just to please Willy. Willy meant to the world to his family, instilling many traits a “man” should have, especially into Biff. Later on, you find out that Willy has an affair in Boston and Biff finds
From an outsider perspective, Willy Loman lives a normal life. He is a traveling salesman with two grown up sons, and a beautiful marriage. But is that really the life he has? No, it is not. One of the first disappointments Willy experiences is with his son. “Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such -- personal attractiveness, gets lost.” (207) The story flashes back to when Biff is a senior in high school. He failed a math class which was needed to graduate. This cancelled his plans to be a collegiate football player. Ever since then, things have kept going on a downhill path for Biff. Willy and Linda both notice this and it devastates them. But, instead of helping his son, Willy becomes agitated for the rest of his life. He expected his son to be better but, Biff did not want to be better. He did not want to become that star football player as much as his father