Death of a Salesman Free Response Essay Throughout the play Death of a Salesman, author Arthur Miller discusses the flaws of Willy Loman and the extent to which they bring about his own suffering and the suffering of others. As a tragic hero in the 1940’s, Willy exemplifies a typical man trying to achieve the very unrealistic American Dream. This dream not only solidified his fate but also threatened the success of every member in his household. Willy Loman first encounters the American Dream after his uncle Ben shares his successes and priorities with him, which in turn, become the basis of Willy’s dreams as well. His uncle is very vague about the details of his success which makes the audience wonder whether or not this dream is actually attainable.
The main character, Willy Lomman, is consistently denying reality, both inside his mind and outside of it. The first point I want to bring is how Willy pretended to be someone else his whole life and how this affected his well-being. The second point is how those beliefs, instilled in his two sons, affected their well-being. The last point is how Willy's denial of reality made him miserable. One of the key points of the story is, without a doubt,
As seen by Willy, life should be a suitable, pleasing way that falls into the riches of wealth but poor choices lead Willy to his death bed. Bringing home a paycheck doesn’t
The illusionary ideals within the American Dream The American Dream often represents the values where ambitions and hard work is present. It does also represent the possibilities a person has to become successful in life, no matter what the surrounding circumstances are. The American Dream indicates that one can be accomplished and successful if one works hard and has the desire to succeed in life. (Fossum & Roth, 1981, p. 6-7) However, is this the accurate reality of the American Dream? In Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we get to witness how the two novels play out the ideals of the American Dream in very different ways.
He was one of those men that dreamt for many things but never really worked hard enough to actually earn them. He mentioned many times that he wanted to be able to provide for his family as his late father had done for them. Throughout the play he mostly complained about receiving the money that was never his to begin with. The money wasn’t well earned and it created tension and conflict between the family. As the article says, “The American dream is the ideal that the government should protect each person’s opportunity to pursue their own idea of happiness,” (Amadeo).
The ironic narrator and Isabel 's shock and immorality may be linked to a particular part of Howells ' notion of realism. In order to prove this statement, I have to know which part of Howells ' program of realism is the most relevant to this topic. In the introduction about William Dean Howells, John Updike argues that Howells once defined realism as 'nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material, and its subject should be of the common life of ordinary Americans ' (qtd. in "A Hazard of New Fortunes" v-vi). It is true that this novel treats the everyday life of different characters belonging to the middle class, such as the Marches, Fulkerson, Alma and her mother, and a lot of other characters.
Willy characterization of American people as kind and righteous to anyone who is personally good-looking signifies his faith in his own version of the American Dream. Willy believes that having a good personality will bring you to success in the American Dream, and having popularity will bring the American dream at ease. It was obvious that this didn’t work to Willy’s advantages,
Willy Loman is caught up in his interpretation of the “American Dream” of becoming a successful salesman. Willy does not only want this lifestyle for himself, but for both of his sons to follow in his footsteps of becoming a salesman. While Willy has been working as a salesman for the same company for decades he has never received any recognition for his hard work and dedication. All of his hard work and dedication was to become like the salesman who had hundreds of salesmen and buyers show up to his funeral because he was so well liked. Biff, dreams of moving out West and working freely, because this is not the idea that Willy had in mind it causes conflict between the two.
If we compare Death of a Salesman with what Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero, Willy Loman classifies as a tragic hero. His biggest downfall is the loose grasp of reality. He has all his “perfected dreams”and tries so hard to get away from the surroundings around him. Instead of being satisfied with the reality of his life, he continues to chase all of this fantasies. At this point he gets so happy when he is stuck in his fantasies that he ignores reality and do anything to not go back to facing the current family.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald lived the luxurious life of the roaring ‘20s; however, by the end, his life was controlled by drinking and his beloved wife had descended into insanity. Fitzgerald never quite fulfilled his American dream. Fitzgerald’s main character, Jay Gatsby, mimics the path of his own successes and failures. Although Fitzgerald clearly defines the American Dream as a lifestyle of luxury, love, and void of responsibility, the subliminal message of the novel is that perfection, such as the American dream, is unattainable; however, striving for the impossibility of perfection is imperative if one hopes to secure contentment in their life. What is the American dream?