In Arthur Miller's the Death of a Salesman, the relationship between Willy Loman and Biff Loman shows the positive impact that the father can have on his son’s life. In the play, when Willy’s mind flashes back to when his sons were still in high school, he sees a time when he had a positive influence on both his sons. When he comes back from one of his trips to watch Biff’s football game, Biff tells him, “This Saturday, Pop, this Saturday—just for you, I’m going to break through for a touchdown”(Miller 19). Despite the fact that Biff is not supposed to be getting a touchdown for his team, he’ll do it anyway, for his father, the man he so admires and wants to impress. In order to impress his father, Biff ends up scoring more for his team to…
The opening excerpt from Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman exemplifies Linda Loman’s naivete to her husband, Willy Loman, throughout the play. Linda’s attempts to satisfy Willy characterize her clueless personality, and often lead to her own detriment. Her strong commitment blinds her of her husband’s woes, and contribute to confusion when Willy commits suicide. Despite his wavering finances and his mistress, Linda stays blind to the corruption in her own life.…
“The Death of a Salesman” perfectly represents how our expectations can be the death of us. Biff, who is the son of Willy, depicts freedom and light as he reminds his father that money doesn’t define him, though Willy is isolated and a prisoner to his dark and twisted mind. “The Death of a Salesman” parallels “Allegory of a Cave” because it expands on the idea of being chained to see a shadow or a tiny glimpse of a bigger picture. Just like in the cave, Willy symbolizes the prisoners; shackled and chained to only see what’s in front of them.…
Charley and Bernard try to tell Willy that there will be consequences if Biff and Happy are caught by the watchman, but yet again, Willy makes excuses for their bad behavior. The boys will go on into their adult lives to such behaviors, like when Biff stole Bill Oliver’s fountain pen out of…
Tone in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” “Tone is the attitude a literary work takes toward its subject, especially the way this attitude is revealed through diction” (Mays, A12). Tone is important in drama because it has a vocal tone that affects the meaning of the words (Mays, 1445). The tone of “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller is sympathetic, honest and mocking. The tone of “Death of a Salesman” is sympathetic.…
Willie completely loses his mind with the desire to see his sons’ affluence. In addition, he wants his son Biff to seek an office job in a town firm, but he declines since that is not where his passion is. He prefers to undertake manual work. Furthermore, both Happy and Biff show commitment to their dreams by abandoning their father at a restaurant following his outburst. Despite the fact that Willy did not like his traveling job as a salesman, he continued to pursue it knowing that he was a rather hands-on man.…
Time Doesn’t Change Everything The United States have been around for a few hundred years and has greatly developed since independence was declared. There are currently phones the size of hands that do what an entire computer system couldn 't do 30 years ago. On the other hand, before that July 4 in 1776 the American lands were dominated by many Native American tribes whose pueblos were created out of adobe. Though there are seldom relationships between the times of America, there is one indisputable link that stands out between the generations: the way stories are told.…
The individuals we surround ourselves with in our life often have an influential sway on our behaviour and motivations. Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is no exception to the impact others have on our lives, however the people in Willy’s life do not influence him positively, but rather act as people for him to blame despite his faults being only his own. The people in his life, the secondary characters to his tragedy, all work to provide better depth and perception of Willy Loman as he strives to achieve the American Dream. He surrounds himself with people who are all meant to help him in being successful however their efforts are proven to be wasteful as Willy acts on his own mind. He ignores the advice of others and his…
Everyone has to face the truth at one point or another. Anyone can run from the truth, anyone can hide, but the truth always catches up. Arthur Miller and Sophocles portray their anti-heroes trying to dodge the truth in their pieces: Death of a Salesman and Oedipus Rex. Both Oedipus and Willy run and hide from the truth, both have to face it eventually, and both could have done something other than run to prevent their downfall from happening. Point is, no one can hide from the truth for forever.…
Days before Biff’s major football game, Willy buys him a boxing bag as he believes “it is the finest thing for the timing” (29). Willy’s unrealistic expectations for Biff football game causes him to direct less focus towards Happy. Consequently, Happy urges for attention, saying: “I’m losing weight, you notice pop?” (29). In addition, when Willy realizes that Biff truly loves him, Happy reminds his father that“[he] is getting married . . .…
Likewise, Biff feels that Willy has betrayed the whole family because of the other woman he has been having an affair with. Biff looks up to Willy as a father figure, while growing up his greatest influence was Willy, and he thought that Willy could do anything. His father established a good image for himself, but when Biff found out the truth, he knew that his father has betrayed the family and has lied to him. Since Biff and Willy are always getting into confrontations, Biff expresses to his mother what he really thinks of his father. “Because I know he’s a fake and he doesn’t like anybody around who knows!”(42).…
“Death of a Salesman” is one of the most important plays in Twentieth Century American Theatre. Arthur Miller creates tragedies that are easily relatable for Americans. For instance, his play “Death of a Salesman” uses the idea of a dysfunctional family through out to support its plot. The play is centered around its protagonist, Willy Loman. Willy is a salesman, but also an old man, and from the title of the play the readers of the play can easily conclude what happens to him by the end of the play.…
Sometimes the people we think are helping us the most are actually making our problems worse. This holds true in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman is an extroverted and secretly self-loathing salesman who is struggling with a dysfunctional family and mounting mental illness. His wife, Linda Loman, is the one person he knows will always love him. She makes him feel better by telling him what he wants to hear.…
Authors use setting to set the mood and could have a menace effect on the plot and the characters. A negative setting allows the readers to connect to the characters and their behaviour. The setting sets the stage and builds the atmosphere to enhance emotions. The setting could be portrayed positively or negatively and Scott Fitzgerald and Arthur Miller both depict their novels to be illustrated negatively. Therefore, in The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald 's use of setting is negative and is emphasized through dysfunctional relationships and self destruction.…
Death of Sales is about a family in pursuit of the American dream. The characters Willy, Linda, and both of their sons, Happy and Biff try to accomplish this goal, and they come across struggles. The course of action the characters take to handle their internal and external conflict aid to reveal their personality. Willy Loman is very concern for the achievements of his family. He wishes for his family to live the American dream but struggles to achieve it, for example, Biff to become a successful salesman and Biff to get married.…