The death of a salesman: A dysfunctional family tragedy
White picket fences line the homes of your neighborhood, everyone has the traditional long haired, yellow dog running and playing with children. “The American Dream” is a main theme of “The Death of a Salesman” however, this central theme inadvertently ignores the more important underlying issues of family dysfunction; which is even more so in existence today.
Financial dynamics play a huge role in Loman family dysfunction. Willie isn’t infatuated with the American dream, he is clearly obsessed with celebrity status. Think Willies recall of Biff’s big football game at Emmett’s Field, he was only happy about the game because the crown had been chanting “Loman, Loman, Loman!” This scene of the play was the height of Willies success. Willie doesn’t need to know everyone’s name, but everyone does know his name, and this pleases Willie more than anything else.
Using the American dream for this play is a sort of “catch all,” that misses important plot points, and it’s a very narrow focused topic. The American dream is clearly not what Willie really cares about. At the end of the play Willie has imagined a conversation with his brother Ben where he tells Ben that he will commit suicide, but Willie …show more content…
Ben and Willie are a brother set, and Biff and Happy are the second brother set. Both sets of brothers have an older and younger dynamic where the older is successful, or in Biff’s case, is put on a pedestal. Then you have Willies father, and Willie as a father. Willies father made and sold flutes and in his own way was a salesman. Willies father was a pioneering and adventurous spirit and holds this mythical status with Willie. Willie wants Biff to see him as a hero like he did his father but really Biff and Willie share more in common than they could ever
White picket fences line the homes of your neighborhood, everyone has the traditional long haired, yellow dog running and playing with children. “The American Dream” is a main theme of “The Death of a Salesman” however, this central theme inadvertently ignores the more important underlying issues of family dysfunction; which is even more so in existence today.
Financial dynamics play a huge role in Loman family dysfunction. Willie isn’t infatuated with the American dream, he is clearly obsessed with celebrity status. Think Willies recall of Biff’s big football game at Emmett’s Field, he was only happy about the game because the crown had been chanting “Loman, Loman, Loman!” This scene of the play was the height of Willies success. Willie doesn’t need to know everyone’s name, but everyone does know his name, and this pleases Willie more than anything else.
Using the American dream for this play is a sort of “catch all,” that misses important plot points, and it’s a very narrow focused topic. The American dream is clearly not what Willie really cares about. At the end of the play Willie has imagined a conversation with his brother Ben where he tells Ben that he will commit suicide, but Willie …show more content…
Ben and Willie are a brother set, and Biff and Happy are the second brother set. Both sets of brothers have an older and younger dynamic where the older is successful, or in Biff’s case, is put on a pedestal. Then you have Willies father, and Willie as a father. Willies father made and sold flutes and in his own way was a salesman. Willies father was a pioneering and adventurous spirit and holds this mythical status with Willie. Willie wants Biff to see him as a hero like he did his father but really Biff and Willie share more in common than they could ever