In his essay, Shame, Guilt, Empathy, and the Search for Identity in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Fred Ribkoff describes how the play, Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, “dramatizes the way in which feelings of shame shape an individual’s sense of identity” (Ribkoff 121). The play’s protagonist, Willy Loman, has a distorted sense of himself. His true sense of identity is buried under many layers of denial and fanciful lies. Willy is aware of his shortcomings, yet due to the shame that they cause him to feel, he suppresses his awareness, resulting in his tragic inability to accept the harsh reality of his life as a whole. It often appears as if Willy is unaware of his own shortcomings, both to the other characters in the play and
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He does not vocalize his shortcomings for fear of accepting them, because of “his inability to accept the failure to live up to his own expectations” and because he is “powerless in the face of shame” (Ribkoff 127). Willy only vocalizes his dreams. He has great dreams when his boys are young. These dreams are the focus of his first flashback. He says, “Someday I’ll own my own business, and I’ll never have to leave home anymore. […] Bigger than Uncle Charley’s!” (Miller 30). However, this dream is never realized. Toward the end of his life, his wife Linda says, “For five weeks, he’s been on straight commission, like a beginner, an unknown!” (Miller 57). He is eventually fired with no notice, at the time in his life when he had hoped to be at the pinnacle of his career, the “someday” he is always speaking of. Willy’s dream is to be extraordinary. If he accepts his shortcomings, he is admitting not only to being ordinary, but also to being a failure, a notion that he cannot …show more content…
Though, he is aware of his own tactics. If he were not aware of them, he would not feel as uncomfortable as he does, “caged, wanting to escape”. Willy does not think about his failure, let alone talk about it. If he looks at the tube, he will think about it, and if he thinks about it, he will talk about it; so he avoids even the first internal steps towards admission. Not only does he work himself to death convincing others of his success, but also trying to convince
He does not vocalize his shortcomings for fear of accepting them, because of “his inability to accept the failure to live up to his own expectations” and because he is “powerless in the face of shame” (Ribkoff 127). Willy only vocalizes his dreams. He has great dreams when his boys are young. These dreams are the focus of his first flashback. He says, “Someday I’ll own my own business, and I’ll never have to leave home anymore. […] Bigger than Uncle Charley’s!” (Miller 30). However, this dream is never realized. Toward the end of his life, his wife Linda says, “For five weeks, he’s been on straight commission, like a beginner, an unknown!” (Miller 57). He is eventually fired with no notice, at the time in his life when he had hoped to be at the pinnacle of his career, the “someday” he is always speaking of. Willy’s dream is to be extraordinary. If he accepts his shortcomings, he is admitting not only to being ordinary, but also to being a failure, a notion that he cannot …show more content…
Though, he is aware of his own tactics. If he were not aware of them, he would not feel as uncomfortable as he does, “caged, wanting to escape”. Willy does not think about his failure, let alone talk about it. If he looks at the tube, he will think about it, and if he thinks about it, he will talk about it; so he avoids even the first internal steps towards admission. Not only does he work himself to death convincing others of his success, but also trying to convince