Lee J. Cobb

Willy Lohman’s Dilemma Nobody lives an easy going life, everyone has to cope with different challenges as they age. The theory of Maslow’s law has eight different steps ranging from physiological needs to self-transcendence. These different levels can be applied and related to one’s own life. In the play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses Willy Lohman to demonstrate how he did not reach self-actualization because he prevents himself from advancing psychologically by using defense mechanisms…

“Death of a Salesman” is a tragic play written by Arthur Miller back in 1949. One of the main characters in the book is a man by the name of Willy Loman. The storyline follows him on the steady decline of his life and how it affects him and his family. This man strives to achieve the “American Dream” by trying to become a well-liked salesman, but ends up dying from the stress of focusing on one thing. There are certain things that can cause someone to act drastically. Popularity is very…

“Death of a Salesman” written by Arthur Miller is a short story about two characters, Willy Loman and his son Biff Loman. At the beginning of the story, Willy and Linda, Willy’s wife, talk to each other about Willy finding a job close to his home city, New York, since Linda is worried about Willy’s because he had an accident. Willy feels happy when he imagines about the past the past when his son, Biff, was a quarterback with potential to make it to professional level. Willy and Biff have…

Should the broken dreams of a discriminated and disappointed father affect the dreams of an overjoyed and hopeful son? This is one of the main conflicts surrounding the play, Fences. Fences, by August Wilson, is set in 1950’s Pittsburgh and follows the lives of Troy Maxson and his son Cory Maxson. During this time some progress between race relations had been made such as sports were becoming integrated. However, this was before the civil rights movement and the south was still segregated and…

Being Kidnapped seems like a situation that would be terrible to be in. For one kid, it was the best few days of his life and he did not want to leave. “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry, is a fictional short story. Bill and Sam are the two main characters in the story. With much work they plan to pull off a fraudulent town-lot scheme in Western Illinois. To do this they need two thousand dollars. These two men decide to kidnap Ebenezer Dorset’s child and offer a ransom. Bill and Sam take the…

Dr. Harald Sala once said, “Understanding yourself is a step towards inner peace, and a step nearer achieving your unfulfilled ambitions.” This quote is seen throughout the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, however there are characters in the play that know the meaning of understanding yourself and the happiness of success. Ben in the play is Willy’s older brother and is a form of guidance in Willy’s life, so he has a major impact on Willy and unlike his brother, he is very ambitious.…

Throughout the past hundreds of years, entertainment has been an abundant source of leisure and recreation for citizens, rich or poor. From the ancient Romans cheering elite gladiators in the Coliseum to contemporary couch potatoes binge watching their favorite sports teams on ESPN, entertainment has remained relatively similar through time. The art of literature is one of these forms of entertainment; its worldly messages have made it able to thrive over hundreds of year. One of these themes is…

In the play Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman has several characteristics of a tragic hero. Willy reacts to characters in the present, while simultaneously responding to different characters and different situations in the past. The result is Willy's common behavior: contradictory, somewhat angry, and often obsessive. Willy Loman is a supporter of the American dream and believes anyone can go from rags to riches. He has been able to make a living as a salesman for the past 35 years, but recently…

Arthur Miller’s playwright, Death of a Salesman, reveals many of the insecurities and fears of the 20th century American self-made man. Miller expresses this modern paranoia through the fictional life of Willy Loman. As an elderly salesman, Willy’s career as an on-the-road salesman appears to be coming to a close. Willy hopes for stability in his later life through his past success and through his sons, Biff and Happy. The high standards that he raised himself and his sons on embodies his hopes…

The Death of a Salesman, is about a well-rounded and thriving salesman who is idolized by his family and friends named Willy Loman. Throughout the story Willy is struggling with an identity crisis and his family is suffering the consequences. After being fired he has no hope for the future and believed his image as a success is shattered. He enters a downward spiral in which he cannot accept his present and feels he has no future, except as a cashed-in life insurance policy. This causes him to…