Death Of A Salesman Analysis - 1351 Words

In Arthur Miller’s, Death of a Salesman, Biff Loman confesses the following to his brother, Happy: â€Å"I don’t know—what I’m supposed to want† (22). Biff is expressing his internal struggle between wanting to live up to his father’s expectations and his desire to pursue what he really wants-- to be outdoors. Biff is conflicted and views himself as a failure for not achieving his father’s image of success. At the end of the play, Biff realizes that in order for him to be truly successful he has to stop chasing after his father’s unrealistic expectations and start focusing on himself. Biff is finally able to break free of the mental burden of trying to fit Willy’s definition of success, resolving his internal conflict. In addition to Biff,†¦show more content†¦At the end of the play, at Willy’s funeral, Biff exclaims how Willy â€Å"had all the wrong dreams†¦ he never knew who he was.† (138) Bi ff recognizes his father’s mistakes in trying to chase the flashy life of a salesman in order to achieve success, when he should’ve been pursuing a career better suited for him. Biff understands this mistake of Willy’s, and, determined not to make the same mistake, finally comes to accept himself and his dreams. Holden Caulfield’s crisis of meaning in J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye, stems from his perception of maturation due to the adults in his life. Holden is unable to function as a normal teenager due to his belief that the passing of time is the death of all innocence. Holden views growing up as conforming to conventional norms and in the process losing one’s true self. Holden sees this happen numerous times through the adults in his life, and rejects adulthood in fear of losing his own integrity. Holden explains to his sister Phoebe that what he really wants to be is a â€Å"catcher in the rye.†(191) He creates an image for the reader where he’s standing on a cliff in a field of rye where children are playing and when the children come close to falling off the cliff, he would, â€Å"come out from somewhere and catch them†(191). In this image, falling off the cliff and dying symbolizes Holden’s view of maturing into adulthood and the loss of integrity and innocence. However, later on in the book, as HoldenShow MoreRelatedDeath Of A Salesman Analysis914 Words   |  4 PagesLies of a Salesman (Movie Analysis of Death of a Salesman produced by Robert F. Colesberry) To be dysfunctional is to not operate accordly to normal in a negative way. Death of a Salesman produced by Robert F. Colesberry is a movie based on a play Death of a salesman written by Arthur Miller. The Loman family in the movie is a dysfunctional family, which is clearly show in many scenes,The mother and the father Willy and Linda Lowman. Willy a salesman in the field for over 30 years. The have kidsRead MoreAnalysis Of Death Of A Salesman 900 Words   |  4 PagesCritical Essay In Arthur Millers â€Å"Death of a salesman† we encounter an on-going feud between salesman Willy Loman and his son Biff Loman. In Willy’s eyes the key to gaining success in life is to be well liked, attractive and having a great personality, he is convinced if you have all these traits it guarantees you success and that you could outrun those with qualifications in terms of being employed. Willy bestows this theory of his onto his sons Biff and Happy during their teenage years. DuringRead MoreDeath of a Salesman Analysis675 Words   |  3 PagesNovember 10, 2012 English P5 Death of a Salesman Essay Like Father Like Son In Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, Miller reveals what happens when a dream, especially the American dream, dies, as seen through the life of Willy Loman, a pathetic, self-deluded salesman. The play follows the family through painful conflicts, significant issues such as national values, and the price of blind fate while working toward the ‘American Dream’. The major problem woven into the plot discussesRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman Symbolism Analysis1145 Words   |  5 PagesSymbols in â€Å"Death of a Salesman† by Arthur Miller Symbolism, as defined by Oxford Dictionary, is the â€Å"use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.† Throughout the play Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, he uses symbols to represent a greater idea and to say more than what is actually being said. Through the use of silk stockings, a rubber hose, and the flute music that drifts through the play, Miller demonstrates the power that these items have over the Loman family. One reoccurring symbolRead MoreAnalysis Of The Play Death Of A Salesman 954 Words   |  4 Pages Darrian Dowden AP English IV Death of a Salesman Written Assignment Death of a Salesman Character Analysis 1.Willy Loman. Although the main protagonist of the play, Willy Loman does not come to a certain self-realization. Searching and sifting through his memories (which cannot be completely taken as the truth as he reinvents them in a way to make them out as a golden era) he fails to recognize his slanted reality he’s lived in made up of his delusions. His forged relationship withRead MoreDeath of a Salesman Analysis Essay2107 Words   |  9 Pagesfamily; however, there has been much debate over whether or not the American dream is still obtainable in modern society. One piece of American literature that substantiates the fact that the American Dream can not be gotten is Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman which describes the tragedy of the average person in America. A number of other writers also draw the inability to capture the American Dream. John Steinbeck demonstrates in his highly acclaimed novel The Grapes of Wrath how hard economic timesRead MoreAnalysis of the Ending of De ath of a Salesman1261 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis of the Ending of Death of a Salesman The play Death of a Salesman shows the final demise of Willy Loman, a sixty- year-old salesman in the America of the 1940s, who has deluded himself all his life about being a big success in the business world. It also portrays his wife Linda, who plays along nicely with his lies and tells him what he wants to hear, out of compassion. The book describes the last day of his life, but there are frequent flashbacks in which Willy relives key eventsRead MoreAnalysis Of Death Of A Salesman 1859 Words   |  8 PagesIn â€Å"Death of a Salesman†, Willy and his family live in post-war Brooklyn, where America was enjoying a state of economic prosperity. In an attempt to shield Americans from the influences of communist ideals, Americans felt that financial success supported a capitalist society. The American dream is the belief that any American citizen can achieve their dreams if they are hard working, even those who are destitute. This idea of equality is criticized by both of the texts I will be comparing. In thisRead MoreAnalysis of Biff in Death of a Salesman Essay1584 Words   |  7 PagesCamilla Tanzi Year 12 An analysis of the character of Biff. Biff Loman is portrayed as the root of Willy’s mental illness and instability. He is also the only member of his family who acknowledges his own failures in life. On the whole, Biff Loman stands out as the most intriguing and strong character in â€Å"Death of a Salesman. He is not a successful man and never will be, he is however able to admit this, even in a harsh society as the one of the 1960s America. Biff knows he is a â€Å"nothing† andRead MoreA Detailed Analysis of Death of a Salesman1199 Words   |  5 PagesLook at Death of a Salesman Death of a Salesman has been accepted worldwide as one of the greatest American dramas to premier in theatre. The story behind the play is based on Miller’s interactions with his Uncle, a salesman whose efforts to obtain the â€Å"American Dream† and pass his success on to his two sons becomes his main focus. Miller’s life during the preparation of Death of a Salesman provides the spark and inspiration needed to pen a literary classic. Almost five decades later, Death of a Salesman’s