"Death of a Salesman"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines Arthur Miller's play, "Death of a Salesman", and looks at how it deals with important aspects of American life and, in particular, the idea of the American Dream. It discusses how the play and its preliminary production set the tone for American drama for the rest of the century through its sociopolitical themes, its lyrical pragmatism, and its focus on the ordinary man. It examines how there are a number of central and noteworthy themes that are developed through the aid of Arthur Miller's skillful use of practices such as background, classification, and representation. It also analyzes how the theme of failure within an achievement-oriented society is something, which not only had significance for those who pursued the proverbial American Dream, but which still has great implication for our own modern society where achievement is considered more important than human dignity.

From the Paper:

"The main character, Willy Loman is a salesman, who has lost his hold on reality. Willy, who has constantly placed high value on being admired, dreamed of dying the "death of a salesman". In his illusionary world, he was living a life of comfort and finishing deals through contractors on the phone. Instead, all of Willy's objectives seem to have failed: he is laid off from his job, nobody among his old friends remember him, his son Biff has not turn out the man he expected he would be, and he is forced to rely on loans from his former competitor. His other son, Happy, acts as if he is lucratively climbing the business ladder but is in fact lying to his father regarding the full measure of his achievement (Griffin, Alice.1996)."

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