Lizanne de Beer, 2014120162 Essays (4170 words) -

Lizanne de Beer, 2014120162 ENGL 3718 SEMINAR: Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman Dr Mariza Brooks 20 April 2017 Willy Loman is unstable and very erratic in his choices . When thinking of the mediocre working man building a safe home for his family, Willy Loman is not what comes to mind. Reasons for this include the fact that he attached a rubber tube to the gas pipe in his house in order to inhale gas... and his other efforts to try and kill himself by crashing his car. Even in his efforts to make his children into something great, he does it for himself, for his appearances. The average man has limits. Mr. Loman seems to lack those limits, and it turns out to be detrimental for his family. Willy Loman is more than Everyman though. He represents the failures of the American society (Nelson, 1970) . He represents a betrayal of modern-day values and he represents the trials and tribulations low class citizens were known to experience. In the t ime the play was set , up until the here and now, it has been a common occurrence for a child's parents to try and thrust upon the dreams they themselves were unable to accompl ish upon their children . Similar to what happened to W illy Loman's family; these circumstances tend to cr eate child- parent conflicts. This causes immense tension. A s Willy Loman spent his whole life in pursuit of the American Dream, many families today are doing the same. When Biff discovers who he is. He is not all that his father built him up to be, a successful business man who is well-liked by everyone and thought highly of. This discovery about himself leads him to be completely honest with his father, and Willy does not know how to react. This is a major turning point in Willy's life. He breaks down and wants to run from Biff's words, but Biff doesn't let him.Disappointed that his son will never become what he wanted him to, Willy Loman is distraught (Bloom, 1988) . The most obvious answer is that all of them suffer and this would be a true answer. However, if you have to narrow it down, there will be lots of opinions. In my opinion, the one who suffers the most is Willy's wife, Linda. As the work progresses, it is clear that Linda is a loving and supportive wife. However, as we see Willy's grand dreams and alter reality, our heart goes out to Linda, who has to live with this her whole life. Also when we read between the lines, she is the one who holds the family together in the midst of Willy's misguided dreams and desire. In other words, she needs to pick up the pieces and make sure the family is well. She is Willy's backbone. In a way, by overlooking Willy's lies, she might be doing more harm than good because Willy already seems to be heavily out of touch with reality and Linda's encouraging the continuance of this behaviour by overlooking it is not useful to them in any way. Yet they manage to make it as a family, in terms of money. Linda stands by Willy and tolerates his eccentricities. "Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person." reflects on her awareness of Willy's desperate dreams, and her goals to help her husband reach them if possible. Linda knows that Willy may not be the greatest man, but he has tried his hardest to be the best man. For herself, for their children, and for his company. She wants his efforts to be recognized before he dies. Addressing her sons in a short speech, Linda explains that Willy must not "be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog," and that though he is not the finest human being, he is still a human being and attention is due to him for that reason. Willy's entire being was defined by the amount of money he accumulates as a salesman. That is all he strove to accomplish. In the end, by killing himself for the insurance money, he was still doing the same thing: striving