Crumbling Dreams in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman :: Death Salesman essays

Crumbling Dreams in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman is a play best summed up in its title, it is just that, the death of a salesman. This death is not necessarily the physical end to a kind life, but the crumbling end to the dreams of Willie Loman, the plays main character. The three main interpreters to Willies populace atomic number 18 his job, his family, and his image as seen by the rest of the world. Although these parts are interwoven and interrelated, they are best divided and given separate analysis. The prototypal part of Willies world is his job. Willie is a salesman for a large company in New York. Willies self-image and much of his self- expense are based in his job. In his give birth mind he is heretofore as he used to be, closely known and fountainhead respected among the clientele in the New England area. Things get hold of changed though and the people Willie at one time knew in the business are no longer there and he no longer has the connections he once had. His inability to cope with and adapt to this changing business has captured, among other things, a loss in pay. Willie has lost his competitive edge, and with it his feeling of self worth and identity. The second part of Willies world is his family, more specifically his son, clout nail. Biff is the first and favorite son of Willie. Willie has high expectations of, and transfers his dreams, as so many fathers do, onto Biff. Biff can not live up to the expectations of his father and has dreams of his own which cause Willie to see him as a loafer, a shiftless bum with no desire to succeed. Although Willies dreams are not realized in Biff, his sons respect is still important. This respect is lost when Biff catches his father in an affair with a young lady. Even though this is not talked about (Biff never told anyone, not even his mother) it still creates tension and causes Biff to lose the respect he once held for Willie. Willies main philoso phy in life is Be wish and you will never want and this is the cause of the problems in the third part of Willies life, his image. Image is everything to Willie. In his past he was a well liked, well known, respected man who turned his image into his success, but his image has changed.