Discuss in Relation to Willy Loman in ‘Death of a Salesman’. free essay sample

The play Death of a Salesman is a modern tragedy by Arthur Miller. Written in 1949, the play is an authentic and realistic portrayal of family in the middle of the twentieth century, but its also a symbolic and expressionistic drama. Miller has a reputation for dealing with moral issues in his plays; ‘All the plays that I was trying to write were plays that would grab an audience by the throat and not release them, rather than presenting an emotion which you could observe and walk away. ’ Arthur Miller.The play is set in 1940’s America subsequent to The Great Depression, communally, many citizens of this era believed in the ‘American Dream’ , which traditionally meant opportunity and freedom for all. Willy Loman was a firm believer in this; he also believed that success was achievable according to how well liked you are as opposed to ability or determination. Hence; â€Å"He had the wrong dreams. We will write a custom essay sample on Discuss in Relation to Willy Loman in ‘Death of a Salesman’. or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page All, all Wrong. † I will be considering Loman’s dreams to see if they are in fact all wrong? The play is considered a tragedy -with Willy Loman, the protagonist.Though it has been argued whether or not the play is a tragedy as; according to Aristotle a tragedy should have a protagonist of high birth, wealth or power, and salesman Willy Loman is none of these. I think that Miller uses an ordinary man like Willy to enable the audience to easily relate and sympathise with his character. However the play does possess typical tragic elements because the protagonist should lead to his/her own downfall, as Willy Loman does. While standing at his father’s grave Biff Loman, Willy’s son, states â€Å"He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong. This statement indicates that Willy lead to his own demise because he had the wrong idea of life, dreams that resulted in his death. This is another of Aristotle’s tragic conventions; that the protagonist should lead to their own downfall; this is unquestionably applicable to Death of a Salesman. The play is a modern tragedy, where ‘ordinary’ people are put in a tragic situation. I feel that Miller has used this particular genre of tragedy to allow the audience to relate and sympathise with the mundane nature of the protagonist, amongst other characters throughout the play.Furthermore, the audience are more able to gain an easier understanding of the scenarios that occur, they will instantly gain an interest, and a curiosity -to discover the outcome of unfolding events- will build. The opening of the play sees protagonist Willy Loman being described as â€Å"exhausted† and â€Å"burdened down† (physically and metaphorically). As the act progresses, we learn of his unstable mental state and we see him talking to his past. The play operates through the technique of mobile concurrency, where the past and present are shown together on stage.Willy’s mental state is to be taken into account when considering his tragic flaws, because he is living in the past whilst in the present. This is an absolute example of what I am exploring, as this shows that Willy did have the wrong dreams. We see Willy returning home from work and bragging to Linda, his wife, about how much he has earned –whereas the truth is only a small fraction of what he claims, this is evidence that Willy has always lived in denial.However, Linda knows that these things are not true yet she still chooses to go along with Willy’s fallacies; she seems supportive and sympathetic toward Willy and furthermore used to his exaggeration and self delusion. I think that the quote in question; â€Å"He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong† refers primarily to Willy’s outlook on life, this being –if you are well liked you will go far, which is not the case. Willy’s eldest son Biff proves that this mentality is flawed as he is very well liked, yet he cannot find work and becomes unsuccessful. The man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates a personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. † (Willy to a young Biff in a time shift). This is completely going against the ideology of the ‘American Dream’ of working hard for your rewards. I think that Miller has Biff saying that Willy â€Å"had the wrong dreams† in the requiem, because he is the one who has had to learn the hard way from his father’s mindset. Biff is taught bad habits from Willy, as when he has stolen a ball from school and says he’s not in trouble, Willy comments; â€Å"That’s because he likes you.If somebody else took that ball there’d be uproar. † (Willy to a young Biff in a time shift). This sends the wrong message to the eldest son who does not learn the error of his actions and steals again later in the play. This is further evidence in support of the quote in question. Throughout the play Willy expresses his idea that, financially, he would be worth more dead; â€Å"A man has got to add up to something.. . it’s a guaranteed twenty-thousand dollar proposition. † Ultimately Willy committed suicide to pay off the insurance and other bills for his family.Ironically, in the requiem, Linda say’s that she had just paid the last bill, meaning that Willy died in vain, his suicide was unnecessary and this proves that he had the wrong dreams and ideas in life. The ‘American Dream’ is a recurring theme throughout the play, or rather ignorance of it. Typical conventions of the ‘American Dream’ state that hard work and determination will make you strive for your goals and ambitions, therefore you will reap all benefits. However Loman believes the total opposite to this, as he has the idea that likability and popularity are favourable over hard work and effort. Ironically the character of Willy Loman firmly supports the ‘American Dream’ as he shows that not following the conventions of hard work, effort and determination will ultimately get you nowhere. He has let life pass him by while he is looking for a big break and waiting for rewards to come to him. Willy and Biff often mock and criticise the neighbour’s son Bernard; â€Å"you want him to be a worm like Bernard? No he’s got spirit, personality † (Willy to Linda about a young Biff in a time shift).They ridicule him for being smart and completing his school work; while Willy should be telling Biff to learn from Bernard’s example, he discourages Biff to be proficient and promotes mockery and scorn. Later in the play we see Bernard as a highly successful lawyer, thus proving that the ‘American Dream’ has worked for him as he had the right idea where Willy did not. Miller uses the technique of mobile concurrency throughout the play, enabling past and present events to be shown on stage together. In him doing this the audience can gain a greater understanding of Willy’s mental state and exactly why his death occurred as it did.Without the use of this technique there would not be as much evidence to support the quote at question as most of the supporting evidence is during past events in Willy’s time shifts. There is sufficient evidence to support Biff’s statement; â€Å"He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong. † And I think that this comment is true, Willy Loman did have the wrong dreams; dreams of easy money and prioritising popularity and likability above hard work and perseverance, which tragically resulted in his death. Bibliography ‘Death of a Salesman’ –Arthur Miller ‘Tragedy and the common man’ –Arthur Miller Wikipedia Sparknotes. com/lit/salesman/