YOUR NAME (first and last)

OPEN-ENDED / CRITIC INTERPRETATION QUESTIONS 1) Miller offered a number of interpretations on his play. (a) It is about “the paradoxes of being alive in a technological civilization.” (b) It is “a story about violence within the family.” (c) It is about “the suppression of the individual by placing him below the imperious needs of society.” (d) It is about “a man who kills himself because he isn’t liked.” (e) It is a play which expresses “all those feelings of a society falling to pieces which I had.” (f) And, “Death of a Salesman is a love story between a man and his son, and in a crazy way between both of them and America.” Defend your selection of which statement holds the greatest truth in your reading of the play.

2) Compare the view (a), “Woman in Miller’s plays is usually the prop of the male principle without whom man falters, loses his way” to (b) “Miller’s women are usually shadowy characters, rarely as fully realized as even some of the secondary men.” to (c) the critic Rhoda Koenig objection to Miller’s treatment of women, “of whom he knows two types. One is the wicked slut, the other is a combination of good waitress and slipper-bearing retriever. Linda, in particular, is a dumb and useful doormat.” Which one most fully embodies your perception of Miller’s use and treatment of women in Death of a Salesman. Defend your response.

3) Contrast the 2 dominant life views: 1)“Life is a casting off” (Linda) vs. 2) “Some people accomplish something (Willy). Which is more accurate in life; and which is more applicable to the text? Provide ample text detail in your assertions/insights. (#70 Charley)

4) Willy claims that success in business is based not on “what you do” but on “who you know and the smile on your face! It’s contacts … a man can end up with diamonds on the basis of being well liked.” How does the play support or reject this assertion?

5) “What binds us to this play is that we are the American family and the Lomans play out many of the familial relationships that make us who we are. The play, for me, is not sad or about death. It brings a catharsis that leads us to consider living out lives authentically, leaving the best of who we are rather than what others wanted us to be.” To what extent do you find truth in this more hopeful interpretation of the play? #125

CHARACTER OR RELATIONSHIP BASED QUESTIONS 6) Willy is a man of contradictions, from his statements to his actions. List at least three clear contradictions voiced by Willy and discuss what these contradictions show about Willy’s character. OR Miller said, Willy Loman “can’t bear reality, and since he can’t do much to change it, he keeps changing his ideas of it.” Discuss the form and structure of the play as a reflection of Willy's state of mind. To what extent do you find the above quotation true?

7) Contrast the father-son relationships between Charley-Bernard and Willy-Biff.

8) How do Ben and Charley function as opposites? What is the function achieved by each?

9) What do you make of the character of Ben? What does he represent, when does he appear, and how is he the opposite of Willy? Why does he say what he says in their last conversation?

10) What does the idea/character of Dave Singleman contribute to the play? Pg81

DRAMATIC CONVENTIONS (STAGING/PROPS/STRUCTURE) QUESTIONS 11) What are at least 3 bullet list argumentative claims you can make about range of functions/dramatic significances of the Requiem in the play? (What does it accomplish/do/convey OR how does it frame character/social argument/theme?) OR finish the sentence 3 different ways: “The Requiem functions to…” (you can prove/explain your 3 claims)

12) Miller likened the structure of DOAS to geological strata, in which different times are present in the same instant. He has also compared it to a CAT scan, which simultaneously reveals inside and outside. Miller also said the structure of the play was determined by what was needed to draw up his memories like a mass of tangled roots without end or beginning. Miller also said, “The play takes place in Willy’s mind so it travels through different definitions of reality, it keeps shifting.” & Miller also said, “The past, as in hallucination, comes back to him; not chronologically as in flashback, but dynamically with the inner logic of his erupting volcanic unconsciousness.” & Miller also said, “There are no flashbacks in the play but only a mobile concurrency of past and present.” (also floated ideas about layer cake)Which do you find to be the most accurate way of looking at time and dramatic structure in this play?

13) How are symbolic stage props used to aid in characterization of Willy, Biff, etc? What does Willy’s difficulty with machines – especially his car, the refrigerator, his house, and Howard’s wire recorder – suggest about him? To what extent are these objects symbolic? & How do "planned obsolescence," insurance, and "buying on time" (credit) figure into the play? What are Willy's attitudes toward the products (cars, refrigerator, home, etc.) that he buys and uses?

14) How is it possible to read the play as the story of Biff’s eventual triumph? [Do you agree – if the play offers any hope it offers it through the character of Biff.] OR MILLER: I am sorry the self-realization of the older son, Biff, is not a weightier counterbalance to Willy’s disaster in the audience’s mind. Do you agree? Is this play too much Willy’s tale and not a balance between Willy and Biff? (Did Miller strike the right balance in his plot/character/relationship constructions?)

15) Miller says that tragedy shows man’s struggle to secure “his sense of personal dignity” and that “his destruction in the attempt posits a wrong or an evil in his environment.” Do you think this makes sense when applied to some earlier tragedies (such as Oedipus the King), and does it apply convincingly to Death of a Salesman? Is this the tragedy of an individual’s own making? Or is society at fault for corrupting and exploiting Willy? Or both? Miller says tragedy must be optimistic … in what ways was DOAS optimistic (or did Miller fail at that)?

THEME & SOCIAL ARGUMENT QUESTIONS 16) Miller once said of Willy, “Something in him knows that if he stands still he will be overwhelmed. These lies and evasions of his are his little swords with which he wards off the devils around him … There is a nobility, in fact, in Willy’s struggle. Maybe it comes from his refusal ever to relent, to give up…” Is Willy Loman’s story pathetic or tragic? If you find Willy pathetic, does this weaken the force of the play? Can we say that Willy has come to any self-knowledge at the end of the play?

17) Miller says that tragedy shows man’s struggle to secure “his sense of personal dignity” and that “his destruction in the attempt posits a wrong or an evil in his environment.” Do you think this makes sense when applied to some earlier tragedies (such as Oedipus the King), and does it apply convincingly to Death of a Salesman? Is this the tragedy of an individual’s own making? Or is society at fault for corrupting and exploiting Willy? Or both? OR “Its theme comes across with blinding clarity – failure is the only sin Americans will not forgive” (Kallen circa 1975). Do you agree or disagree with the critic. Use specific examples to prove your point (though staying to some degree rooted in the text).

18) Explore the urban (Brooklyn, etc) vs. rural (the West, farms, Africa/Alaska/Willy’s father) dynamic in the play. What is the significance and role of the farm and farming imagery? How does it relate to business and urban life? What does Willy miss about the old days? What has changed? AND/OR Explore the divisions between present action (1943) and 1928 or what associations Miller places into each time frame (and what it reveals about Miller’s attitudes about progress or the evolution of American business, etc). How does Miller use lighting, the set, blocking, and music to differentiate between action in the present and “memory” action? OR The set is offered as a metaphor, a visual marker of social and psychological change in Willy between 1928 and 1943. Explain the nature of change in these two sets/times.

19) When the play first appeared in 1949, some reviewers thought it a bitter attack upon the capitalist system. Others found in it a social criticism by a writer committed to a faith in democracy and free enterprise. What do you think? Does the play make any specific criticism of society? OR To what extent do you agree with the 1949 critic who felt DOAS was: “a time bomb under American capitalism” (What does the play attack or question if not American capitalism?)#57 OR Miller’s critical reception, particularly in his native America, has been mixed, at time downright hostile. America finally does not want to be told that innocence can ever be lost, that a condition of after the fall exists and so cannot accept Miller’s world-view; in America Miller’s vision is thus incompatible with the individualistic (yet mass-oriented) American dream.In your view, does America like to watch a play like this that says what it says about America? #61

PERSONAL REACTIONS QUESTIONS 20) MILLER: “I confess that I had laughed more during the writing of DOAS than I have ever done, when alone, in my life. I laughed because moment after moment came when I felt I had rapped it right on the head – the non sequitur, the aberrant but meaningful idea racing through Willy’s head, the turn of story that kept surprising me every morning.” What were at least 3 humorous moments or lines you found in the play? #45

21) Merge the below 4 interpretations with your own view or pick the most insightful view from the list and explain why: 1) Willy’s greatest struggle is the struggle for absolution and meaning to his life/existence. 2) Agree or disagree: Biff and Willy wrestle each other for their existence. 3) Miller once said, “Your love for him binds you; but you want it to free you to be your own man” – is this the ultimate problem of not just Biff, but Hamlet and Willy as well? Explain. 4) Do you agree: Biff loves his father enough to fight him and his lethal beliefs.

22) Is Linda a strong character? Does Linda deserve part of the blame for Willy’s tragedy? Is Linda a loving wife or a self-deceiving "enabler" of family pathologies? Is she aware of Willy’s infidelity (why might Miller leave this deliberately ambiguous)?

23) What is more damaging and dangerous – the false dreams Willy has for himself or the way he builds up false dreams in his children?

I believe the play in a sense rejects this assertion. Willy continuously states how all you need to be successful is knowing people and being well-liked, and not on what you do. I think the play rejects this by showing the reality of life. The reality is, your success in business potentially has something to do with who you know and how liked you are, but the most important factor is what you do. If you do not have a well-paying job that is in demand, then success will be very hard to come by. The play supports that through Willy’s character. Willy was a salesman, which was something that used to be one of the best jobs. As he got older, it wasn’t as big in demand and the salesman business slowed down. Willy throughout it all still believed it was the best job to have, to bring you success, although it clearly was not. What you do is the most important factor of being successful in a business. Who you know and being well-liked by the people are just additional factors that can add to the successfulness, although it won’t get you to the point of being successful on it’s own.

Dave Singleman is the “role model” of Willy Loman in the play. On page 81, Willy talks about Dave SIngleman to Howard. He states how “at the age of eighty-four, he made his living”. This gave Willy hope that as he got older, he’d still be able to make a living, continuing to be a salesman like Singleman. Later in the paragraph Willy says “and be remembered and loved by so many different people”. This shows where Willy the idea that if you were to be a successful salesman, all you need it to be ‘well-liked’ by everyone. Being ‘well-liked’ is a recurring phrase Willy uses throughout the rest of the play.

I believe the most accurate way of looking at time and dramatic structure in this play would be comparing it to a CAT scan. Like Miller said, it simultaneously reveals the inside and outside. This relates to the inside and outside of Willy’s mind. There are multiple parts of the play that show Willy in the present time, simultaneously having memories of his past. For example, in the bathroom at the restaurant when he was with Biff and Happy (Frank’s Chop House Scene). Willy went to the restroom, although while he was in the restroom, he was having memories of his affair with a woman while he was in Boston. Later in the play at the very end of Act 2, Willy is talking to Linda in the present, yet while he is talking to her, he sees Ben and Ben is saying things to him. As Linda goes upstairs, Willy begins responding to Ben, yet responds to Linda as she is screaming for him upstairs. These two events emphasize how you simultaneously see the inside and outside of Willy’s mind, like a CAT scan.

I believe that Willy Loman’s story is tragic. As stated by Miller, Willy had a “refusal ever to relent, to give up”. Willy shows throughout the play that he continues trying for which ever reason. When he started getting commission as his pay while he was working, he went to Howard and requested to get a job that did not involve traveling. He didn’t not give up on requesting the job by even lowering his salary every time he said it to Howard. He went from saying “all I need to set my table is fifty dollars a week” going all the way down to “forty dollars a week”. Willy also doesn’t give up on the dream he has for his son Biff. Biff does not want to follow his father’s footsteps and go into the salesman business, yet Willy continuously tries to make him. I do not believe that Willy came to any self-knowledge at the end of the play, considering he listened to his dead brother’s advice about killing himself, describing ‘heaven’ as “full of diamonds”(135).

I believe the damaging and dangerous thing are the false dreams Willy has for himself. I do not believe it is the false dreams Willy has in his children, because his children are able to understand reality. With Willy having false dreams in himself, he believes that he can be very successful and if he is ‘well-liked’ it will take him very far. I believe this is the most damaging and dangerous because Willy has almost no sense of reality. He listens to the advice of his dead brother, who he ‘sees’, and talks to him about his dreams. Willy believes that him being a salesman was the best thing he could be and it would be the most successful, although that is not the case at all. Willy’s false dreams he has for himself in the end of the play, cause him to kill himself. He dreams that his family will get $20,000 from the insurance and will be much happier with it, and believes it so much that he kills himself. Willy’s dreams were so big that they took over him, although they did not help him in any way.

When Linda says “Life is a casting off” she is practically saying that life is not a certain thing and the future cannot be predicted; that only one situation can replace the next in life. This metaphor is also similar to betting, you give all that you have in the moment to then move forward into the unknown and hoping for the best outcome. When Willy says “Some people accomplish something” it can be understood that he only sees the success in those who achieve something great. Both of these quotes are accurate but I would say Linda’s quote is more accurate to everyone’s life, whereas willy’s quote is correlated to the theme of achievement and being a success in the text.

The two father son relationships act as literary foils to each other. Both Charley and Bernard try to show the reality of life and help guide them while Biff and Willy, don’t pay any attention to it. Willy and Biff were more focused on being considered “men” then really focusing on the tasks of life, such as school and a concrete job; whereas Charley and Bernard were focused on reality and achieved better lifestyles. Charley’s character appears to be one that never lets mishap get the better of him and comes off very down to earth. Willy on the other hand is always reminiscing on the past and the never faces reality. Although Charley and Bernard never learn the value of dreaming and hoping for something more. In the end Biff had to become more like Bernard and face reality.

Miller’s statement applies to many tragedies from earlier times such as Oedipus Rex because in these tragedies the search for one’s own dignity in turn become there fall. This statement very much so applies DOAS because Willy Loman from his past to death demonstrated that his search for something better in the end lead to his death achieving nothing. I don’t see where DOAS could be seen as an optimistic story. Throughout the reading the overall feeling created for Willy was pity and sadness. The only sense of optimism that was given but then failed was when Biff, Happy and Willy all went out to achieve something great, but in turn they all ended up not achieving anything. With this DOAS did not appear to have an optimistic plot or ending.

This play makes a subliminal criticism to the American dream. The American dream is to own your own home, have a successful job, raise successful kids, and be able to go and live dreams. This play does the direct opposite and shows the harsh reality of the everyday man. Having the main character live a stressful and having commonly boring life and job, it attacks what most believe is normal and easily accessible when living in America and being in American. Capitalism isn’t attacked but revealed through the reality of life, and Miller shows this by creating the common hopeful American through Willy Loman.

The false dream is more damaging for Willy because it is what caused Willy to create and build his false dreams for Biff and Happy. Willy Loman lived on the hope that everything was easily accessible as long as you were a strong individual. He pushed Biff to be a football player more so than a great student. The idea of being something great corrupted the way in which Willy Loman perceived the reality of hard work in education and occupation. Without the dream damaging Willy the way in which it did it would have had no effect on his children, therefore never leading to his strained relationships with his son and his struggle to make ends meet in life.

This play rejects this notion, as Willy attempts to lie his way through life as to create a well-liked characterization of himself that would "hopefully" enhance his success in business, based off of his personal claim. Instead of obtaining success, however, Willy is depleted of business. It shows as well in his son, Biff. Biff is a star during high school, being a popular and well-known football player. However, as he didn't excel in school, and in effect didn't excel in life afterwards, Biff becomes the embodiment of the fact that being well liked isn't all it takes to put you above and beyond in the success of life. In contrast, Bernard is a heavily intellectual student and as a result becomes a a successful lawyer, just as his father Charley, who isn't known for his charisma or for being well liked, is a vastly more successful businessman than Willy could ever dream of becoming.

I feel as if Ben is the closest representation of a father-figure to Willy. He looks up to Ben and values his opinion above almost every one else's, even though in the play, Ben is dead and only appears as a memory. Ben functions as a stream of consciousness for Willy and is his motivation for most of the actions he partakes in throughout the play. Ben is a prominent figure only because instead of completely binding to scenes of the past (as with Willy's memories of the women, and the younger versions of Biff, Linda, and Happy) Ben is able to hold coherent conversations with Willy as he functions in the "present day" scenes. Ben became successful through discovery and took a major chance with exploration to find his riches in Africa and Alaska. In contrast, Willy settled for the safety of sales and never reached beyond his comfort zone to manage his future. I feel that Ben declares Willy's suicide "a perfect proposition all around" (135) because he is actually the manifestation of Willy's consciousness into a figure he' values with high regard, so his own internal conflicts of planning his suicide have been weighed out by Ben's dialogue until Willy decides to finally go for suicide, making his Ben manifestation agree as well.

I feel as if Biff is the only hope of the Loman family for prosperity and success because he has the self-revelation of his abilities and that they lie beyond sales and actually out in nature. Happy remains determined to finish his father's legacy, even though it is clear that Willy finished his legacy justly with his suicide as there was no hope for him to advance in business beyond. Happy's determination to "win" (139) as "number-one man" (139) in Willy's honor is a lost dream to be had. In contrast, Biff recognizes "who [he] is" (138) and decided to move away from sales and into his own destiny as a farmhand, where he deems he truely belongs. This is the most symbolic action for hope of prosperity for the Loman family as it shows that Biff recognizes who he is, and not who he dreams of being, placing a firm divide between what he can and can't achieve and following the path of success for his own qualities.

The urban dynamic of the play represents the modern America based on capitalism and the principals of sales work for business. However, the rural aspect of the play seems to allow for more prosperity and discovery than the urban aspect. The city seems to always have Willy and the Lomans "trapped" and their house is even encaged by surrounding apartments. In the rural scenes of the play, such as Alaska, Africa, and the West, however, there is limitless expanses of land and sky, symbolizing their vast opportunities for growth and success by people such as Ben and Biff, who'll learn to take advantage of life beyond the city's constraints . Willy misses the friendliness and availability for travel of his old days in business and how everyone was open for his sales pitch and a friendly smile. Since his past, many people are rejecting of his work and don't value his business quite as receptively.

I feel that it is more damaging for Willy to have built his own false dreams into his children because as he did so, he placed them in the position to uphold these dreams. If they couldn't attain the success of these dreams (which Biff and Happy can't) then it was almost inevitable that Willy would see failure in his life as a whole because his "seed" (his children) couldn't be harvested for prosperity. This caused him to decide to kill himself, as his death was worth more (in insurance money) than his life (in being fired and having two unemployed sons) would seem to be. I think that by building up the false dreams in his sons, he prolonged their advancement into society and their own dreams, thus making them seem as failures to others and themselves because they were attempting to uphold Willy's values rather than work with what would bring them happiness and success. It's damaging mainly because if Willy hadn't built up these false dreams, then his sons might've become successful in other fields right out of graduation, thus reaping in benefits from their own dreams that could help provide for Willy when he could no longer support his own false dreams. They could've prevented his suicide as they wouldn't require his insurance money for prosperity and could potentially have provided for Willy instead.

c). In my reading of Death of a Salesman, I found that the main interpretation given to me was about "the suppression of the individual by placing him below the imperious needs of society." The characters in this play, mostly Biff and Willy, were suppressed throughout the play which contributed to their depression. The major turning point in Biff's life was witnessing his father cheat on his mother with a secretary, which caused him to delay his future. Willy was suppressed by society, making a living as a salesman in his Middle Ages, but losing his charm due to the fast growing market after the second world war. These instances of suppression create the sadness and drama in the play and help develop the plot as well, which is why I saw this interpretation as most accurate.

c) I perceived the women in this play to be either doormats or "sluts," mostly because none of them contribute much to the play on a plot basis. Linda is the most influential character, and she only really has one major scene where she yells at Biff but is soon stopped when Willy starts speaking. Another case where she is doormat is in one of the very first scenes where she is taking care of Willy. Perhaps the most important instance of her doormat-ness is how she lets Willy yell at her and cheat on her, even though she does not know that he is cheating. The Woman character would be considered a "slut" who is only there to cause trouble, and creates drama in the play. Miss Forsythe and her friend do this as well by distracting Happy (and to some extent) Biff away from their suicidal father. In this play, women either cause trouble or get walked on.

Ben and Charley are opposites, although both are successful, they have very different views and treatments towards Willy. Ben is very arrogant and tells Willy that he needs to find a way to do things on his own, whereas Charley is kind and charitable towards Willy. Despite how they treat Willy, Willy treats them oppositely. He is angry towards Charley and looks up to Ben, his brother. Ben is used to show that in order to be successful you must go out of your comfort zone and be an arrogant jungle man who only cares about diamonds, and Charley is used to show the kindness in people and as a means to get Willy help. He is the outlet that Willy uses to talk to the audience, much like Nick Carraway is in The Great Gatsby.

I think Miller struck the right balance in the play. Willy's story is told completely, and Biff's breakdown helps to further (and therefore end) Willy's plot. If Biff's tale were continued, I do think that he would have been more successful. I think his father's death would have motivated him to try harder to make a living for himself, especially now that his family had no income. Happy probably would not have been any different, sadly, but Biff was greatly impacted by his father. I don't think that Biff's breakdown was too under appreciated because it should be Will's story, and Biff is vital in telling it.

I found Willy to be tragic rather than pathetic. He attempted to earn more money and to give his family a better life by taking care of his two sons in their 30s but ultimately failed. If he would have simply given up and said "oh well" and killed himself then he would be considered pathetic, but since he tried and struggled for so long, I would consider his story a tragedy. I think he used lies and evasions to try and make better sense of his stories because he himself didn't know what to believe. He didn't know how to solve his problems, but I don't think that's saying anything bad about him because I don't have an answer for his struggles either.

I would say that false dreams and the false dreams in his children are both damaging, but the building up of dreams in his children was the most damaging. Willy built hope in himself which was bad, but that only impacts him. Because he built up the dreams in his children, they thought more of themselves than they were, and due to that failed. They never would have had to throw themselves into the care of Willy and Linda if it wasn't for Willy giving them false hope. However, it still was their fault that they failed, they never would have dreamed so big if it weren't for Willy. The false dreams in his children therefore are more damaging because they created a much larger burden on Willy and the rest of the Loman's than would have been brought just from Willy's sadness and only having to take care of Linda (and The Woman)...

It would seem that for the most part, the play rejects Willy's claim. Because of Willy's failure, despite his hard work, it should be evident that this is not true. Willy had connections, but still was largely unsuccessful in the business world. For example, he had personal connections to Howard, however he was still unable to keep his job, even when pointing out the fact that he assisted in the naming of Howard. Willy also had a familial relation with Charley, Bernard, and his Uncle Ben, all of whom became very successful in the business world. He also claimed that he was well-liked. On the other hand, in a memory sequence, Bernard is said to have been "liked, but not well-liked", however he went on to become immensely successful.

Charley and Bernard are much more distant at a young age, which allowed Bernard to focus more exclusively on his schooling. On the other hand, Biff and Willy have a closer father-son relationship in which Willy inflated the ego of Biff, clouding his judgement and enabling a position for life-altering failure. Later in life, it can be seen that the tables turn, and that Charley and Bernard have a healthier relationship when comparing the to Willy and Biff. Later in life, Charley is able to give Bernard a bottle of bourbon as a congratulatory statement on Bernard's arguing a case in front of the Supreme Court. Willy and Biff do not have this sort of luxury. For example, willy not only does not have the money to buy a gift for Biff, he does not not have a reason to. Willy is unable to give anything to Biff without it being a big deal, contrasting to the minor significance seen in Charley's gift to Bernard.

I would think that the example of a CAT scan could be used to describe the structure because of the ability to see both inside and out of the structure. For example, the strategically placed memory scenes help to explain the reasons behind the events of the play which occur in the present. Without the placement of certain scenes in the play, the audience would have questions about the reasons of actions specifically related to character development. For example, the relationship between Biff and Willy may be left open to interpretation when seeing the events of the present, but the inclusion of Willy's memory allows for the audience to absolutely know why there is such tension between them.

I would say that for the most part, at least a certain (southern) demographic would not enjoy the views put forward by Miller in this play. A lot of people would like to see more of a positive representation of their country rather than the darker underbelly which they may not want to imagine in order to make sure that their patriotic views are not influenced by what they see. Miller was even called a communist in the age of McCarthyism, which can go to show that people are not open to the criticism that may alter their view of their country, or society's view of their country.

I would say that the false dreams Willy sets up for his family are more dangerous than those that he sets up for himself. One may argue that his own dreams led to his suicide, but that really only had the strongest impact on him. However, when looking at the dreams that Willy sets up for his family, specifically Biff and Happy, these should prove to be much worse overall. This can be seen directly through Biff in his painting of University of Virginia on his sneakers before he was even in a stable position to graduate from high school. Willy seemed to reassure Biff that everything would be fine in the end, without looking at the overall severity of the situation. As for Happy, he, like Biff, is told that being good looking is the only important key to succeeding in business. This allows him to coast by on his looks, or at least think he can. Because of Willy's false dreams, he was essentially thrown on track to a life of complete failure.

This play both supports and rejects this statement. When one of the brothers goes to the meeting about the business plan, because the brother had a previous altercations with the person that he was meeting, things went terribly wrong, and the brother ended up stealing a fountain pen. The play supports this state with the relationship between Willy and Charley. Charley offers Willy a job several times and Willy declines each time. Charley knows Willy and they have a great relationship with each, which is why Charley would have no problem handing Willy a job.

I strongly agree with the statement above. The reader can see throughout the play that Willy needs a way to cope with the challenges that he face throughout the play. The form and structure of the is used to reflect Willy's state of mind. The author including flashbacks within the play, is a technique that helps with reflecting Willy's state of mind. As the statement above says since Willy cannot bear reality, and he cannot change it either he goes back to the past where things seemed easier or happier, because the reader can also see that Willy is miserable. He changes the idea of reality with flashbacks also. When Linda explains to her sons that Willy was trying to kill himself that was another way of Willy not being able to bear reality, so would rather die.

The first argumentative claim would be Miller using light as a staging technique in order to move between time.

I do think the first statements applies to earlier tragedies, however I do not agree that it applies to Willy in The Death of a Salesman, because society is not at fault for corrupting and exploiting Willy. Willy has the opportunity to accept a job from Charley and he chooses not to, primarily because of his pride. Which does not make since because he still goes to ask Charley for money. I do not think that this play seemed hopeful or confident about the future. Linda and at some point her sons are the only ones who seemed to be hopeful about the future or upcoming events. And even when Willy's sons were hopeful about something Willy brought negativity.

Willy has not come to any self knowledge at the end of the, I say this, because I feel that given the same set of circumstance Willy will still make the same decisions, and think nothing of it. Willy Loman's story is both pathetic and Tragic. It is tragic, because he is working hard and going through a lot, and it is like every 10 steps he takes, he gets pushed back 20, however it is pathetic, because he has other options that he deliberately chooses to not take control over.

Linda is not a strong character. Linda does not deserve part of the blame for Willy's tragedy, because Willy can fix his own problems without help from anyone else. She is both a loving wife and self deceiving "enabler" of family pathologies, because she has an excuse for everything that happens, I guess in order to make the other characters feel good about themselves, however the situation is still not okay. Making an excuse for everything that happens is self enabling, because its all just lies that are suppose to justify the situation.

I find to some extent that the Death of a Salesman brings a catharsis. Willy Loman throughout the play has a psychological battle in his head. He has memory scenes that makes him remember all his regrets that he had in his life, and as the play progresses the imbalance becomes worse. His vindication for getting away from this is to kill himself. I believe that this was a relieving notion to his imbalance as he gets Happy to make sure that “Willy Loman did not die in vain” (Miller 139). Biff also leaves to set things right for himself. This portrays that there was some hope left at the end of the play. However, Willy left a depressed Linda, as she is now alone in their house. This shows that the play is not a full catharsis, but there are some signs that there is catharsis.

The relationship between Charley and Bernard and the relationship between Willy and Biff mostly contrast. For one, Willy and Biff argue in almost every encounter in the play while Charley and Bernard get along easily, as shown when Willy sees Bernard and Charley before Bernard goes to Washington. Willy and Biff relationship became rough when Biff saw that Willy has an affair with another woman. There is a lack of trust between them after that point at many times in the play. Charley and Bernard does not seem to distrust each other. The relationship between Willy and Biff is more dynamic, as the last argument between them lead to showing Biff’s love towards Willy. Overall, even though their relationship is different than Charley and Bernard, ultimately you can see how both show care toward each other.

I find that the most accurate way of looking at time and dramatic structure of the play is the use of memory scenes. This gives the sense of bending time and how Willy imagines past events during the present time. This type of dramatic structure gives us the “process of Willy Loman’s way of mind” (Miller). This type of structure can show a longer period constructed in a short time frame, which in this case is about 16 years of events shown in 24 hours. I believe that the bending of time in the play leads to a more understanding of why Willy has an internal conflict and why he ultimately decides to leave this world.

I think Willy Loman’s story is both pathetic and tragic. His story does not weaken the force of the play because there are some aspects of tragedy, but Willy is not really aware of himself. I think that it is somewhat pathetic because his mistakes led him to his eventual demise. Willy believed that there was hope for Biff if he committed suicide, but this would not give insurance money. Willy was also considered self-center by a few characters in the play like Biff. However, it is also tragic because some of his emotion imbalances come from him trying to help his children succeed in the world. He was also in even a more imbalance when Biff and Happy left him at the restaurant. This would make the audience pity him, as he is alone and says that Charley is “the only friend he’s got” (Miller 98). This portrays that Miller wanted to make Willy a tragic character, but somewhat fails to show this.

I think that building up false dreams in his children is the most dangerous because when this happened, then Willy felt terrible for not putting his children in a position to succeed, and his children would lose faith in their father. This is portrayed when Biff sees his father having an affair. Biff loses all hope for success, and Willy regret his decision. Throughout the play, Willy feels worse and worse about how he was not able to make Biff into a successful man like Charley was able to make Bernard successful. I think that putting false dreams in his children damaged people in the play significantly more than the false dreams of Willy.

Once one gets passed the initial shock of how inherently sad the Death of a Salesman is, one is able to find the come to the catharsis of living ones life authentically. In the society in which we live, it is apparent that there are aspects of the Lomans within all of us. The play brings about the reality of the lies we are living and how we are desperately attempting to sell ourselves, even to our families. Through Biff and Willy we see the the common idea of living our lives trying to please our families and fulfill what society expects of us. The reader and spectators of the play can see that Biff finds peace in his life when he gives up on trying to bring home prizes for his father and lives his life for himself. He plans to walk away from social stigma that working with your hands is not good enough. I would not say its a happy play, but there is hope in what it means to live authentically and the success that comes with it.

It is obvious that Willy is envious of the relationship that Charley has with Bernard. Charley largely stepped back from the raising of Bernard and allowed him to reach success out of his own volition. Where as Willy continuously filled Biff's head with hot air. Between Willy and Biff there relationship in the past was based on a mutual respect and a delusion of who the other person really was. In the end their falling out was inevitable. This differs greatly from the relationship between Charley and Bernard. Charley never claims to be anything more than what he is, a total realist. Bernard was able to achieve greatness from is humble nature. The giving of a bottle of bourbon is symbolic of the relationship between Charley and Bernard, for the two of them it is seemingly means nothing. With Willy, consumed by his fanaticism, every gesture is assumed to have greater meaning. Biff seems to adopt this quality. Like father like son.

The idea of planned obsolescence is a reoccurring theme within the play. The props that are used to demonstrate this are the refrigerator and car. By the time they are paid for they are all used or broken and you enter the capitalist cycle of consumption. He and his sons believe in the artificial value of things created by advertisement and names. This is in contrast to Charley who buys things for their practical intentions. Willy in his profession of a traveling salesman also faces obsolescence in the modern world. This can be seen through his interaction between modern objects (where he struggles with tape recorders). It is interesting that the hose and car, two modern items, are objects which symbolize Willy's suicide. The modern age is ultimately the death of a traveling salesman by means of obsolescence.

While Miller's plays do commonly question social and political stigmas I would have to disagree that Death of a Salesman is his way of bashing capitalism. There are examples in the play of how capitalism works. He demonstrates this through Bernard and Charley. Miller does demonstrate flaws in the system. With Howard (where everything is profit based and it takes the human aspect out of business), and through Ben (who thrives in a capitalist system through degradation and the expansionist ideas of manifest destiny). And with Biff there is this common feeling of wanting something more than to sit behind a desk , or knowing there is more than one right way to live. America wants to watch this play because they understand these feelings of being trapped in a system. Miller clearly believes that we have lost the traditional american dream in which you can make and sell your own flutes. In Death of a Salesman, like the Crucible, he explores what it means to be a man and keep your dignity in a system that has turned against you. Considering the play worked in China I think its content has value outside of a capitalist system. But more so nods at the idea of being a genuine individual with independent thought. He wants his audience to be more than cogs in a machine who live their lives without thinking.

While Willy's self injurious behavior is problematic, the false sense of entitlement which he gives Happy and Biff is perhaps more of an issue. The downfall of Biff comes both from his father's deceitful behavior and the arrogance that his father gave him as a young boy. The ideas of how it is better to be well liked than actually good at anything are put in Biff's head by Willy. This leads to his downfall and faulty character as he enters the real world. Willy seemed to have lived some of his life in disillusion and arguably found some success and fulfillment in his life. Where as Biff peaked in high school and was never again able to be fulfilled because he felt he deserved more out of life than what he was given. The children are both dreamers who want more but lack the initiative to do anything about it. Biff lives under the pressure of what his father expects of him, as opposed to Happy and Willy. Happy and Willy are similar in the fact they have been estranged from their fathers and are content in their disillusions. Nothing much is really expected from Happy and nothing much was expected from Willy. Biff, however, struggles with the pressure put on him by his father.

The play's rejection of this assertion is one of the focal points in the work. Willy instills his own ideal that being well liked is more important than being a good person in his children. The way the play rejects this is by providing us two characters, Biff and Bernard. Biff, while originally well-liked and popular, ends up unsuccessful. He has been in jail for stealing, and his previous boss, who promised him help if he ever needed anything has long forgotten him. He also never has children. Meanwhile, Bernard, while never extremely popular in high school, has ended up successful, with a family of his own and even a career as a lawyer. Miller most relates to Bernard in this play, and we can easily say that Bernard's success can be attributed to his own hard work and perseverance.

Dave Singleman was the "ideal salesman" to Willy Loman. Willy transformed Singleman's dream into his own "American Dream." According to Willy, Singleman was so well-liked that he was known across the country. Many people attended his funeral, and he could make sales just by staying in his room and making phone calls. Willy is very impressed by this and decides to follow Singleman's way. This is revealed when he says "Cause what could be more satifying than to be able to go, at the age of 84, into twenty or thirty different cities, and be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?" (81).Meanwhile, Willy is not known, having only Charley as a friend, only five people attended his funeral, and he could not make sales even with all of the traveling he was doing. But Willy has adopted someone else's dream as is own, and this ends in his downfall. In the Requiem, this is recognized, and it ends up that "there's more of him in that front stoop than in all the sales he ever made" (138). Meaning, that had Willy had the drive to go for his actual skills, he would not be in the situation he is in now.

-The Requiem demonstrates Willy's actuality. He was so far from the ideal "dave Singleman" type of salesman he so desired to become and acted as if he had become.
-The idea that Willy had actual skills in building/ construction that he was not utilizing, leading to his ultimate failure is also developed. This adds to the despair readers and audiences feel. Biff, Charley, and Linda all contributed to the idea that "He was so wonderful with his hands" (138). This demonstrates, that in the end, it was mainly Linda, Charley, and Biff who truly understood Willy and Happy remained a static character who believed his father had the right goals.
-Charley's also explained purpose of salesman's existence-- to dream and grow. These would relate to the people of the time that the play was written in.

A tragic hero needs to fall from exaltation and glory to a lower place. Willy starts off in not much of a better place than he began. (A better fit for a tragic hero would be Biff.) Willy is pathetic, in that he ultimately learns nothing from his whole life. AS one of the critics said, he thinks that he has to sell himself in order to justify the fact that he has wasted his life. He never comes to self-knowledge in the play, mainly because he never realizes that the truth is that he is flawed. He will not listen to the truth, no matter the source, and his own consciousness tells him that selling himself is a good option. His attempt however is flawed in that insurance normally does not pay for suicide attempts. He also tries to plant seeds as a last effort to have something in the ground before he commits suicide, but this is flawed in that he said earlier that due to the cramping from new apartments being built, plants do not grow in the backyard anymore.

Humor was often used to lighten the tense atmosphere of the play. For example, when Willy was going to ask his boss, Howard, to be a floor salesman, Howard was playing on a recorder. This scene was humorous because it demonstrated that technology has removed us so far personally from other people. While one man, Willy, was so concerned about his future and what he was going to do, Howard was playing around and relaxing. This contrast provided relief of tension. After he was fired by Howard, another humorous scene occurred. Willy had a memory scene where we witness Charley’s humorous side. He acts as if he has forgotten about Biff’s game, which is the most important game he has ever participated in. He also makes jokes about the field where the game will occur, “Don’t you listen to the radio? Ebbet’s Field just blew up” (89). A third humorous scene was when the time when Charley and Willy are playing cards. The fact that Willy and Charley have an argument about a game of cards is light-hearted and relieves some of the tension and embarrassment felt by the audience at Willy's erratic behavior (talking to himself).

I hold that the most accurate description of the play would be C, although I recognize that Miller designed the play to be representative of the "time bomb under American capitalism," a system which tends to derive its ideology from the belief that individuals make decisions based on self-interest and such decisions usually lead to the best and most competitive outcomes. It would be ironic almost to say that the play is about the suppression of individualism if it is a critique of capitalism, but I seem to find that there is more going on here. Willy Loman is an entity who represents someone with such infatuation and zeal in his goal and his mission, a person who makes his living off of "a smile and a shoeshine," (138) whose goal is to, beyond making money, find the sense of "respect, and comradeship, and gratitude" (81) that he believes is representative of his profession and the spirit of America. However, his adoption of this belief and this zealous ideology which he will defend to his death is a suppression of his true desires, as he has substituted ersatz ideals and hopes about things the he doesn't truly want, and defends them seemingly for the sake of trying to appease some sort of over-arching, Kafkaesque system that he is unable to escape. The company that he works for relinquishes the idea of the safety-net manifested by Dave Singleman, and eventually, his loss in the system itself combined with his necessity to be a part of that diminishing system destroys him.

The purpose of a character like Dave Singleman is that he is the premise upon which your ultimate conclusion is based that can be yanked out from under you to create the sense of pity/pathos necessary in a tragedy. He is the manifestation of a safety-net, the thing that convinces you to not "settle in the North" with your father because you sacrifice your sense of adventure and self-sufficiency for what, at the time, seems to be a much safer position. Willy Loman's decision for becoming a salesman, as he could not only make his living "at the age of eighty-four," but also the idea that he could be liked and loved by so many different people. When this premise is shattered by the fact the realization of his lack of necessity within the company, any hope he may have had in himself (as his hope for Biff was not then destroyed, although it would be) is burned.

I believe that there is a point to be made regarding Biff's conclusion as the one that possesses the most hope, and also the fact that this hope is overshadowed by Willy's death. Although Miller didn't "set out...to "write a tragedy,"" his final product can definitely be characterized as one, and if the play does not end off emphasizing the fickleness and pitiful failures of a zealot with a false premise, the play would not be a tragedy. Even though Miller didn't exactly set out to write a tragedy, I think it can be determined by the nature of the play that he would've rather had it end off on a sad note more so a hopeful one, otherwise this play would've been largely been written from Biff's perspective and been inclusive of his discussion with Bill Oliver. It is a stylistic choice of Miller to choose Willy's fall rather than Biff's realization, and I feel that even though Miller would've liked the audience to recognize more heavily the importance of Biff's realization - the fact that he was able to get out of the system that ate his father relatively unscathed - the focus of the play needs to be on downfall instead of the epiphany if it is to have the desired effect. If Miller didn't want this, and legitimately wanted a play with a more optimistic ending, then I don't really know what was going on.

(First one)
One can definitely make the argument that this is a criticism against capitalism, as there are plenty of examples which characterize the system as being evil (especially regarding Miller's personal ideology himself, and his conflicts under the era of McCarthyism). The issue, however, is that there are also many ways to counter this position just based off of the play itself. Miller himself describes Charley as being the most "decent" character out of any of them, him being an individual who can only be described with the term laissez-faire, exemplified by the fact that he "never took interest in anything." This is the differentiation/issue between Willy and Charley, and, to a certain extent, something of the corporatist and the capitalist. Willy is a man who, in attempting to sell to others, has "sold himself" on a promise which conveys "tremendously powerful ideals" in his position, his place in society, and how he is treated socially by others. Charley, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He has very few ideals, he is mostly apathetic towards everything and everyone, and he realistically only cares about himself in an individualistic sense (although does show many instances of altruism in the form of charity). That is the embodiment of what virtually all capitalists will tell you: individual choice with voluntary charity. This is the representation of the most decent character in the whole play, so sayeth the author. Willy is not an altruistic figure; he attempts to be domineering, and attempts to convince others about how well liked he is while at the same time hating himself. Because of this, I believe there are most definitely anti-capitalistic sentiments within the play, but I don't think the play can be described so directly as a critique of capitalism. It's a critique of something else, something more like economic fundamentalism if you will. I'm not exactly sure how to describe it, but it's a critique of the idea that it's more important to sell yourself for your own self-conceived measurement of what it means to be successful.

Pg. 68
Happy: I'm gonna get married, Mom. I wanted to tell you.
Linda: Go to sleep, dear.

Pg. 99
Stanley: I only wish during the war they'd a took me in the Army. I coulda been dead by now.
Very IBish humor

Pg. 102
Happy: His name is Biff. You might've heard of him. Great football player.
Girl: Really? What team?
Happy: Are you familiar with football?
Girl: No, I'm afraid not.
Happy: Biff is quarterback with the New York Giants.

Willy's contradictions remind me a lot of Orwell's doublethink idea

I think that c is the view that most fully embodies Miller's use and treatment of women in DOAS. Linda is submissive to her husband Willy, throughout the whole play. She stands by him and makes excuses for him, even when he does not treat her like he should. In the scene where the boys are talking about how they are going to start the Loman Brother's sports company, every time that she tries to speak, Willy interrupts her. In my opinion, she does not have a huge role in the play. She is just there to represent dumb women. Another example of how Miller uses women to show that they are dumb is the woman that Willy hooks up with. She is seen as a sexual and dumb character who, for some reason, comes out of the bathroom when she hears laughing.

The relationship between Charley and Bernard and Willy and Biff are very different. Throughout the whole play, Willy just wants Biff to like him. He stresses the importance of being well-liked and how it will get you places. Willy raises Biff with this false idea, and this leads to Biff finding out that his father was cheating on his mother (because he went to his father in hopes that he could talk to his math teacher and give him the points). The two live in a world where they believe that they are the best, which is not that case. On the other hand, Charley and Bernard's relationship is not as close as Biff and Willy. Charley raised Bernard to value the important things that successful businessmen value. This leads Bernard to become successful while Biff has done nothing with his life.

I believe that this play does offer hope for Biff. He grew up with his father telling him that he was the best, and that he could get his way by just being well-liked. Biff, unlike Happy, does grow as a person. He goes from being lost at the beginning of the play, to realizing that being a salesman is not the life for him, and seeing that it was not the life of his father either. This play is a tragedy, but it leaves the reader, in my opinion, hoping that Biff will find something his loves, while knowing that Happy will never amount to anything.

This may make me seem like a terrible person, but I think that Willy'y story is pathetic. I don't really like him because of the way that he treats Linda, but also because his false confidence in himself. I understand that it is good to pursue dreams, but he needs to know when to give up. He would have been a great carpenter or a handyman, but because society told him to be a salesman, he was. I thought the Willy used to be a great salesman, but then slowly declined throughout time, but in the meeting with Howard, we find out that it's not true. I don't think that Willy comes to any self-knowledge at the end of the play because he still hears only what he wants to hear. What I mean by this is that he only hears the good news. For example, it takes Biff such a long time to tell Willy that the meeting with Oliver did not go as planned.

I really don't like how Miller puts Linda down in the entire play. She isn't strong because he makes her submissive to Willy. For example, in the scene when the boys were talking about the Loman Brother's sports idea, every time she talked, Willy told her to stop interrupting. The men kept interrupting each other, but Willy never said anything. I believe that she is a loving wife because she defends him in whatever he does. When Biff or Happy will say something negative about their father she always tells them to stop. Another example is when the boys come home at night and Linda tells them that they are not allowed to see their father because they were terrible sons. And yes, I do believe that she knows about his infidelity.

"Some people accomplish something" is more accurate in life because there are some people that will take the risks and accomplish something in their life, like Bernard and Charley. It is not completely unpredictable like Linda said because if someone puts their mind to something they can do it. For example, Biff could have gone to summer school to pass math and go to the U. of Virginia, however, Biff chooses to throw away his life. Biff could have had a successful job, like Bernard becoming a lawyer before the Supreme Court, but he chooses not to go to summer school and thus he chooses not to accomplish something great. This is not unpredictable because it was Biff's choice, just like how it was Bernard's choice to go to college and become a successful lawyer. Since they were both neighbors, it shows that anything can grow from the same soil. It also relates to "when a deposit bottle is broken you don't get your nickel back" (Charley) showing how once you choose to become a failure you cannot accomplish anything great. This supports how some people will do great things if they put their mind to it. Charley and Bernard take the risks and let other people help them and they have successful jobs while Biff and Willy do not let others help them, thus throwing their lives away and essentially accomplishing nothing. In life not everyone is going to do great things, but it is not totally unpredictable so it is not a casting off. Charley was able to accomplish something because he "is not a fanatic" (#70) and he learned how to not chase "the ecstasy of spirit which Willy chased to his end" (#70).

Charley does not pressure Bernard to do anything he let Bernard accomplish things on his own, while Willy made everything into a competition. Willy wanted Biff to be the best that he could be and everyone around Biff is a competitor. Even towards the end of the play Willy asked "Why didn't he [Biff] ever catch on" (92). This shows how Willy always thought that Biff was better than Bernard, yet Bernard became successful and Biff did not and Willy could not understand this. Charley let Bernard do what he wanted and not follow in his own footsteps so Bernard could find himself. This helped Bernard train himself for something and Bernard knew that academics were more important than sports so he attended his studies and worked hard, which his father supported. Willy always wanted Biff to be a great football player so Willy supported his football career more than academics which caused Biff to skip classes and flunk math. Also, Willy is the reason that Biff threw his life away, while Charley is the reason that Bernard wanted to accomplish something.

While Willy in the play never knew who he was eventually kills himself, Biff finally realizes that "I know who I am, kid" ( 138). Willy was chasing the American Dream his whole life and contributing to the facade of his life. Willy was always chasing what everyone wanted and would always buy things that were popular rather than for their quality like the refrigerator that Willy bought into the delusions of American society. In the beginning of the play Biff took his father's ideology, but could never find himself in this delusion. At the end of the play Biff found himself because he realized what he actually wanted in life rather than what Willy wanted for him. Willy believed that "selling is the greatest living that anybody can do" (#50), but Biff realized that finding himself is the greatest thing for anybody. Biff can move on from his father's death because of this realization. However, I think that the play is too much on Willy's tale rather than a balance because it does not show how Biff moved on at the end of the play nor if he was successful. It just showed that Biff had an epiphany and was content on moving on with his life knowing that the delusion of the American Dream had died and he found meaning to his life.

I think that Linda is a strong character because she knows more to Willy's life than he thinks she knows. She has to deal with a suicidal husband and two kids while keeping up appearances. Linda has to deal with a father and a son who do not get along for a reason that she does not really know and another son who ditched his suicidal father at a restaurant for two girls. She has to be able to confront her sons about how ashamed she is of them which takes a lot of courage. However, I think that she deserves part of the blame for Willy's tragedy because she could have confronted him about everything. Willy believed that he never did enough for his wife and would sacrifice his pride for her. She could have told him that she knew he was suicidal and that he was borrowing money from Charley so Willy did not have to keep lying to her. I also believe that she was aware of Willy's infidelity and could have confronted him so he did not have to feel as guilty about it. I think that Miller left it ambiguous because he wanted to show how even to Willy's death he was guilty about his infidelity and was never strong enough to tell the truth to his own wife.

The play rejects this notion in several ways. For example his son Biff who was the quarterback for the High School team was very liked by most. He is stopped from progressing on in life when he fails his math class and looks for help from his father of whom he saw was an honorable man. Where the opposite of the spectrum lies, Bernard, who loved and idolized Biff and would even wanted to bring his pads to the games was dismissed by Willy because he worked to hard. Yet, in the end Bernard was a lawyer that went in front of the Supreme Court.

The contrast lies where Willy and Biff have so a very weak relationship. Opposed to the strong relationship that Charley and Bernard have. Willy believes that Biff can do anything based on the fact that Biff is related to Willy and how he looks and his past. He also thinks anything that he gives to him should be thanked endlessly. Where as Charley knows Bernard's worth and the gift exchange between each other his held to a significantly lower pedestal than the one Willy believes in. Bernard and Charley have a relationship that does not derive from ones distaste of the other. Although Biff does not like to be around his father he still wants him to live because after all he is still a human being.

I believe that the book can be seen as the falling of the father which leads up to the rise of the son. Biff is very self aware and knows his strong suits. He says that the reason he could not get a job after high school was be cause "[Willy] Blew [Biff] so full of hot air [Biff] could never stand taking orders from anyone". Near the final pages of the book Biff starts down a path to redeem himself and his father. In the beginning of the book he is somewhat forced to become a salesmen but now he will take any job that comes to him.

I believe that the play is about the American Dream and how if you put in the word that you should be rewarded. Thus is the definition of the character Bernard and Charley. Bernard was made fun of for working hard yet in the end it paid of the most, which is seen by his success as a lawyer. Or Willy's father who is the embodiment of the American Dream. He made and sold flutes to accumulate his wealth. Where as those who cheat will not be entirely successful and the example of this is Ben, Willy's older brother who is often seen as his conscience and ultimately is the reason he gets in the car to kill himself.

Linda is not a strong character because she is essentially a doormat and feels bad for Willy. The only case that Willy acts normal is if it is just them too yet he is still scatter brained. Biff did not care for the way Willy treated Linda and in the first act of the play where the whole family is talking and the viewer sees Willy holding back for Biff's being there. I do not believe it is Linda's fault for the tragedy of Willy Loman. I do feel like Linda has lost the will to connect the family near the end of the play. You see this by telling Biff not to go near Willy. Also Willy Loman is the source of his own tragedy because he seems to be very self destructive and ruins his relationships with others in sake of his own pride. He is the reason he cheated on his wife not because she could not provide for him. I also believe she is aware of Willy cheating on her because there are instances where she backs off from defending him.

The play supports this assertion. Especially in the modern era, finding occupations is difficult without having the connections in certain industries. In the play, Willy creates lies to tell his kids. On page 31, he tells Biff and Happy that people all over America know him. However, this claim is not true. He ends up getting fired from his job considering not many people actually enjoy his company. Willy comes to the realization that he is not known as well anymore when he speaks to Howard about Dave Singleman. The salesman industry has grown into a time where respect and gratitude for one another has been lost. On page 81, Willy states that "Today,...there's no chance for bringing friendship to bear-or personality." This supports the claim that in the modern, capitalistic era, people do not respect each other as much as when they used to.

In my first reading of the play, I was very confused by its structure. I then came to realize that with every music cue came another one of Willy's memories. Miller's technique of expressionist theatre can be seen through "the mingling of present dramatic time with events from the past and the memories of those events as seen from the viewpoint of the main characters, a non-naturalistic use of the stage space, non-realistic sets, [and] evocative use of voice and music." (Major Handout #129). I find the quotation true in the sense that Willy does not have a deterministic idea of the "American Dream." With each memory comes Willy's new ideas, ruining him in the end.

I believe that Miller did not strike a right balance in his relationship contructions. Considering the play is called "Death of a Salesman," one can infer that the central focus of the play is on Willy more than any other character. After reading the book, one can see that this is indeed true. Miller writes from Willy's side of the story. He tends to stray from any of the other characters' backgrounds. When Biff flunks math, Miller does not introduce any context behind it. He only recognizes that Willy's son will not grow up to be the image that Willy hoped he would become. Another example is when Biff found Willy having an affair at the hotel. Miller has Willy try to ease his way around the subject matter and does not focus on Biff's emotions. When Miller has Willy kill himself, he does not take other characters' emotions into consideration. It focused solely on Willy's wants and needs more than Biff's or any other character.

As stated in the Major Handout, "Miller was interested in the "moral dilemma of society" more than politics..." He was attacked by critics because of his attempt to teach America different morals than what they were accustomed to. During the time of this play, America was beginning to shift into conformity. Americans did not want to believe that there was something wrong with their society. In fact, they still refuse any ideas of how futile our lives may be. The play exposes the psychological affects that a job/age may do to you. It shows that even a salesman, "the greatest career a man could want" (81) may come to a troubling future. Repetition and conformity can ruin a society, not giving the people in the society the ability to branch off and find new paths to lead. This can be seen through Ben and Willy. Willy did not become as successful as Ben did, and this idea frustrated Willy. In a sense, Willy can be seen as capitalistic America, showing how money seemed to be one of the only true forms of happiness.

I believe that the false dreams that Willy sets up for his children is what can be truly damaging to his character. At the end of the play, Willy kills himself because he is finally content knowing Biff likes him. Willy's false dreams to Happy and Biff are what keeps them from telling Willy how they truly feel (as seen in the final scene between Biff and Willy). Willy's lies and deceptions create a bigger ego for himself through the eyes of his sons. Knowing that he is making up these stories to try and build up the false dreams in his kids is what becomes truly detrimental to his well-being. When Willy tells Biff and Happy that people all over the New England area are fond of him and take care of him, it only hurts Willy more. Speaking this idea out that he is considered to be a well liked salesman forces him to realize that he will never be as well liked as Dave Singleman (81).

The play rejects this idea as Willy began his sales career with a hope of being successful or in his eyes being well liked by all people. This begins when he first encounters and eighty-four year old salesman that makes a living with sales on the phone and he never has to leave his house; however, it is this man`s funeral that really inspires Willy to become a salesman as hundreds of people show up to this man`s funeral from across the country. Willy believes that this is the definition of success. This causes Willy to become a travel salesman and he enforces the idea of being successful (well-liked) on to his children. Later on, when Willy is older he is still traveling for sales, but recognizes that he is not as well-liked as he used to be. This upsets him as he wanted to be well-liked until the day he died, and he begins to relive past memories in hope of a better future.Although, his funeral only consists of Linda, Charley, Biff, Happy, and Bernard when Linda says " But where are all the people he knew" (137). The play clearly rejects this idea when some of the successful characters are not "well-liked" but rather are "respected" (such as Charley and Bernard) while the "well-liked" characters (such as Biff and Willy) are not as successful.

Charley and Bernard both end up successful at the end of the play even though Charley was very easy going when he was parenting Bernard. Bernard ends up to be "lawyer...in the Supreme Court"(95). In addition, Bernard and Charley can have a mature and content relationship as they are seen to be able to visit each with no issues this began when Charley raised Bernard and "never told him what to do" (95). On the other hand, Biff and Willy are very close and Biff looked up to Willy. But, Willy was very concerned with his son`s future and if we was going to end up successful or well-liked. Their relationship diminished once Biff found out about Willy`s affair and they did not reconcile until the end of the play.

The Requiem`s purpose is to
show the full cycle of blind hope in the American Dream (with Happy going to complete the "Loman Brothers" (138) ordeal. When Willy initiates the blind hope of successful with his want for him to be well-liked and starts again with Happy
To end with the character that the play starts with ends with both Linda and now dead Willy and begins the play with the two of them (shows another full cycle of characters)
Shows the final contradiction of Willy when he imagined his funeral to be a celebration with lots of people when in the end only a hand full of people showed up(his delusions take him to his death)

To a great extent i agree with the critic`s review of the play as a "time bob under American capitalism" (#57) because this play is a story of a man whose whole goal in life was to end up successful and well- liked by all, but ends up delusional and dies with only a few family members to remember him by. This is a fair representation of how not everyone ends up famous or successful no matter how much they strive for it. This also relates to Miller`s personal history and how he saw similar situations with his parents during the Great Depression and this also influenced how the play portrayed the American capitalism. The American Dream also influenced this as many people wanted the "American Dream" yet they never reach it because the system does not always help people with their American Dream. Furthermore, this play shows the situation that many people can end up successful and reach their idea of an American Dream (with characters such as Bernard and Charley) but there are also people that do not live up to their idea of an American Dream (such as Biff, Happy, and Willy). This questions the reliability of the capitalist system as it may not seem that not everyone can achieve their hopes and dreams as they were promised.

The false dreams of Willy is the most dangerous as his false dreams not only create a delusional future, but can also harm the future of his children and how they create false hope. This begins with Willy`s ideal future with being successful, partner in the sales firm, successful children, and all around well-liked by all people. These false dreams harm most of Willy`s relationships with his friends and family. The relationship and trust he has with Biff is destroyed when Biff witnessed Willy`s affair. Causing the lack of success in Biff`s future later on in life. Also, the guilt that Willy carries for ruining his sons futures causes him to make rash decisions later on in the play.Willy`s damaging false dreams cause his death as he believes that if he commits suicide his family will receive enough money for his family to be successful.

I agree that statement F holds the greatest truth in my reading of the play. Towards the end of Act II, Willy and Biff engage in a very heated argument with some physical engagements between the two. Willy opens up about the visions he had for his son and how he (Biff) has failed to reach them, and Biff opens up about how his father should not blame himself for his (Biff's) failures. When Miller says that DOAS is a "love story between a man and his son," in essence, he is implying that Willy and Biff are fighting because they care so dearly about one another. Willy argues because he wants the best for Biff and wants him to succeed. He also does not want Biff to pass up great opportunities like he did when he refused Ben and Charley's job offers. Biff argues because he does not want his father to live in vain. He does not want his father to absorb all of his children's failures himself which may lead to his demise, and eventually does. This "crazy war" between them and America is symbolizing the struggle of the American dream which is embodied by a lot of success and very little effort.

Charley and Bernard have a very dynamic relationship. They have similar characters in that they want to succeed in a capitalistic society. Willy and Biff are both very bipolar and are like repelling magnets towards each other. They have different values when it comes to personal success and manifestation. Bernard is very studious whereas Biff is not. Biff failed his math class and failed to retake the course in summer school which did not allow him to obtain his high school diploma. Charley is a successful lawyer and does not dwell in his positive attributes whereas Willy is not a successful salesman (anymore) and he still brags about his persuasive abilities and his knack for knowing how to please people. Bernard and Charley work together in the end of the play whereas Biff and Willy never work with each other. Bernard and Charley represent natural success through hard work, unlike Biff and Willy.

Willy's difficulty with machines represents the fact that he is not exactly savvy with anything except selling to people, and even his skill in that has somewhat expired. Willy's constant need to replace machines and appliances in his house, and his everlasting "race with the junkyard" (Miller 73) represents that he is always in a state of renewing. Just like his mentality towards his career, instead of fixing his machines and saving money he has to go out and buy another one (like his car). Instead of adjusting his mentality of his career and realizing that sales does not put bread on the table forever and pursuing something else (like the jobs Charley and Ben offered), he stays with his old job and hopes for the best. The shortage of time that his products last in represents the shortage of his money. Always having to go out and buy new equipment is like him always having to ask Charley for money. Willy's lack of savviness in machinery represents his uselessness in life.

It is appropriate to say that much of Miller's work is political, or has some aspects of society's fallacies. In "The Crucible" Miller indirectly references McCarthyism in the United States. When many of the townspeople have been accused of witchcraft, it represented the false accusations of people being communists during that era in the US. Similarly, in DOAS, Miller was influenced by his experience of the Wall Street crash and Great Depression which had really affected his affluent parents. Miller considered the Great Depression to have a defining impact on US History, almost of equal magnitude as the Civil War. Miller is criticizing the capitalistic, corrupt society in this play, and I believe that America does indeed like to watch a play like this because most of the people at the time were faced with economic and financial hardships. Only the top few percent, the elite of America, the wealthiest, were the harshest critics of this play in that it was an attack on their success and wealth. However, the rest of the American people must have been enthused that someone had finally protested a not very successful system (at the time).

The most insightful of these views to me was the third one. The love for one another binds yourselves together. Willy and Biff over each other, and that was undoubtedly showed in the end of Act II when they engaged in a heated argument. Because they loved one another and wanted the best for one another, it brought them together, yet separated them further away. Throughout most of his life, Willy was so proud of Biff and his potential that he had always been on top of him, pushing him to do better than he already does. Eventually this worn Biff out, and in the end of the play he decided to move away and won't be "writing any more" (Miller 128) so that he could pursue his own career. Their love for each other drove them further away from each other. Similarly, in Hamlet, his love for his father drew him further into an abyss of guilt and indecisiveness. The only reason he had for revenge and the death of a human being was his love for his father, but he wanted to be free and be his own man and not have to kill his uncle.

The play rejects this idea as Willy began his sales career with a hope of being successful or in his eyes being well liked by all people. This begins when he first encounters and eighty-four year old salesman that makes a living with sales on the phone and he never has to leave his house; however, it is this man`s funeral that really inspires Willy to become a salesman as hundreds of people show up to this man`s funeral from across the country. Willy believes that this is the definition of success. This causes Willy to become a travel salesman and he enforces the idea of being successful (well-liked) on to his children. Later on, when Willy is older he is still traveling for sales, but recognizes that he is not as well-liked as he used to be. This upsets him as he wanted to be well-liked until the day he died, and he begins to relive past memories in hope of a better future.Although, his funeral only consists of Linda, Charley, Biff, Happy, and Bernard when Linda says " But where are all the people he knew" (137). The play clearly rejects this idea when some of the successful characters are not "well-liked" but rather are "respected" (such as Charley and Bernard) while the "well-liked" characters (such as Biff and Willy) are not as successful.

Charley and Bernard both end up successful at the end of the play even though Charley was very easy going when he was parenting Bernard. Bernard ends up to be "lawyer...in the Supreme Court"(95). In addition, Bernard and Charley can have a mature and content relationship as they are seen to be able to visit each with no issues this began when Charley raised Bernard and "never told him what to do" (95). On the other hand, Biff and Willy are very close and Biff looked up to Willy. But, Willy was very concerned with his son`s future and if we was going to end up successful or well-liked. Their relationship diminished once Biff found out about Willy`s affair and they did not reconcile until the end of the play.

The Requiem`s purpose is to
show the full cycle of blind hope in the American Dream (with Happy going to complete the "Loman Brothers" (138) ordeal. When Willy initiates the blind hope of successful with his want for him to be well-liked and starts again with Happy
To end with the character that the play starts with ends with both Linda and now dead Willy and begins the play with the two of them (shows another full cycle of characters)
Shows the final contradiction of Willy when he imagined his funeral to be a celebration with lots of people when in the end only a hand full of people showed up(his delusions take him to his death)

To a great extent i agree with the critic`s review of the play as a "time bob under American capitalism" (#57) because this play is a story of a man whose whole goal in life was to end up successful and well- liked by all, but ends up delusional and dies with only a few family members to remember him by. This is a fair representation of how not everyone ends up famous or successful no matter how much they strive for it. This also relates to Miller`s personal history and how he saw similar situations with his parents during the Great Depression and this also influenced how the play portrayed the American capitalism. The American Dream also influenced this as many people wanted the "American Dream" yet they never reach it because the system does not always help people with their American Dream. Furthermore, this play shows the situation that many people can end up successful and reach their idea of an American Dream (with characters such as Bernard and Charley) but there are also people that do not live up to their idea of an American Dream (such as Biff, Happy, and Willy). This questions the reliability of the capitalist system as it may not seem that not everyone can achieve their hopes and dreams as they were promised.

The false dreams of Willy is the most dangerous as his false dreams not only create a delusional future, but can also harm the future of his children and how they create false hope. This begins with Willy`s ideal future with being successful, partner in the sales firm, successful children, and all around well-liked by all people. These false dreams harm most of Willy`s relationships with his friends and family. The relationship and trust he has with Biff is destroyed when Biff witnessed Willy`s affair. Causing the lack of success in Biff`s future later on in life. Also, the guilt that Willy carries for ruining his sons futures causes him to make rash decisions later on in the play.Willy`s damaging false dreams cause his death as he believes that if he commits suicide his family will receive enough money for his family to be successful.

The play rejects this assertion by making it clear Willy does not obtain any success even though he considers himself well liked and knows many contacts.

65 14 Willy is a character who is constantly contradicting himself throughout the play. On page 67 Willy says "You don't know the average caliber any more. The average young man today - is got a caliber of zero." This statement was viewed differently by Willy and Biff during a different section in the play. Another contradiction made by Willy can be seen on page 65. Willy tells Biff "'don't say "Gee". "Gee" is a boy's word"" while Willy would use that word himself. An additional contradiction made by Willy can also be seen on page 65 when he tells Biff "It's not what you say, it's how you say it - because personality always wins the day" whereas on the previous page Willy tells Biff "A business suit, and talk as little as possible, and don't crack any jokes". He is contradicting himself here by first telling Biff it is about his appearance not personality then a moment later telling Biff that "personality always wins the day".

Dave Singleman is a character Willy looks up to and the person who influenced Willy to become a salesman. This character is ironic due to the fact he was considered one of the only ones who made it in this specific career and his success made Willy realize "that selling was the greatest career a man could want" (81). Willy judged this career by seeing Singleman's success, thinking everyone could make it in the sales world just as Singleton had done.

Willy's difficulty with machines especially Howard's wire recorder suggest that Willy can not keep up with technology and that the world is passing him by. Willy told Howard to "shut it off!" "shut it off!" (83) which could resemble Willy trying to shut society off and escape the world. Throughout the play, Willy is trying to pay off the mortgage on his house. When he dies, the mortgage is finally paid leaving Linda to the house alone.

Miller uses sound devices such as the laugh of the woman to differentiate between the past and the present. As seen on page 113, Willy is struggling to keep the past and present separate as he hears "The Woman(s) laughs". This laugh is a constant reminder of his affair in the past which he continuously hears throughout the present time. This laugh reminds Willy of how he affected Biff, bringing guilt to his consciousness. During the scene in the hotel room, it is this laugh that brings Biff's attention to an affair. This woman was locked in the bathroom while Biff was having a motivational conversation with Willy, until this laugh was heard. It is this laugh that haunts Willy, bringing confusion to his past and present time.

Willy building up false dreams for his children is more damaging than the false dreams he has for himself. Willy is awaiting Biff's success, constantly dreaming about him "making it big". When Biff finally tried telling him he wasn't going to reach that success, Willy had a hard time accepting it and would still continue dreaming about the day Willy makes it.

I believe in life and in the text, Willy's view is more accurate in that in the text, it is shown that some people do have some accomplishments, however it also means that some people do not, for example Willy and his sons. Willy was to an extent able to provide for his family but ultimately hit a dead end as a salesman. His sons however have grown into adults without reaching accomplishing anything that at least Willy has; a job, a family, a home etc.

Ben seems to be subconscious source of motivation. Ben's success is what Willy wants for his children. Opposite to Willy, Ben is a highly successful businessman. Towards the end of the play, Willy believes that suicide is indeed the right answer since its coming from Ben. "It's dark there, but full of diamonds." This tempt and reasoning of suicide coming from Ben would encourage Willy even more since its coming from who Willy essentially believes knows the right answers due to Ben's success.

What I found most humorous in the play were Happy's neglected lines of marriage. On page 68 Happy: "I'm gonna get married, Mom. I wanted to tell you" Linda: "Go to sleep, dear". I think I just find Happy as a character very humorous in how he seems to be the least serious character in the play, fitting for his name. Another part in the play i found amusingly tragic is how Biff found out about Willy's affair and also when Willy tried to get a raise from Howard he got fired instead.

I see Linda as a strong character and loving wife in that she constantly defends her husband. Her lack of knowing of Willy's affair shows how truthfully loyal she is to him and just how tragic that is. She is always trying to cheer Willy up and defending him from Biff.

I find Willy's false dreams in his children more damaging and dangerous. He deludes himself and others in the greatness of his children when he in times know that they are lazy bums. He creates a false image of success his children can achieve that ultimately is what encourages Biff to refuse the life Willy wants for him.

Critic "C" best represents the women that are found in Death of a Salesman. The women in Death of a Salesmen are as follows: Linda, a secretary, Willy's Adulteress, and two prostitutes. From this list alone we can see the dichotomy of these women. First are the subservient women, Linda and the secretary. Linda is Willy's loving wife, loving to a point of destruction and ultimately unable to change her situation. The secretary is by nature a woman in a servile position, this secretary also has flirty remarks made to her by Willy. Next are the fallen women or the "sluts." These women, the adulteress and the prostitutes, are women who pull men away from their just course, the adulteress causing Willy to be unfaithful to his wife and to give his gifts for Linda away and for the prostitutes that caused the Loman brothers to abandon their father as they left him "babbling in a toilet."

I feel that Ben is a representation of Willy's conscience, giving him someone with whom he can discuss his inner thoughts since he has no one, also allowing Willy's inner thoughts to be broadcast aloud to the audience. He represents everything that Willy wants to be: a self-made man, rich,and incredibly well liked. He appears during the times when willy is going through a crisis and needs to think, an example being his contemplation of suicide in the "garden." He is the opposite of Willy in that he is an idea that keeps moving forward. Ben always has "no time," he is constantly on the move to his next adventure or chapter in his life while his brother Willy is a static character who is and will always be stuck in his situation. He says what he says because in the end, he is not a real person. He is an idea that is created by the tormented mind of Willy and therefore is only speaks how Willy feels, creating a feedback loop for Willy's ideas and feelings.

It is possible to see the play as Biff's triumph in his disillusionment to the Capitalist system. At the end of the story, Biff wants to leave the city and go make a life for himself. This reaction is foiled in his brother Happy who becomes like Willy, a foolish and unbending character who thinks he can beat the system and will only ultimately be destroyed by it. Miller praises these characters who are willing to bend and not strictly follow the system, characters such as Charley, Bernard, and eventually Biff.

This idea does make sense when applied to earlier tragedies. For example in Oedipus the King, when Oedipus learns that he has lost his dignity by marrying and having children with his mother, he gouges out his own eyes so that he does not have to look at his shame as well as being the physical embodiment of his lack of sight within his own situation. The tragedy of Willy Loman is a combination of society and his own shortcomings. Willy is initially corrupted by society, falling into the trap of the American Dream, becoming blind and feeling that he is something bigger than he is. While this corruption stems from society, Willy's static character is also to blame for his destruction. He is easily offered financial security by Charley, but is too proud to take the job, even going as far as to kill himself just so that his children could, in his mind, be ahead of Bernard.

I feel that it is more damaging for Willy to build up false dreams for his children. By building up their dreams, Willy gives his children the false impression that they were "leaders of men" and that they would not have to work for their dreams (unlike Bernard who worked hard in his schooling and became a successful lawyer), that it was all about "who you knew." The effects of these false dreams are displayed in the Loman children. Biff when he was younger never put the effort into his schooling that as necessary, wearing University of Virginia shoes before he even graduated. Later in life he noticed that due to the "hot air" that Willy filled him with, he felt that he always had to be "boss big shot" in two weeks. The same is seen with Happy, described as a "philandering bum" by his mother, when he becomes the same rigid character as his father, vowing to stay in the city and "beat [the] racket," a system which he can not beat and that will ultimately destroy him.

I believe that B was Miller's use of women through the way that shadowy refers to the negative aspects of women. Whenever women are mentioned thaey are mentioned in a cruel fashion. They are pigs or are menat to please the men. The boys can;t even recall their first an refers to it as page 21 they reer to her as a collie & a pig to make them seem like animals. They always have an underlying message that ultimately changes what them seem to be. The women also are method of betrayal with the women in Willy's memories ans the scheme they examine. SHe was the reason fo the downfall of Biff's life and the way to which Willy could get some excitement into his life as a boring salesman. They are not that signifcant in in the overall part of the paly. It is THey are also ignormat as the mother who seems to allow Willy's actions to occur she is powerless an will en up being the reason ans the blame fo rht problem

Dave Singleman is the original "death of a sails man". He was the one that gave the idea to Willy that if he killed himself he could show that he was loved. The velvet green silvers that he wears become a symbol in the play as part of the salesman .He was happy at his death an seemed well loved y the appearance at his funeral of all the people he had met along his journey. Maybe in a way this shows how Willy actually wasn't that good of a salesmans an tried too hard to be well liked. He gave Willy the image that a sailsman's life is full of easy work from home and could allow him to retire early. It was suupposed to seem, easy and a way to be the best man, but in WIllly's case he wasn't.
"to be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people."

In the characterization of Biffand his supposed ignorance that his father was fueling him with, his sneakers are important. They are a symbol of his future and when he burns them he is showing hid hatred to what his father had done and his ending of going to college. Again the use of stockings was a way to connect Linda with an object and the giving of the stockings to the random women was the ultimate betrayal to his mother. The mother is always the one making excuses for Willly and yet she never knew what he had done. THe stockings made Willy believe his father to be a liar and dciscussed the biggest and most emotional scene where Willy changes his attitude towards life.THe use of the shoulder pads It was the point at which he had given up and showed his emotion. Willy's attitudes towards the products were his way of showing the American Dream and continuing the blind view of what his world was. If they had the new referigerator=s they would be better off, and te new car (even though it was broken) would show how much work he had done.

The two sets show Willy's happiness and his sadness through hthe positive view of the american dream & its precedent of the war. What was once a promising neighborhood became e a toxic wastelands of negative people dead dirt that cant let seeds grow. Willy was happy ans well known back then & now all he sees is spite. The psychological change is seen when these two seeings begin to emerge into one reality. His negative memories become part of his present & influence his making.The past scenes are always associate with the idea of hope & possibility. The past has alot of olfactory sentences about the beauty of the land & the present is believes as a cage ?& Willy as a prisoner of the walls that once has the hope. The mother was happy ans so were the children now Willy has nothing but anger & is stuck in the past seemingly. I think it is really interesting how Willy believe planting see will fix all the problems as if the past can really still be accomplishes. His mins wont let go of the past or move on to create a better present Often consider the problem that was sen during the time.

The most dangerous thing that Willy had done was the building up of false dreams in his children. His own view on life was one that ultimately caused his downfall and his children's. He caused their life to become ruined by not teaching them the things they needed. His fluffing up of Biff caused him to set himself for future failure that would reflect his father's life. He even admitted that hids father was the reason he had to "steal his way into every job" He had let him believe that Bernadrd cold do all his work and he would pass to get into college. Then when he failed, he gave him the idea that if he had talked ot the teachers they would give him the points. He had let his son believe that he didn't need to work and all he had ever become a was nothing. Bernard worked hard and now as said on pg.95 He had to go argue a case in fdorm t o ghte supreme court. Since bernard was hardwroking he got a succesful job that payed alot and he was set for life. With Willy letting Biff think everything was easy , Biff never surmounted to anything. Even Happy was left behing as to always metion that he was gonna get married and that would fix everyhting. At the end his father's beleiefs passed to Happy so that he would honor his image thus making it worse.

1) F) I believe that DOAS is about the love between a father and son, and each of their loves for America and how these loves/expectations that they put upon each lead to their failures. Willy’s love for his son is probably the most evident, and in loving someone you tend to see their best qualities. However, Willy takes this too far and sees only Biff’s good qualities, he blows them up disproportionately and sometimes even creates them entirely. This doesn’t allow Willy to see Biff for the man he is. Conversely, Biff loves his father so much that he constantly strives to be all that he can for him and also doesn’t want to speak the truth in fear that it will hurt his father. Willy’s love for America hurts him because he so desperately relies on the American dream which fails him, where Biff realizes America for all that it can be.

Willy’s overall claim is rejected throughout the play because his contacts all end up dead or don’t really like him as much as he hoped and he fails at being a salesman, father, and husband. Biff as well was a very well-liked kid but ended up completely lost, “stealing his way out of every good job”. Bernard on the other hand, is disliked for the most part by the Lowman family, yet he works hard in school and life and becomes a lawyer in front of the Supreme Court with friends in high places. Howard, of course, is in a good position because his father was the owner of the company, but even Willy’s deep connection in his family Howard still refuses to give him a job at home and even fires him

Ben and Charley seem to act as the devil and angel on Willy’s shoulder; one promises him abundant fame, fortune, lofty dreams, and adventure while the other offers him a steady job and kind advice. Ben enters the scenes where Willy has become distraught, his mind is a mixture of whirling thoughts, mostly about his failure in society and within his family. Ben offers him a unrealistic ways out and lifts his spirits with the dream of being rich, and ultimately leads him to death (even though he sort of warns him). Charley on the other hand comes to Willy in his times of need and offers him solace through company or loans, he offers him a job that will serve him well and keep him afloat. However, Willy respects his brother and sees Charley beneath him, showing that he thinks more of himself and his dreams than the reality that Charley has to offer.

Linda is stubborn, not strong. She believes that Willy is still a good man who can still achieve great things and she never takes up for herself, only for him. She deserves part of the blame for Willy’s tragedy as she never stands up to him, as a loved one should, to tell him he is being unreasonable and selfish. She deceives herself because she thinks that she is helping him when in reality, she doesn’t want to face the truth that her husband is a small man who has failed. I think she is probably aware of Willy’s infidelity because she acts strangely in the scene talking about the woman, and must know that her husband is not faithful. Miller doesn’t mention this because, like many things in this house, they are simply covered up or ignored. This shows again her denial and passivity.

His dreams for himself are more dangerous, his dreams for his sons are just a subset of that. He imagines himself as a well-liked man across the country, with fame and fortune and two Adonis-like sons that are just as successful as their father. His image is far more important to him, he wants the brand-name items and children who carry his bags and coats for him into important sales meetings in which he walks straight up to the buyer instead of waiting. These unrealistic and selfish goals lead him to impose his dreams on his sons, his wife, and himself which cause tension in the family and tension within his own brain. Of course, no one including himself can live up to these goals so his mind goes crazy and drives him to fantasize his past and eventually kill himself.

1. (c) Death of A Salesman is a play based on a man, Willy Loman, who puts his personal needs below his integrity and his job, which eventually drives him crazy. This suppression of his guilt is the storyline of the whole play as the entire play is based upon what's going on from his perspective. Thats why the audience can see what he sees and observes through life and also see what is going through his mind and memory. One contradictory section of the play to this is the discussion between Biff, Happy, and Linda while Willy is out planting in the garden. Either Miller is trying to break from this theory, OR he is trying to state that Willy can hear the argument that is going on inside. I agree with the latter, as the play is meant to be based in his head, Willy is hearing his family argue inside the house and comforts himself by talking to Ben. Willy commits suicide latter that night, which could be tied to what he heard. This is an aspect that can be used in the play, but not in the movie as it would have to show the interior and exterior of the house.

Ben is a figment of Willy's imagination. Quite frankly I'm not sure that Ben is actually as successful as the play describes him, because Ben is only seen in the play via Willy's memories. In the same way that Willy's memory on how much money he earned in 1928 (he claims 170 per week) Willy's perspective of Ben could be altered as well. Willy sees Ben's life as "the dream" and is always searching for the liberation that Ben has. However, he fails to realize that he cannot be liberated with the life of a salesman. Willy's vision of Ben is what eventually draws him to kill himself as he wishes to live (or not so much) as free as Ben.

Stage props are rather prevalent throughout the play. Willy has many difficulties with machines, the refrigerator, the car, and Howard's recording device. Willy's difficulty with machines is Miller's way of saying Willy is falling behind, not only on his payments but in time as well. As a critic of capitalism, Miller describes the difficulties of capitalism and "keeping up with the Joneses." The metaphor of Willy falling behind is also shown in the payments and debts that he always has on his back. The stage props simply serve as a visible, tangible version of that. The whole metaphor of falling behind to the point where you can never catch up follows Willy to the grave as he dies before he can pay out his house. Even if Willy had made it slightly longer, he would still have his debt to the dentist as Linda said, and of course all of his debts to Charley. Willy doesn't like that he's always running out of time on these things, but he is unwilling to change his overtly capitalist views and continues on the same anyways.

pathetic. While Willy thinks he has an epiphany at the end of the play, it is not at all accurate.He does not come to self knowledge as he simply reinstates what he already believed to be true, because he is so focussed on his capitalist version of life that he is incapable of looking past it. Quite frankly/honestly I found the end of the play to be rather confusing while reading because there are multiple dialogues going on and the noise levels in my house had increased by about 300-400% (Paige got home). Nevertheless it seemed to me like Willy had false epiphanies through all of the final scene while arguing with his family. Biff was simply trying to get one point across to him but Willy just didn't get it. Due to Willy's inability to looks past his flaws, he is seen as a pathetic character, as can be expected in a satire.

The false dreams he builds for his children. Willy's dreams for himself are incredibly damaging as it eventually takes away his whole life. Miller, a fatalistic playwright designs it as so Willy has no escape from his eventual demise. However, due to the fatalistic nature of the playwright, Happy will eventually reach the same fate as Willy, as he chooses at the end of the play to follow in his father's footsteps. While these differences have the same extent of danger to the character, the difference can be found in what happens to Biff versus what happens to Ben. Biff and Ben are the older brothers who want to go west and explore. Ben does, and he becomes rich as a hog using the diamond industry. Willy's dream for Biff on the other hand is for Biff to become a salesman. While Biff does not follow Willy's wish, he is an unemployed 34 year old man in the city at the end of the play. While Biff does not choose to follow Willy's dream, the dream sets Biff 15 years behind in life as he is right where your average 19 year old could be at. Willy's false dreams for his children are much more dangerous as they not only effect him, the dreamer, but also others, like Biff who don't want to go down that path and must resist which sets him back in life.

F) In a way Death of a Salesman is a love triangle between Willy, Biff and America. Willy is in love with America and the American Dream. Willy fails at carrying out this dream, so, he wants to live his life through his favored son, Biff and in doing this he wants him to achieve the American Dream. However, Biff does not want the American dream. Biff spends his whole life trying to please his father when in reality he truly wants the opposite of what Willy wants for him. In my opinion, this play is not necessarily a romantic love story, but more focuses on the relationship between father and son and how they are both too stubborn to admit their love for each other.

Within the play the father-son relationships between Charley and Bernard and Willy and Biff are obviously used to contrast each other. Miller uses them to show how even though these families are from “the same class, the same background, the same neighborhood” (#70) the out come of their children was completely different. It is obvious that Biff peaked in high school by being the football star while Bernard spent his time studying. The difference in their up bringing is the same in terms of the environment they were raised in but how their fathers treated them was completely different. Willy filled his children up with “hot air” while Charley let Bernard find his own path. While Willy was trying to live his own dream through Biff Charley lets Bernard live his own life.

Willy Loman’s dream is success and money. Not only does he dream this for himself but he also dreams this for his children as well. Biff gives Willy a trophy in which Willy proudly displays in his room as a symbol as his son’s success in high school and how their relationship used to be. Throughout the play large machinery plays a big role in which Willy is always complaining about. He claims that by the time these items are paid for they are already broken. This is ironic because Willy himself is a salesman and these items can be used as a metaphor for Willy himself because Willy’s time is almost up.

I believe that Willy Loman’s story is more of a tragedy than pathetic. For a character to be to be tragic there has to be a certain personality trait that leads to their destruction. For Willy, his self deception is what ultimately leads to his downfall. Throughout the play he claims he very well liked in many states and all you need to be liked is contacts. When in reality we all know that Willy was growing tired and the life of a salesman is different than before the Depression hit. He told so many lies to his family he started to believe them himself. Also, Willy only thought about money until the very end. He gives his life for the sake of money because what he believed that money could do for his children.

I believe that because Willy has false dreams for himself he also built up false dreams in his children. Because his children have a skewed perception of life because of how Willy treated them in their childhood, their lack of knowledge of how to live in the real world unknowingly leads to Willy’s disappointment. The disappointment Willy has leads to his loneliness because he has no one to talk to but himself and the ghost of his dead brother whom puts false ideas into his head, such as success is as easy as walking in and out of a jungle. In my opinion, I believe that the jungle is a metaphor for death. This then leads to his suicide because of Willy’s biased perception of the past advances him to the point of no other option.

This phrase reminds me of Willy’s pursuit of the American dream because he believes that he can make it through in life with his charisma and his good looks. This will in turn make him more likeable and allow him to make great investments. I believe that the play rejects this assertion because even though Willy had a lot of connections, for example Dave Singleman or Howard’s father, he still does not succeed. He tries to call in favors with Howard but it still does not work in the business world. Another thing to note is the fact that Bernard was not well liked growing up and was seen as an “anemic” (33) which means that he is not as manly but in the end he is a lawyer representing someone before the Supreme Court. Even though he was not well liked, he kept trying and eventually managed to make himself a success.

Dave Singleman gave an example of what it was like to be successful as a salesman. It shows how Willy is somewhat living in the past in order to have the grand life of a Salesman. He looks back on the time when there “was respect and comradeship”. This shows how Willy wants to live his life once he grows old. He wants to be able to make his living from the comfort of his green slippers in a hotel room selling his product on the phone. It also shows the idea of Capitalism in a way because in the past it was work until you make it to the grave. Now, it’s almost impossible to do that because it is right after the depression and Willy is not able to pay his bills even though he works hard. It also relates to the quote in number four because business back then was “who you know and the smile on your face”. Dave was able to do this because this was before the Depression but Willy still wants to do this but can’t because the times have changed.

Miller uses Biff as a somewhat optimistic ending to a rather upsetting scene. Biff finally finds his happiness after being pushed to pursue a career in the business world. He finally realizes that he is happy going to the West and farming. At the beginning he was a disappointment to his father because he wasn’t making any money. Miller centers the play around Willy’s point of view and this means that there is not a lot of balance between the sadness of Willy’s life and the hope that Biff still has. The audience sees the decline in mental stability of Willy and sees how he slowly brings himself to realize that he is crazy or a failure. The audience gets attached to Willy more than they do with Biff because the audience can relate more to a failing business man versus a poor man out West. Miller gives the audience a reason to feel bad for Willy and draws them in but in the end cuts him off by killing him. Biff’s self-realization does not counterbalance the fact that Willy died a sad death.

Millers play does seem a little anti-capitalism because it shows that a man who has charisma and looks working hard in order to make ends meet. The audience can see through characters like Dave Singleman that that way of capitalism worked very well. However, after the depression, Willy is stuck. He works every day but can’t keep up with his bills and payments. Miller shows how Willy cracks after his American dream has been whisked away. This play was so popular because Americans can relate to Willy even though the play is somewhat slanderous to the economic system. Miller wants to draw controversy in order to get the attention of people and to show them how one man’s troubles can relate to everyone sitting in the audience. It is not a matter of damaging the reputation of the American dream because in reality, it has already been damaged to those in the audience. This play came out about 15 years after the depression and so the audience lived through it and has seen what can be affected when your whole life has been turned upside down and you’re left to fend for yourself and your family.

What’s more damaging in the plot of the play is the way he builds up false dreams within his sons because when he does build these dreams up and they fail to reach them, not only is Willy disappointed, they are as well because they can’t live up to their father’s expectations. When Willy builds up Biff’s confidence when he was getting the scholarships and when Biff fails the class and goes to see his father, Biff gives up because of the affair and Willy blames Biff for giving up and moving out west. Another example of this would be when Willy gives Biff the idea of becoming rich in the business world, and relies on Biff’s success in the business deal to make him and Linda happy. When Biff does not get the deal, Biff is disappointed in himself and goes back to his old ways and steals the fountain pen. When Willy hears of the deal going bad and the theft, he still refuses to believe the truth. Willy seems to instill his dreams in to his son. This is because Willy wants to be successful in the business world and he then wants his son to start up a company. Willy wants popularity and wants to be liked so he talks up his son before football games and gets on anyone’s case if they don’t pay attention to Biff’s achievements. The more Willy instills his dreams in to Biff, the more Biff comes to resent his father and himself.

c) In an age where capitalism prevails, and technology is becoming a necessary tool for communication and success, it is not surprising that a person's social life may suffer. The Death of a Salesman fully demonstrates how in American society, people are often seen as commodities that are fully expandable. Willy is placed in a position like many other people - working long hours, succumbing terrible desires that bring short term gratification but ultimately make life more difficult, and allowing his emotional state to not be a priority. By failing to succeed in a society that sets you up for failure with 25 year mortgages and broken appliances, Willy puts all his hopes and dreams in to his sons, especially Biff. When they however also can't find their way, be it because of indecisiveness or spite, Willy's desire to survive it torn away from him; he dies as lost as ever.

Bernard is the stereotypical side kick of the main character. As a child, he idolizes Biff and Happy for their popularity and athletic ability, and Willy further propagates this divide by asking if Bernard is "anemic", a sign of weakness for man. All in all, the relationship between the two fathers and their sons is inverse. Willy is proud and confident of Biff when he is younger, seeing his potential in becoming a sports star. It is likely that Charley is hesitant about Bernard's future success due to his lack of confidence, but like most adults, he likely saw potential in his intelligence and work ethic and how it may aid him in the future. As the boys grow older, Willy realizes that neither one of his sons have achieved much, they are "bums" who want to be farmers. Upon realizing that Willy has a family and a great career, he likely wishes to be in Charley's place (hence the jealousy and not wanting to work for him.)

The requiem plays a vital role in giving the audience some closure, although the characters mostly receive none. A requiem is a musical event which often allows to mourn and remember the dead. For Willy, a requiem is his final attainment of peace. The majority of his life was spent in a frenzy, even when he was alone, his mind would bombard him with questions that would lead to crazed mumbling and disorientation. For Linda, the requiem brings less peace than it should, she likely blames herself for not understanding why Willy decided to kill himself, and that she didn't have the courage to speak to him about it like Biff did. It is, however, her last peaceful moment alone with her husband. At first she is not able to cry, but when the tears start to stream down, it is like the confusion and worry is leaving her and she is able to accept the truth. For Biff, the requiem a sad goodbye, however, his death is not an unforeseen event, and luckily for him, his father died knowing Biff loved him.

I agree that DOAS was “a time bomb under American capitalism." It brings to light the flaws behind material objects, technological advances, and the expectations society has for an individual. One of the most ironic events of the play is Linda paying off their 25 year mortgage on the day of Willy's funeral - the house finally belongs to them, but for Linda, it can never be a home.
One climax of the play is when Willy complains about the appliances in their home. Often, what is advertised by companies whose only goal is to earn money is unnecessary and of bad quality; one may end up spending more money fixing a fridge than it's worth.
Lastly, a constant struggle throughout the play, especially for the boys, is finding a suitable career. One may know what they like to do, but if it is not accepted by society, then you are not seen as a professional adult with a reliable job. Biff must "do good" somewhere else after trying to get a job he would have hated anyway.

1) His struggle begins with flunking math. At this point, it is evident that school is not his priority, bit possibly sports or some other activity is. However, for most occupations, a college education is required to even get through the door. After realizing that Willy is having an affair, Biff's planned path to success no longer holds meaning. He could have continued on with his life, gotten an education, ad made something out of himself, but because the meaning behind it was besmirched by his father's actions, he chose not to.
Biff would also constantly dream about starting his own business selling sporting goods, "The Loman Brothers"; his own business would mean achieving the American Dream of success and endless possibilities.His constant struggle to achieve a life of meaning ultimately yields to a meaningless life - no job, no family, and a dead father.

B) The play shows how Willy got caught up in a rather cut-throat capitalist system, systems usually defined on principals of individualism. However, in Willy's case, all that he was and aspired to be was stifled, effectively blending him into the conformity of the collective. The sad aspect to all of this is that he only really aspired to live the life of a well liked salesman, able to be independent up until his old age. The tragedy is not that he died the death of a salesman, but that he didn't. Some could say that his was all his fault however, as he was never established as being a very likable character, with him yelling and babbling to himself rather frequently. Thus him wanting to be a salesman for life seems out of place in terms of his character, as salesman should probably be more charismatic.

A) I would say in regard to DOAS, Linda being the titular female character represents a person in a difficult situation rather than a women. She is not defined by her femininity, and her rather complacent is more so out of love than weakness. She had great heart and in ways was the most intelligent character in the play. She understood the struggle of Willy and realized that the his problems are eat to the core. Even though she had the capability to lash out/stand up to Willy (which she did on occasion), she felt that playing into his attitude was probably the best course of action. Even though this didn't work in the end, I would say that wasn't really much she could do for Willy. His problems were more internalized, and a true help had to come from himself.

Linda asserts that life is more so based on chance than aspiration. She means that life and the future is largely uncertain. Even when we expect the future, what happens is a matter outside of our knowledge. When talking about Willy, early on she was able to tell that "he's dying," but despite this she still has to wait on the future holding nothing but faith. This view seems to be more accurate within the play, as Willy built his entire life on hope, eventually getting him nowhere. He embodies this sentiment even in spite while talking t Biff, stating that "the door of your life is wide open!"

I would say that the play supports this theory, as one of Willy's major downfalls is that he was not very well liked. He only deluded to this assertion, and the fact that he wanted to be a salesman off this false pretense is what truly lead to his failure. Sure, you can be successful without being well liked, but in Willy's case, what he really needed was genuine charisma.

I would say that the statement is true in that the Loman's provide a bad example on how pride can cloud judgement and authenticity. Willy was deluded the whole time to his likeness, his job, and his family. Finding true happiness is about being true to each other, and in this sense the play can be reflective to an audience on the nature of society and family.

"Are you content?" Happy: "Hell, no!"
Stanley: "I could have been dead by now."
Linda" "We're free... We're free..." (idk, it's a pretty nice double entendre)

Linda is a strong character written with a sincere realism which allows her struggle to be more relevant in terms theme and message. In ways, she is the most tragic character, as her only fault was how much she cared for Willy, and in the end, she is left with nothing. Opposed to other characters, Linda is more of a victim of circumstance than anything else, and on many levels she understood this better than anybody.

I would say that Willy building up false dreams for his children is more damaging, as he derives self worth from them, making their failures his. On top of this, these failures initially set up by Willy go on to damage other people, not just himself.

I find there to be a great deal of truth to this quote. The usage of a salesman man to delivery this message is very significant to me. I grew up with a father who coincidentally, was also a salesman so the idea of a man trying his hardest to support his family, and make a person out of himself is completely understandable to me. In the reading of this text I was able to draw connections between Bif’s relationships with Willy to my own life and question if my father and I are each living out our lives authentically. Most significantly, the final scene before the requiem in which Bif breaks down and cries to his father shows that this play is not merely about death or sadness, because even within the chaos of the final words between father and son the spilling of concern and love is the climax of the entire play. All of the disturbances which are brought up within the text are the result of Willy trying to become the illusion of himself that he desires, it is not about his death or his relationship to Bif, rather it is about addressing the issues of self-image, and how they affect the individuals life and the life of those who surround him.

Ben is a representation of the American Dream. I find it fitting that his appearances are fleeting with in the text, as it supports the idea of the opaqueness of the American Dream. While it is possible for a man to reach success, and profit it is a difficult task which is often times not possible for everyman. This is why Ben is represented as a figment within Willy’s head, because it represents the monetary satisfaction which Willy desires. However, Willy will never be able to reach the stature of Ben’s success. Because of this Ben appears within moments which Will was prompted with an opportunity that will further affect his life, or moments with in which Willy feels as though he has done wrong decisions. Willy indefinitely failed in his attempts to succeed in the pursuit of the American Dream. Ben’s final words are “Time William Time… The boat. We’ll be late.” Showing that Willy never took advantage of t he opportunities given to him, that he wishes he could have.

I believe that there is enough of a balance between the relationship of both Bif and Willy. Bif serves the purpose to pull attention away from Willy’s actions and reflect on ones on life pursuits. During his whole life Willy does not seem to have anyone comprehend what he does wrong, or his he does he tries his best to deny himself of the truth. Willy constantly claims that people from all over the world will come to his funeral and that his goal in life was to be respected by others. Therefore when Bif seemingly denies him this respect, and spites Willy, He becomes infuriated. Willy is never called out for his actions by his wife, his coworkers or by anyone with in the play. This is what leads to his delirium, and sense of false pride. When Biff who aggressively calls him a phony and a fake calls this to attention, the audience loses sight of any empathy they had for Willy, and begin to wonder if their own choices are the proper ones to be made. The play is not meant to be about Willy, or Bif, and I think that Miller was successful in blending the father and son so that the audience would be able to truly experience the relationship between the two. The manipulation of time and memory however, is what makes the relationship so thought out and developed throughout the play.

I find Willy’s story to be tragic as it reflects the some of the emotions that every individual experiences. The commonality in the desire for something better than what you have, or that you are not as significant as you wish to be. Everyone feels like they are a low man at some point in their life but what matters is one’s ability to overcome that feeling and amount to something greater. However the play becomes tragic as Willy is not able to be proactive with his life, and create success for him. Willy was presented with opportunities throughout his life which he does not take, which would lead to the idea of Willy being a pathetic character. However the portal of those regrets in memory scenes is what creates empathy for Willy Loman and in turn makes the play so great. It strengthens the themes of the play, including the shortcomings of the American Dream. In Willy’s refusal to give up there is a tragic undertone which represents everything wrong with the American Dream, and that not every man will be able to amount to be any more than who truly he is.

As mentioned in one of my previous responses, my father is a salesman and because of this I was able to truly understand the significance of the occupation for the text, and how it so adequately depicts the struggle for a significant existence. The salesman is a wayfaring worker. Often times he is never home, andeven when he is home, he is always fixed on his job. Sales almost become the most meaningful thing to a man due to a reward. The thought process is as such “The more sales mean more money. More money means more support for my family. This leads to happiness/ Happiness is equal to success. The more successful I am, the better my life is.” This is the problem with the American Dream in terms of Willy Loman. There is no ending point of his desires, because there is no maximum capacity at which the sales man can work. This is why Willy tries so hard to find meaning in his life through his job. Throughout the text he is often speaking fondly of sales despite it being obvious that he is truly unsuccessful. This is why Willy begins to place his dreams in his children, because he regrets his failures within his own life. In his attempts to find meaning to his existence, and inability to discover it Willy becomes dissatisfied. This leads to his eventual suicide due to a lack of self-certainty of his own existence.

Multiple times throughout the play Willy displays his belief that business is based on the people you know and that it is connections, not necessarily talent or skills that will get you a job. However, the actual events that occur in the play seem to reject this assertion. When Willy meets with Howard to ask for a job, he constantly brings up his relationship with Howard’s father saying “I’m talking about your father! There were promises made across this desk!” (Miller 82). Earlier in the conversation Willy once again tried to make his point that their personal relationship should effect his chances of being hired when he says “ Your father came to me the day you were born and asked me what I thought of the name Howard” (Miller 80). As Willy argues this point, it shows that he believes their personal relationship should help him get a job in the business.

Throughout the play, Willy makes numerous statements that he later contradicts. In Act one, Willy says, “you can’t raise a carrot in the back yard” (Miller 17), but then later Linda explains to Biff that Willy is “planting the garden” (Miller 125). This demonstrates his contradicting nature because he argues that nothing will be able to grow in the backyard, yet he is later seen trying to plant different vegetables in their garden. Another example of Willy contradicting himself is when he tells Biff, “Don’t say “Gee.” “Gee” is a boy’s word” (Miller 65). When talking about their house Willy claims that “There ain’t a crack to be found in it any more” (Miller 74). However, the audience knows that this is a false statement.

Stage props are an effective method of characterization that is used by Miller in Death of a Salesman. Many objects seem to be broken or falling apart such as the house and the refrigerator. These items are attached to Willy’s character and therefore they appear to be symbolic of Willy’s life. Willy at one point gets aggravated and says “once in my life I would like to own something outright before it’s broken” (Miller 73). This demonstrates the point that material items associated with Willy all seem to be dead or useless. Another example of characterization through the usage of stage props is through Willy’s wife, Linda. The stage props associated to her help to characterize her as a typical housewife. The stage directions explain “Linda is filling his cup when she can” (Miller 73). This shows that she is very domesticated and constantly taking care of her husband.

Personally, I believe that Willy Loman’s story is tragic because he doesn’t necessarily give up until the very end of the play when he commits suicide. However, even with his act of suicide, Happy says, “Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. ” (Miller 139). I think that because Miller wrote this, he wants the reader to view Willy’s situation and story as a tragedy because he did struggle but refused to give up for a long time. However, in parts of the play, I do think that Willy’s character seemed pathetic, for instance, when he refused the job offer from Charley. I found this particular scene to be pathetic because he was willing to accept a handout that he knows he likely will not be able to pay back, yet he refuses the job offer which would give him the opportunity to actually earn the money he needs.

Personally, I do not think that Linda is a strong character. When telling her children about their father trying to commit suicide she says, “I’m –I’m ashamed to” (Miller 59). This shows her weakness that she would rather sit back quietly than try to confront her husband. She later explains that she always takes the little rubber pipe from the car but when Willy came home she “put it back where it was” (Miller 60). This action shows that she is enabling Willy to commit suicide and she has not taken any measures to try and prevent it. Linda also appears to be a weak character because she is often delusional, for example when she couldn’t find the rubber pipe she said, “I’m not afraid anymore” (Miller 76). At times, it seems that Linda is unaware of her husband’s infidelity but it is not clear. When Linda is talking to Biff she asks “Did you have to for o women tonight? You and your lousy rotten whores!” (Miller 124). Her anger displayed here with her son might be because she is aware of her husband’s cheating as well.

Throughout the play, Willy tries to express the idea to his sons that success is about being “well-liked” rather than the things you actually do. By the end of the play, it is easy to see that Willy’s ideology of reaching success is false. Early in the play, Willy constructs a memory when Biff, Happy, and Bernard were in high school. At the time, he gave the false belief that Bernard would never be successful because he wasn’t well-liked. Towards the end of the play, Bernard, as an adult, becomes a symbol of success. In other words, the play rejects Willy’s assertion that obtaining success is strictly related to whether or not people “like” you.

The relationship between father and son is a major component within the play. Charley and Bernard represent an ideal relationship between father and son. When Bernard and Biff are in high school, Willy tries to persuade Biff that he’ll be more successful than Bernard because he is more “well-liked”. By the end of the play, Miller demonstrates the irony in Willy’s assertion when the audience sees Bernard's success as a married adult with kids, fighting a case at the Supreme Court level. Bernard is a modest, successful man while Willy strives to be liked by everyone. During some of Willy’s final lines, he even says, “Biff- he likes me!” (133). In other words, Willy implements false values while raising Biff and Happy, whereas Charley raises Bernard to work hard and become successful.

I generally agree the most with the last quote about how Willy’s memories of the past can be seen mostly as hallucinations rather than flashbacks. I believe this is an important aspect of the play because it shows how Willy is constantly slipping into false senses of reality that he, himself, is constructing. I really like the part of the quote that says “the inner logic of his erupting volcanic unconsciousness” because this represents how he has no control of the random switches into constructed memories. The dramatic structure of the play simultaneously includes the past and present to show how Willy’s mind is in both time periods.

Miller’s use of lighting and auditory elements contribute to the overall juxtaposition of time that is seen throughout the entire play. Lighting is seen as means of transition into one of Willy’s constructed memories of reality. For example, these lighting shifts are prominent during the entrances of Ben because they allow the audience to gain insight into Willy’s mind. On the other hand, music is another important aspect of Miller’s production. The sound of the flute is an interesting component because of its relevance to Willy’s memories of his own father. This idea of father and son relationships can be further developed through the addition of the flute motif.

Depending on the perspective, Linda can be considered either a strong or weak character. She is strong in the sense of the way she tries to knock some sense into both Biff and Happy. Her love for Willy allows her to maintain a sense of loyalty. This can be seen as she criticizes Biff and Happy for leaving Willy at the restaurant, as he fell into another sense of false reality in the bathroom. On the other hand, Linda can be considered weak because she fails to ever seek help for Willy. Instead, she just watches him slip deeper into a state of insanity.

c) This play deepens one's understanding of the suppression of an individual in society who is placed below the imperious needs of such. This central theme is supported by the motif of the "woods burning." In the play, Miller strategically places Ben, Willy's older brother, as an idol to Willy who "went into the jungle at 17, came out at 21 and by god [he] was rich." The jungle used in this catchphrase represents the new modern society that encompasses the use of technology and progression, and for Willy it has become woods that surround him and are burning, symbolizing his cry for help. This motif is important as Willy's cry goes unanswered and to redeem his failure, he kills himself in order to earn insurance money for his family. Throughout the play Willy points out his own flaws and how no one likes him and it is these degrading comments that have become his outlook on life due to his placement in society. Willy is a replaceable salesman, unlike his father, who made and sold his flutes.

Dave Singleman is a minor character who does not physically appear in the play, but merely mentioned. He, as explained by Willy, was also a salesman and was Willy's inspiration to become a salesman. However, unlike Willy, he was well-liked and a successful man who ultimately died "the death of a salesman" (81). Dave Singleman is strategically used in the play by miller to exemplify the opposite ends of the spectrum during this era, how two men can have different endings in the same occupation. Also, Dave Singleman embodies Willy's dream that he not only has for himself, but his two sons as well. By not accomplishing this dream, he is driven to sheer self-imposed harm and the degrading of his self and his sons.

I find Miller's explanation of the structure of the play as the past being a hallucination that comes back to him and not chronologically as a flashback would but dynamically to be the best interpretation of the coinciding past and present. Willy's memories come to him at unpredictable times and result in his unpredictable manner in which he has no ability to recognize the difference between what is faux and what is reality. This is a unique strategy done by Miller as it heightens the drama in the play and creates a sense of realism throughout. Rather than having scene breaks, it is one continuous play that flows together like a rhythmic melody. It is important to note that Willy's memories go uninterrupted until he is met with a character from the present who brings who back to reality.

In my opinion, America does not like to watch a play that criticizes America for what it is. It is often difficult for us to face the truth when it is either something we do not want to hear, or something that makes us look bad. That is why I think this play had so many criticisms when it first was brought to stage. However, I believe that it is important for us to realize that this play is not solely directed to the ways of America. Rather, the supposed "criticism" of the capitalist society can be generalized to other nations as well, including Germany, Russia, and Mexico. What is truly being expressed in this play is the universal, "essential truth of the human condition in any society" (Major Handout). Although many critics viewers may have found this play to be offensive towards them specifically, it rather focuses on the issue in a broad spectrum and is meant to inform rather than criticize.

It is too demeaning to describe Linda as a self-deceiving "enabler" of family pathologies as she does portray her unconditional love for Willy, however, I agree that she does enable Willy at times, as she permits his seemingly reckless behavior. Her actions are chosen out of her love and lust for Willy. Linda fears that Willy will kill himself but is too weak to enable confrontation. In this sense, her own weaknesses are too powerful to overcome, despite possibly saving her husband's life. Linda does nothing to attempt to stop Willy's condition or help him, but rather she lets him go on as he is, embarrassing himself in Howard's office, planting seeds, and leaving the rubber hose in the cellar. She allows him to talk down to her- he tells her to stop interrupting when she inputs her thoughts. It is in this sense why critics claimed that this play displayed women as "voiceless, marginalized, or perplexed" (Major Handout). Miller's strategical use of Linda, as a weak character, supports his cry out "for a renewed image of the American woman" (Major Handout).

I think the play rejects this ideal that success is based on being well liked. Willy constantly assured his family that he was liked and he could visit many cities and reap their benefits, for instance he was "very well liked in Boston." This seemed to not be the case though. During the present part in the play, Willy was suffering financially and could not sell enough to truly stay afloat. However people like Ben and Charley that did not focus on how others viewed them, were rich. You have to look out for yourself and ensure your own success, not rely on others opinions on you. Howard did nothing to help Willy's financial situation, which is uncharacteristic of someone that is well liked.

Charley and Bernard have a healthy father son relationship where as willy and Biff do not. During their youth, biff and willy were very close and supportive, however this led to a flaw in Biff. Biff says that willy blew him so full of hot air that he couldn't stand taking orders from anyone. Willy boosted Biff's self esteem so high that he felt he didn't deserve being lower than anyone. In Charley and Bernard's case, Charley fueled Bernard academically. He did not focus on being well liked, but made him strive for personal academic success. When Bernard is to present a case to the supreme court, he does not make a big deal out of it because he hasn't even done it yet.

Willy's difficulty with machines shows he is old fashioned. Especially with the wire recorder, he does not know how to work it nor even seen one. He feels that buying a less popular frig was a waste because it keeps breaking and hes doesn't know how to fix it. It took twenty five years to pay of the house but he never saw the day where he didn't have to pay the mortgage. I think the house symbolizes Willy to an extent because once you pay off your house, it is a big burden of your shoulder. Willy does not have to suffer with his life issues and is free when he commits suicide, just like Linda is free because the house is payed off. The 20000 dollars insurance is why willy kills himself, so Linda will receive it.

Willy is struggling to secure his dignity. This is especially seen when he will not take a joke from Charley. He is set on his career path, and from a young age it has been "the greatest career a man could want,", inspired by Dave Singleman. He can not admit that his path was wrong and his financial situation is dire. Willy destruction in his career becomes solidified when he is fired. This presents Howard as a charismatic villain. Howard fired him kindly, but this act ultimately led to his death. After 34 years and best friends with his father, Howard is still the evil in the environment because he valued Willy as a item, thus exploiting him for only the services he could provide when he was a better salesman. Now that he was less useful, it was time to let him go.

I believe false dreams he built for Biff are more damaging. I personally believe you can do whatever you want to yourself, but once it starts harming other, it needs to stop. It was not Biffs choice to suffer due to all the aspirations his father set for him. Willy has the dream of being a successful salesman, working in town, and sticking it rich while being well liked. He built the dream that Biff would be a football stay and filled him so full of hot air, it ruined any backup plan he could have had. This and Biff catching him cheating, ruined the relationship between the two. Biff blames willy for his life turning out the way it did, but just wants willy to accept that this is who he is now. The false dreams he built for his children practically destroyed the family relationships and leads to many fights.

Miller supports this ideal throughout the play to an extent because of the abundance of characters who are extremely successful in business entirely based on who they know. For example, Dave Singleton made his wealth based on the fact that he was "remembered and loved and helped by so many different people" (81) and his wealth was not acquired by him working hard on what he does. Willy is ultimately not successful in business because he is never remembered and does not have the contacts that most salesman have, as seen at his funeral. Dave Singleton had "hundreds of salesman and buyers [at] his funeral" (81) because of his contacts, which shows how he was wealthy. While Willy had no one besides his family and Charley at his because he never acquired the ability of making a positive and lasting impression on other salesmen and buyers.

Charley and Bernard have a relationship that highlights the importance of duality, for example, Charley gave Bernard the bottle of bourbon and Bernard does not think twice about taking it and nor does Charley think twice about giving it to him. Charley is extremely proud of his son and praises him for his success and does not take credit for how he got there. Willy however, believes that the only way to get anything done is to be confident and know people, that hard work is not how you get anywhere in life but knowing people and being liked is. Willy also believed for the longest time that Biff was going to go places and become a famous businessman entirely on knowing people, but Charley knew that the only way that Bernard was going to be successful was with dedication and hard work.

Drawing upon memories like amass tangled roots without end or beginning is a peculiar way to discuss Willy, but I believe that this is the only way to describe the time component of the play. Willy is lost in his own mind and "didn't know who he was" (138) resulting in this mind being a tangled mass of his memories. Miller utilizes the fact that Willy does not know who he is by drawing upon memories as they are needed to reveal the truth behind Willy's life and to provide the context of what ends up forcing Willy into his tragic fate. The title of the play being "DEATH of a Salesman", emphasis on death, provides the information to the reader about the eventual ending, but shifts the focus of the play from figuring out who died to rather discovering what made the death occur in the end. This discovery can only be made while being immersed into Willy's mind and because of his mind being tangled in itself, describing the time structure as "a mass of tangled roots" is the only way to inform the reader of the circumstances of Willy's death.

This play is discussing and contemplating the over reliance in the democratic system and free enterprise. Willy constantly returns to his dream of becoming a salesman like Dave Singleman, who was eighty-four years old and was able to pick up the phone and make his money without ever leaving the room; Willy being so focussed on attaining this lifestyle is part of the reason that he gets distracted and ends up being fired by Howard. Wishing to do the least amount of work possible while still making money, is being too reliant off of the capitalist system and this causes Howard to see Willy as not willing to do a lot of work. Willy is far too focussed on attempting to do the least amount of word possible and this causes him to have a death that is not the death of a salesman, which is how Dave Singleman died.

The danger of Willy is the way that he built up his false dreams in his children because this is what causes Biff and Happy to aspire to less in hope that knowing someone will be all it takes to provide them with a job. Finally, once Biff realizes that knowing someone is not enough after his meeting with Bill Oliver, Willy is continuously attempting to tell Biff that it is entirely based off of who you know. Willy is never able to get this thought and ideal out of his head which causes him to be disappointed in his sons no matter what they do, unless their job is because of knowing someone. Biff and Happy realize that their father will never see that hard work can provide a job in life, and this causes them to never work hard enough to prove their dad wrong. Willy is ultimately the reason that Biff was never as successful as he wanted him to be, but it is not because of what occurred in Boston, it is because of the years that Willy continued to ingrain a mindset in his children that working hard is a sign of weakness rather than determination.

The play rejects Willy's idea that business is based on who you know. Willy said that "the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead (33). However, it can be seen by the middle and end scenes of the play that this got him nowhere in life. He was traveling and trying to do business constantly and he "put thirty-four years into this firm" (82) and yet he was fired all the same. He ended up with many bills and improvements to the house needed that he couldn't pay. He also talks about the many contacts that he has made including the Mayor of Providence, but by the end of his career all of his contacts didn't help him sell anything and he was working off of commission. Also, because he wasn't selling anything, he had to borrow money from Charley often, sheepishly saying, "If you can manage it-I need a hundred and ten dollars" (96) which is a large amount of money to ask for from a friend. So in the end, who Willy knew didn't help him at all.

Charley and Bernard are well off, whereas Willy and Biff obviously struggle more in their life, but the relationships between the two can be seen as opposites also. Charley is seen as being supportive of Bernard, saying "knock 'e dead, Bernard" (95) as Bernard leaves to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court. Bernard also is seen as being proud of his father and his accomplishments because they are well off, and they both have good steady jobs that earn them good pay. willy however is not supportive of Biff working on a farm, even though he likes doing it. Willy thinks that is below Biff because he has convinced himself that Biff was a salesman for Oliver. "You know why he remembered you, don't you? Because you impressed him in those days," (108). This not only shows that Willy would only be impressed by Biff being a salesman, but also that the work he does now on a farm is unimpressive. Willy is not proud of Biff and his current job choice, saying "How can he find himself on a farm? Is that life?" (15) and they have disagreements about what life is about, but Charley is proud of Bernard and they have the same standards of life.

Willy's difficulty with machines shows his lack of knowledge in the simpler things of life. It shows the idea that he is very specialized in his knowledge, that knowledge being how to sell, and yet ironically he doesn't even know how to do that well enough to pay the bills. His car, refrigerator, house, and the tape recorder are symbolic of his failure to sell and be able to buy any nice things later in life. Planned obsolescence is implicitly referred to in the book as a way tot show the failure of Willy at his job. The items that he thinks break all the time could actually just be them wearing out from so many years of use, but because Willy never has the money to replace them, it feels to him that they break all the time. He feels like these items are top of the line when he buys them, for examples his Chevy and his refrigerator, but as time goes on and they wear down he dislikes them. This could also be because he remembers them in their former glory in his memory scenes but in the present time they don't work like they used to so the contrast is more stark.

Miller makes a stark contrast between the present time in the play (1943) and the past in the memory scenes (1928). In the past, life is seen as being simpler and more fulfilling. The Loman house is describes as being picturesque with a backyard and open space. The working situation for Willy is better and the family is able to pay bills because he "did five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston" (35). In comparison, 1943 was filled with failure at work for Willy and the falling apart of the items in his life, and the relationships he holds. Miller reveals his attitude towards American business by showing that if all you want to achieve in life is success in work, you will end up unfulfilled and empty. He implies that the American business dream can leave people empty and their pursuit of happiness in the new materialistic America cannot be achieved.

The most insightful from the list is #4, that Biff loves his father enough to fight him and his lethal beliefs because, Biff is seen throughout the entire play opposing his father because he believes that the dream his father is pursuing is not what he should be doing to find happiness. It can seem that Biff does not love his father at all because he is seen being ruse and disrespectful to him, but that can be because he believes that his father needs a wake up call from the life he is living. It can be inferred that Biff is acting towards his father the way he is because he has found his passion and life and he wants his father to find that same happiness, yet Willy is stubborn and refuses to listen to Biff so their opinions clash on numerous different issues. Biff can see that what Willy is doing is killing him, and he even tells Happy that, so he fights his father in order to make him turn around his life and stop pursuing his lethal dream before it kills him. He is very adamant about this and even tells his mother that "nobody's dying around here, pal," (123). However I think this might be him trying to convince himself as much as his mother that he can still save his father.

I agree with Arthur Miller’s quote that the Death of a Salesman is a love story between a father, his son, and America. Willy is completely in love with the idea of the American Dream and all it promises. He sells himself and does everything in order to achieve it. Willy loves his son Biff and wants him to achieve the Dream since he never really could. Both hold deep respect for eachother. One can see so clearly in the play. For instance, after Biff and Willy’s argument in the restaurant, Biff says to Miss Forsythe that she just “saw a prince walk by...a hard-working, unappreciated Prince” (114). Their arguments center around the Willy’s desire for Biff to become a better version of himself and Biff’s resistance to that life, since he wants to live his life on his own terms. Although Willy initially confides in his dad to change the math teacher’s mind, at the end he realizes that he does not want to end up like his dad, not knowing who he truly was because he spent too much time following the false pretext of the American Dream.

Ben and Charlie essentially serve to show the two different sides of what capitalism does to people. On one hand there is Ben, who made his living of off exploiting people and land. He is ruthless, and Miller depicts him as having lost his moral sense in pursuit of money. Willy looks up to him, but he is obviously a bad influence. This is demonstrated by the fact that he represents the part of his mind that coaxes him into committing suicide. Ben represents the nasty, immoral, life-sucking part that capitalism brings. On the other hand, Charley represents how capitalism can bring prosperity to people without making them lose their humanity. One can see this in the way Charley worries about Willy. He sees that Willy is going insane, so he offers him a job with the knowing probability that Willy may not add a positive marginal benefit to his business. He does not care about the business as much as he cares for his brother. In fact, he still gives Willy money even after he stubbornly declines to the job offer. Charley is a "true capitalist" in Miller's eyes.

The Requiem provides an insight into what ultimately becomes the fate of the likes of Willy Loman. A requiem itself is a music service for the death. The Requiem functions as a poetic ending to the story with spiritual words from Charley. Charley’s critical speech in page 138 serves to describe the grueling expectations of Willy’s profession. It has a spiritual/religious quality to it in that it uses many profound metaphors, such as describing Willy as “riding on a smile and a shoeshine” until he started getting “a couple of spots in [his] hat.” That finished him. Charley’s speech has a sort of moral code and spirituality to it when he tells the audience, “Nobody dast blame this man.” It seems that Miller is saying that we should not criticize those who fall apart in search of the American Dream. Besides using spiritual connotations and metaphors, the Requiem also uses heavy irony. Linda made the final payment on the house that day, she tells Willy that they are finally free. The irony is that Willy is never got to see it, and was killed in trying to achieve it. This is a vicious social argument by Miller on what freedom looks like.

I do believe that this play is a bitter attack on the capitalist system. It seems that Miller is trying to say that the game is rigged only for a few, but it still promises prosperity to all. Unfortunately, most people are under a false pretext and will never truly achieve happiness. Instead, people will die trying to have sold themselves to the capitalist system, just like Willy. I find this most telling in the play when Miller says that everything has an expiration date, eventually the life of a product wears out and is replaced by a new one. Even though here Willy was speaking of appliances, it is clear that he is talking about himself. Miller sees the capitals system as something that "eats the orange and throws the peel away" (82). So it gives the common man a false dream in turn of making money for the likes of Ben.

In my opinion, the most humorous moments of the play all surrounded the absurdity that was Happy Loman. He has essentially amounted to nothing in his life and is a disappointment to his parents, even if they are to proud to say it. In this manner, his name is ironic and funny… he will never be truly happy or bring happiness. It is comical to see how dismissive his parents are of him. When he tells Linda he will get married soon, she says “go to sleep, dear” (68). Everything he says amounts to nothing. He is vulgar with the women, telling the girl to not “try, honey. Try hard” (103). It serves to show his comical stupidity, although his words degrade women. He is comically told off when Biff tells him that he is “practically full of it” (131) and will not amount to anything.

The play rejects the idea that being well-liked is all that is necessary to be successful in business. Willy, in 1928, was a well-liked salesman and sold very well for a short amount of time. Being well-liked will only get a businessman so far. If one does not like what they do, it is nearly impossible to thrive. This is seen in the trouble Biff goes through. While he is well-liked (or at least was), he is unable to be successful because he is not doing what he feels he is meant to do.

Ben is the closest the play comes to a father figure for Willy. Willy’s father died while he was very young so it is appropriate that his older brother, who knew his father for longer, assumes his role. Ben appears when Willy is faced with a moral dilemma and/or losing his mind, especially when in the present and he sees Ben and is “talking to himself.” The last scene where Willy is planting the garden he sees Ben. In this scene, Willy has both lost his mind and forced with the moral dilemma of whether he should kill himself. Willy talks to “Ben” because he is the closest memory he has to a father and what he wants to be.

“The play takes place in Willy’s mind so it travels through different definitions of reality, it keeps shifting.” This to me is the best definition because of the phrase “different definitions of reality.” Throughout the play, there are two realities happening, each one as real as the other. The confusion and chaos arises when they happen concurrently, this is when it is most important to remember the play is supposed to be inside of Willy’s head. Miller does not alter either reality, he simply lets them both play at the same time for Willy.

Willy’s position is tragic. I feel as though the tragedy in DOAS are both the fault of Willy and society. Society was the one that used him as one would use a piece of fruit, throwing away the outside once everything usable is gone. Yet the lies Willy tells himself I feel are sometimes a greater part of his undoing. Willy’s rejection of what Biff actually is and his failure to express his own emotions because he fails to recognize their existence does him more damage than society had.

I feel as though Linda may have been one of the strongest characters in the play. Linda does not deserve blame for Willy’s tragedy, rather Willy’s perception of what he needs to do for her. Linda knows what is happening to Willy the entire time it is happening, yet she respects him too much to say anything (seen with the rubber pipe).

(c) Arthur Miller believed that capitalist America thrived off of individual gain and exploitation of the people. Greed was possibly the flaw of society, and the rapid rush to maximizing the economy and success in business left many, like Willy Loman, as useless and disposable commodities. Born in 1915, Arthur Miller grew up in the world of the Great Depression. The American rush for success, wealth, and fame drove the country into the most severe economic downturn in recent history. His argument against capitalism and his warnings for the danger of such a greedy and empty society is very clearly demonstrated by Willy Loman's tragic fall.

Willy Loman was once a successful salesman, but eventually his success and usefulness wore down. His world was transformed into a society that had left him behind; his comments on the new appliances, such as the refrigerator and the car, metaphorically represent Willy and his inability to have a place in American society. His old house, surrounded by new apartment buildings, symbolizes his life; he was rendered useless and inferior, as the house was. He is surrounded, looked down on, and beaten by capitalism in the same way that his house is outcompeted and diminished by the new apartments. As the United States progressed, Willy Loman was left behind as a used and now useless commodity. As society's advancement was ultimately more important that his success and his life, Willy Loman became a victim of America's capitalism.

Ben is designed to be the successful and corrupted American capitalist. He, unlike Willy, has found his success through exploitation in the jungle, which he indirectly and unintentionally confesses to Biff in Act I. He represents the upper segment of the American society, containing the majority of the wealth, which he only encountered through luck and potentially illegal strategies. Ben has manipulated the system, believes that one can "never fight fair with a stranger" (49), and simply got lucky in his immense success. He represents the corruption that exists in capitalism, and he acts a major contributing factor in Willy's downfall. When Willy does not accept Ben's offer (in the past) to join him on his latest expedition in Alaska, he somewhat condemns himself to a life of economic mediocrity. In refusing to participate in the corrupted tactics of Ben and successful capitalists, he finds failure. It is possible that Miller is suggesting through their relationship that Willy cannot succeed - and no American can succeed - without taking advantage of the potential corruption of capitalism.

I agree with Miller's statement and the theory that tragedy is designed to be man's struggle to save his dignity. The earliest tragedies, dating from the Greek and Roman era of poetry, sought to convey the dangers of classic human flaws, including but not limited to jealousy, hubris, and the fight against fate. These tragedies are generated from a combination of the personal flaw of the tragic character as well as the failures of the society that surrounds him. Any of the Greek tragedies - Antigone (Sophocles), Prometheus Bound (Aeschylus), Heracles (Euripides), etc. - demonstrate the failures of society resulting in the destruction in the individual, but do not fail to criticize basic and detrimental human tendencies. The combination of society and personal traits to bring about a tragic fall is even more obvious in the collection of Shakespearean tragedies. Hamlet, Titus Andronicus, Othello, Macbeth, King Lear, Julius Caesar, and all of the other tragic plays use pride, jealousy, excessive ambition, paired with a ruthless society and evil external influences to corrupt and eventually destroy the central character. The traditional formula of the tragedy has remained relatively constant since its birth.

In Death of a Salesman, as in the classic tragedies, both society and the flaws of the character contribute to the ultimate tragic fall. Willy Loman's twisted views on success in the American economy lead him, and eventually his children to a social and economic failure. His ruinous affair with the woman only known as "the Woman", his mistreatment of his wife, and his prideful character only contribute to the deterioration of his mental state. The capitalist society that surrounds him drains him of his character and leaves him empty, disliked, and unsuccessful. Miller created Willy to represent his view of the power of the emptiness of the capitalist system. He represents Miller's picturesque failure of American society, but clearly has a variety of flaws that also destroy him.

The urban settings of the play become a metaphor for the overpowering capitalist system that (represented in a play by the concept eating an orange and disposing of the peel) consumes all it can from Willy Loman and ultimately disposes of whatever is left of him. The apartment buildings, the confusion regarding modern appliances, and the overwhelming presence of new technology represent the unforgiving nature of the American economic system. The rural areas, in contrast, become an image of a freedom from the system that destroys Willy. Biff, in his self-realization, will go to the West and find liberation from the constricting grasp of society. Happy and Willy are both unable to abandon their urban lifestyles and therefore become trapped in the emptiness of the society by which they are surrounded. Biff, on the other hand, is able to escape this emptiness in the rural life and thereby escapes the fate of his father.

The false dreams that Willy builds up in himself do eventually become the false dreams that he instills in his children. His constant talk of personal attractiveness and being "well liked" create an ideal in both his mentality and in his children's about success and how it is to be accomplished. He creates a false reality, possibly a false image of success, that results in his failure and his children's failure. the reality of success is demonstrated by Charley and Bernard, both of whom contrast Willy and his children in almost every way in relation to business and work ethic. By the end of the play, Biff has reached some element of self-realization and has, through his father's failure, discovered the holes in his belief system. Happy, on the other hand, condemns himself to the same fate as his father. Willy's false dreams ultimate translate into those of his children, and create a sort of cyclical action in which all combine to form one large misconstructed reality.

I find this to be a great truth of the play because the play is a moral dilemma of society about the loss of an identity. The play explores the loss of the identity of a person who has strong ideas, but does not realize them because he is lost. The quote reflects Miller's optimism, rather than pessimism, on the “immortality of the theater” (Miller). The play allows “another chance of life” in Willy Loman being lost within the lack of a presence of conflict between something and nothing.

As stated earlier in my other response, Willy Loman is trapped and lost within the lack of conflict between something and nothing. Miller drowns Willy Loman in lies and deceptions. The structure of the play having memories overlap with the present and having memories within memories reflects Willy Loman’s constant conflicting and lost mind. Both the voice of the past and the present are evidently powerful in this play and thus there is a mobile concurrency between the past and the present. Willy’s contradictions include saying “don't say ‘gee’” tooo him eventually saying “Gee, look at the moon”. Another contradiction is Willy saying that the Chevrolet is the “greatest car built” and then him saying that they should not “manufacture” it anymore.

In music, a “requiem” is a mass composed for the dead. The function of is it that it concludes the core purpose and argument of the play that you must understand and know yourself.The diction and syntax of the characters, especially Linda, in the requiem offer a lot of metaphors that reinforce the artificiality of the family because normal people do not speak with clouds of metaphors and allusions. The requiem also serves a purpose as to question when humans have a passage of thinking or a passage of feeling flowing through them. This also raises the question of which one dominates more and what the effects of this are (this is seen shifting between characters). It also serves to conclude that if there is any hope projected through characters, it is through Biff because Happy has no chance of succeeding. Additionally, the requiem has negative diction and breaks the fourth wall.

The tragedy of Willy is projected because of his utter fault of pride. He rejects a job because he has such a high level of pride. This relates to oedipus the king in the same tragic fall (which is actually noted in the requiem). Willy’s fall is influenced by his environment of the society, but he is the one who ultimately carries it through and induces the pain onto himself. After all, DOAS is a social and personal tragedy, rather than one or the other. There is a synergistic quality of the two types of tragedies that flow together mutually. Miller’s politics were shaped by the Great Depression and therefore his play is fatalistic with his tragedies. The quote of “a salesman's got to dream” reflects the entire American attitude. Miller has the tragedy of America reflected on Willy and the tragedy of Willy absorbed within the tragedy of America.

I believe Linda is a strong characters, but also that Miller projected many faults onto her because she is a woman. Miller portrays Linda in the particular way that he did with her being outspoken or interrupted many times because that was the way that women were treated in the culture of the post War American society. Overall, the women in the play are voiceless and as a result, Linda does technically deserve part of the blame for Willy’s tragedy in the fact that she did not voice her opinion and oppose him and the boys as much as she could. However, this was a strategy of Miller to project women as mistrusting and used to absorbing lies. Linda did not have the characteristics to speak out and oppose others. I believe that Linda is aware of her infidelity and that Miller deliberately employs this understanding as an ambious concept because he wanted the focus of the to be expressionistic in that human fallibility was a central argument. Linda’s understanding of Willy’s infidelity allows Miller to explore those, beyond Willy, who fail to act- and this Willy is not the only character who is traveling, but never arriving.

The play seems to reject this assertion. Willy tried using this mentality while he sells, but he never becomes as successful as characters like Charley, who is portrayed as fat and altogether unattractive. Bernard seems to illustrate that though a person may be awkward, he can still become successful. Biff and Happy, on the other hand, were built "like Adonises" but can never achieve the success of Bernard.

Willy and Biff have a very close relationship during Biff's childhood. Willy was extremely proud of Biff, who he saw as popular, handsome, and charming. He bragged often of Biff's achievements and spent a lot of time telling other people about the great things he would do in the future. Charley and Bernard had a very different relationship during the same time period. It is said that Charley didn't really care about Bernard very much because he didn't really care about anything, and still doesn't. In the present time of the play, Biff and Willy do not get along well. Biff is a failure, and cannot get a job. He is angry at his father because of Willy's affair in 1928. Willy doesn't understand why Biff wasn't able to achieve everything Willy had predicted of him, and has gone slightly insane trying to cling to any hope that Biff will recover some of his lost glory and "old confidence." Bernard and Charley seem to have a healthy relationship during this time. Charley is obviously proud of what his son has achieved, but allows his son to live without the overly enthusiastic parenting style that characterizes Willy. Bernard also loves his father, and they don't seem to argue the way Willy and Biff do.

Miller does not fail in trying to make the play seem optimistic, because I don't feel that this play effectively shows that society is broken and has used Willy and then left him to rot. Nobody caused Willy's tragedy but himself. By dreaming of his son's future greatness, he only hurt himself when the dreams were not realized. He was a terrible father, saying that his son didn't need to work hard to be successful as long as he was popular. This is stupid advice! In the play, Miller reveals that the reason Biff stopped working and did not go to summer school was because of his discovery of Willy's affair. To me, this is not a tragedy at all, because I feel no pity for Willy. This is a cause of optimism because it shows that the only architect of Willy's demise was himself. The play also reinforces the idea that hard work will lead to success, as evidenced by Bernard.

Willy's story, as explained in my last response, is not tragic at all. His story must be pathetic. Of Miller had been able to effectively demonstrate that society had caused Willy's demise, then the story would be tragic. But this play shows over and over again that Willy has done nothing but hurt himself and his kids. It is very difficult to feel pity or sympathy for a character who so blatantly disrespects Charley, bullies the high school-aged Bernard, and tells his kids they don't have to work hard. This does not weaken the force of the play, but rather shifts its focus. To me, Bernard is the example of what all people in America should try to be, while the Willys and Biffs and Happys should be avoided. Willy never seems to come to a self-realization at the end of the play, since he does not ever seem to accept that his son's failure is at least partly, if not entirely, his fault.

His building of false dreams for his children are far more dangerous than his dreams for himself. One simple reason for this is that his dreams for himself can only hurt him and Linda. Building false dreams for his children also affects Biff and Happy. Ironically, Happy was not fed as much hope as Biff and was not the preferred son, but he is the son that ends up with an actual job and does not become a petty thief like Biff (though his affinity for multiple women may be "slightly problematic").

2A I believe is Miller's perception of women in the play because Linda throughout the play stays loving and supportive to a man who is chasing the wrong dream and has no real respect for her. Willy may love her; but throughout the play he uses her as something in the way because everytime she opens her mouth he cuts her off like she doesn't even matter. Linda keeps wanting Willy to "come to bed" every night because she knows that if he is by himself he has a suicidal tendency. Willy is shown to be losing his way gradually throughout the play and because Linda is there to still guide him back, he tends to still be tethered to reality until the end when he completely loses his way.

The character of Ben is Willy's inner voice that keeps appearing throughout the play. Ben appears when Willy is feeling guilty of the events he has done in the past or the road he maybe should have taken because Charley is a good businessman and Ben went off to chase his dreams and found diamonds in the jungle. Ben is Willy's inner self and he knows that even if he kills himself Biff will think he was a coward and hate him even more. "It's dark there but full of diamonds"(135) this shows that Willy now is getting the dream he wanted which is being a wealthy and successful man and Ben makes it seem this way if he kills himself.

The props like the refrigerator and the car breaking down are symbolic of WIlly's life breaking down like an old house. After awhile they start to become slow and have problems that not always can be fixed. Also the refrigerator is symbolic because Willy believes that a big name brand type refrigerator will work the best which shows that like the name brand on the fridge which is well liked, he wants to be well liked. Willy is constantly contradictory of the products he uses and/or buys. He believes in the 1940's that the Chevy was the best car he ever had; but when he flashes back to 1928 he thinks the Chevy has too many problems and feels they should stop manufacturing them. I believe that he wants the American dream of being rich and thinks that he deserves the best. When in reality he is chasing the wrong dream in the wrong field.

I believe the play does not make a direct criticism of society; but i do feel that there are indirect stabs directed at the capitalist society in America. Throughout the play Biff talks about leaving his home town to pursue his own dreams in search of the American dream. Not everybody really reaches their dreams and at the end of the play Biff tells Willy that "he is nothing and can he let him just be nothing" and this is due to the fact that he could not reach his dreams and Willy wouldn't let him reach his dreams as an end result.

. Linda is shown to be a crutch for Willy or something to lean on when tired because Willy does not let her finish any of her sentences and throughout the play continuously cuts her off. Linda is still a loyal wife that I believe doesn't truly know about his infidelity; but is scared for Willy because she knows something is deeply wrong with him that he wants to kill himself. "He is not to be fallen into his grave like an old dog" (56). This shows that even though he is starting to wander and lose his way she still wants to show her love and respect for her husband. Which can make her a strong character.

“Life is casting off” is the more valid phrase for the play whereas “some people accomplish something” is more valid for real life. This is because in the play Willy’s life is positioned to seem as though he is being controlled and taken advantage of by the system. In that way, it is “life” that is “casting” him “off”. In the second phrase, “some people accomplish something”, it is more relevant to real life. In real life, there will be some people who succeed and some who fail. In a way these two phrases are opposite to one another and may even be the difference between Capitalism and Non-Capitalist.

Charley and Bernard have a very close and loving relationship which is a major reason why they are each as successful as they are. On the other hand, Willy and Biff have a very distant relationship that may exist entirely for the purpose of the “American Dream”. In a way, the relationship that Willy and Biff has is more so for show or “because we should”. There is a lack of real love and emotion, and this separates them from Charley and Bernard.

Stage props are used throughout Death of Salesman, and for various different and symbolic effects. An example of a prop is Biff’s football, as it represents the American Dream. The dream that Willy also possesses, dreams for Biff to be successful and make all the money that Willy wishes he himself could make. Another example of a stage prop is the voice recorder in Howard’s office. It represents the passage of time as Willy is an aging man who is no longer “with the times”. It goes along with the fact that his boss is also younger than him, further making Willy believe he is behind the curve.

Death of a Salesman is an attack on Capitalism. Miller voiced his opinion through this play by providing a tragic protagonist who was abused by the system. In the play, Willy’s inability to succeed is coupled alongside his lust for the American Dream, which can be viewed as the “bait” into his demise. Capitalism in Miller’s eye destroyed Willy’s life, and he shows this by providing Willy with a decent set of character attributes. This same fate is passed down to Willy’s sons, and the cycle of the system abusing the man continues.

In Death of a Salesman, the false dreams built into Willy’s kids are more dangerous than those within himself. Willy’s own dreams get him killed, but in the long run, the dreams within his kids will continue to be passed down. In my opinion, Biff is the true tragic protagonist in this play because he was the only one who truly had no control. In the end, Willy took the coward’s way out, in one final attempt to redeem himself. On the other hand, Biff ignored Capitalism itself and instead chose to carry on, the bigger man’s decision.

I believe (c) is the correct interpretation because throughout the entire play Willy's lack of success is the source of his frustration. He bases his happiness on money and material things, which is ultimately the reason behind his death.

His reality is somewhat unsuccessful, so he tries to base success off how many people like him. Although Willy believes he is well-liked, its is seen through the other characters that he is a hard person to get along with.

The play is more about Willy's failure more than Biff's triumph, i agree with millers statement about Biff not being a weightier counterbalance.

I believe Willy's story is more pathetic than tragic. Instead of facing and accepting reality he denies it and continuously made excuses for his failures. It doesn't weaken the force of the play but it just changes the way the play is interpreted. I don't think Willy realizes anything at the end because he dies believing in a false hope that his family will receive funds for his death.

The false dreams he has himself are more dangerous because he truly believes in them. They are the force that drives him crazy, although the false dreams contribute to his kids lack of success, but they are growing and realizing things on their own eventually.