Preview

Death of a Salesman Themes and Messages

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
259 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Death of a Salesman Themes and Messages
Death of a salesman themes & messages

The American Dream is the main theme in the play. Willy Loman is a man who has worked all his life to live comfortably but he barely manages every day. This is a criticism to the idea of the American dream and it shows you that there is no such thing as it and that your life will turn out to be like Willy’s if the Dream isn’t achieved.
Another main theme is loneliness. All of the members of the family feel lonely, Willy because nobody wants him, Biff feels lonely because his ideas of a good life aren’t the ones of the people all around him, Linda because she has to care for all of the people in her family and work all by herself (apart from being badly treated by Willy) and I think Happy feels lonely too because all of his family is having problems.
Betrayal is another theme because Willy and Biff have disappointed each other. Willy was disappointed because his son didn’t want to live the same life as he had, and Willy had already portrayed the future of his son, so he felt betrayed. Biff was disappointed because of his father’s affairs and the fact that he never shows some respect for Linda, who is his mom
In conclusion, there is a criticism of the American dream and it somehow shows how reality is for some or many families that find it difficult to live with each other or with

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    What is the central conflict around which the play revolves? How does this central conflict relate to the notion of the American Dream?…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Unlike Willy and Happy, Biff feels compelled to seek the truth about himself. While his father and brother are unable to accept the miserable…

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Last Templar Khoury

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages

    I think that the message of the book is somewhere along the lines of following your dreams and how hard work pays of. The main characters have in common that they all live simple lives with not much luxury, either because they work with their dream job or because they can’t work with their dream job. This simple way of life combined with their dreams is what makes the story. Without this the story could not take place.…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this Biff also realized who he is. Knows his path unlike Willy who is lost.…

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Willy 's various roles cause him to lose touch of reality because they call for divergent moral ideologies. As a father, a husband, and a businessman, Willy becomes engulfed in the worlds of each role. Willy cares greatly for his struggling and dysfunctional family. For example, when tensions run high after Biff and Willy argue, the entire mood changes from uptight to optimistic when Happy suggests a family-run business in the future.…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Both the play ‘Death Of A Salesman” and the feature film ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ explore the notion of success and failure, the sacrifice of money to peruse a “million dollar idea” and undying will to never give up and the compressing business world. They also explore the concept that it’s a necessity to be well liked.…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The text opens to a man named Willy coming home depressed. Willy would best be described as the main character of the story. He has lived an average life as a salesman with two kids and a loving wife. What is learned about Willy from the get go is that he has a passion for success. He has pushed his boys to be their very best their whole life, especially his eldest son, Biff Loman. He treasures those times when life was full of hope and happiness. He treasures it so much that he often flashes back to moments in the past when he is struggling or is caught in a moment of chaos. His flashes back and forth to past and present are what create the conflict inside of Willy. That conflict and chaos is always caused by betrayal. Both Happy and Biff betrayed Willy's confidence. Biff especially betrayed his father when he refused to make anything of himself. He flat out told his father that he was a worthless human being and that all his father's hopes and dreams were wasted on a loser. This broke Willy's heart completely. Happy also betrayed his father…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    From reading three quarters of ‘Death of a salesman’ many questions have surfaced from the play. I think that the main question that has been raised so far from the play is the American Dream. The American Dream is the dream people have for themselves and their family; good job, good home, good life and to be treated fairly. In Willy loman case anyone who worked hard and was “well liked” in business would have a happy life.…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death of a Salesman Essay

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages

    As diverse and complicated as Willy Loman’s character is presented in the play, his relationship with Biff seems to be the most complex aspect. Willy had an impactful relationship with his father, who was described as a successful salesman and served as the model of the potential that Willy endlessly pursued to achieve throughout his troublesome life. With this in consideration, Willy’s constant dissatisfaction with Biff can be comprehended. He viewed Biff most aimed toward success out of his two sons, with the looks and initial appearance to be something great in the business world. Though, his lack of ambition and poor attitude toward his overall academic success ultimately led to his downfall as he relied on stealing and other unhealthy habits to get by in his childhood. These were developed by Willy’s unhealthy parenting and focus on sports and popularity rather than education and kindness. He admires his work ethic but loathes his self-motivation. Willy makes comment that “Biff Loman is lost” in the greatest country in the world despite his “personal attractiveness” and being such a “hard worker”, demonstrating Willy’s confusion in how Biff can go against the standard of a successful man in that time period. Willy remained optimistic of his son’s potential despite his struggles in school, constantly complimenting Biff even with his imperfections. As time progressed and Biff continued to…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Death of a Salesman

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Biff is Willys favorite child and has always gotten the most attention. Willy raised biff to believe he’s better than others and deserves to be treated as so. Biff steals things in the play due to the false owner ship feeling he gets from his father’s words. Willy tells him to take action and to do anything to be loved by everyone. Biff with this outlook on life and affects the way he interacts with people and lives his life. Biff’s friend Bernard was always expected to do nothing with his life and biff was always held in high hopes. After biffs encounter of meeting willy affair mistress he falls apart and realizes that all of willys teachings have been false hot air. After that dramatic event biff was left not knowing who he is or what he’s to believe.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death of a Salesman

    • 1606 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Biff was the oldest son who was Willy’s “golden child.” He was a high school football star as a teen, but wasn’t “book-smart”. Biff is a laid back character who would speak his mind, mainly because he was sick of how everyone would act, like everything was ok. For example when Willy tried to kill himself and no one had the strength to say something. Biff was the son who was determined to find the lies surrounding their family, so he can realize what his purpose is in life. Biff had many different jobs through his life, but he would get fired every time for stealing. Willy was much the cause for his mind thought of getting what he wanted at any cost, along the…

    • 1606 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death of a Salesman Essay

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sometimes the books we read, the movies we watch and the experiences we have show us that underneath the surface we are all very similar.…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    ‘Death of a Salesman’, a play written by Arthur Miller in 1948, is one in which the protagonist, Willy Loman is seen to be struggling against the cliché of the American dream and is undoubtedly heroic yet vulnerable throughout. From scene to scene, Miller uses a plethora of theatrical techniques to reveal the flaws in Willy’s character which are ultimately responsible for his breakdown.…

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Arguably the theme most prevalent in Death of a Salesman is that of a quest for identity (coming of age). Even though the Willy Loman character is a middle-aged man, the play reveals him to be in search of his true identity in order…

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Death of a Salesman is a play that consists of a HISTORICAL background which is key to understanding the play. It was written in 1949, just a few years after the World War ll was over, meaning the United States, where the play occurs, was going through many changes. For example, the war caused an increase in industrial production markets and non-farming business. For the poorest Americans, however, the economic situation was not improved as America started having high inflation, causing problems for the poorest citizens to purchase the basics. Also, the government started to create policies which helped larger corporate farmers but not smaller farmers. Happy, a sales clerk and Biff, a farm worker, had the lowest-paid jobs in the country, leading them to some trouble in maintaining dignity in society. For Americans, dignity and pride were very important things. Due to their victories during the war, Americans felt proud and had a feeling of superiority over the world. This lead to their need of proving that capitalism was better than communism. Because of this, Americans felt responsible for protecting their nation from any influences from communist Soviet Union. This period of time where Americans felt the obligation to achieve financial success in order to show gratitude for the liberty they had as a democratic society and also to defeat the Soviets is now called the Cold War era. During this period of time, people like Willy relied too much on long-term credit to show they were financially successful and ended up having trouble in giving their families the basics. In the play, this Cold War attitude is shown by Willy's preoccupation with his position in society and financial status. Willy's worry also represents some of the SOCIAL context in the play as he fears not being accepted in society; he wants to be "well liked". American society changed after WWll. Before, people were motivated…

    • 562 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics