In the Comments section below, please post a response of at least one full paragraph (min. 5 sentences). Your assignment is twofold: 1) you are to demonstrate a clear understanding of the text by attempting to summarize the text's argument as precisely as possible, and 2) you are to use your comment to ask the text (or ask your peers) at least one thoughtful question.
Remember: your comment can respond directly to other students' posts on this text. The goal of this forum is to offer an opportunity for intelligent dialogue related to the works we are studying in class. Respectful debate is always welcome.
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ReplyDeleteI though that Arthur Miller's "The Death of a Salesman" was very interesting. This play was a little bit more modern than other stories that we have read this year, but in watching this play, something caught my eye. Throughout the play, i thought it was strange how the relationship between willy and his wife was very stern and rather distant. Not only had willy previously cheated on his wife, but he still currently treats her terribly. In watching this, i thought it was strange how she seemed to brush everything off, and still work towards pleasing him. This relationship between the husband and wife, vividly reminded me of "The Story of an Hour", that we read last quarter. The woman in that story was being held back by her husband, and as soon as she hears he is dead, she greatly rejoices. I think that even though she didnt really show a lot of emotions, Willy's wife had this same reaction inside. In analyzing this, i was wondering if Arthur Miller's idea for Willy's wife, came from Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour".
ReplyDelete“Death of a Salesman” represented a very cliche view of the American Dream in my opinion. I guess that could be because the term “The American Dream” is rather cliche itself. In this play/movie the dream can be defined as: Life is what you make it; if you work hard and with a little bit of luck, anybody can be a somebody. This clearly is an absurd idea. As we discussed in class today, in order to be successful, someone else must fail. Business is a competition, and it would not be possible for everyone to be successful, just like it is not possible to have more than one team win first place. In “Death of a Salesman” it is clear that Willy Loman can’t accept the truth that he is one of the average people that make it possible for other salesmen to be great. His whole life revolves around this fantasy of being some well known and well liked salesman that brings home lots of money, that has a nice house, a nice car, and successful children. He cannot bring himself to accept that his fantasy is a lie and that he is a nobody. Why is he so stubborn with the way he does things though? He has several opportunities to get a different job and start over to make life better, but he refuses them. I can’t see why he wouldn’t take a better job if it means that he can provide for his family.
ReplyDeleteI think Corey brings up an interesting point with the "Story of an Hour" that we read earlier in the year. Willy treats his wife terribly. He always tells her to shut up and cheats on her. However, his wife always stands up for him when their boys say bad things about him. There is very unequal power in the family. The woman in "Story of an Hour" was also very much controlled. In both these stories the woman's only identity is that of being associated with her family. In response to Rachel's question, I believe that Willy is afraid to admit he messed up. He feels that if he has to take a new job, that means that he had to of failed at his other job. Instead of giving up his old job and starting a new one, he wants to try to avoid ever failing. In doing so, however, he becomes even more of a failure, because his life has become one huge lie. Could Willy's huge lie be what makes him crazy? After living in a huge lie, maybe it got to him; he doesn't know what is true anymore, so he acts insane.
ReplyDeleteWilly was extremely irritating to me while watching the movie. I found that a lot of his problem was that he was not able to get out of his own way and listen to logic. Half of the time, if he had let Biff talk the things that he was stressing about would have been explained. I think that he got himself into the mess he was in, and was the cause of his own dementia.
ReplyDelete"Death of a Salesman" was a very strange movie and a bit confusing. Willy seemed like he was crazy as he did not treat his wife or kids as most do. His wife seemed like she loved Willy, but Willy did not really love her back. For example, he had an affair with another woman. Throughout the movie, Willy would cut his wife off whenever she spoke. He also treated his kids wierd, as he loved Biff but did not really care about Happy. He wanted Biff to be perfect, as he thought that he was. In reality, Willy was not a great salesman and made no money, but still pushed Biff to get a job and be perfect. Part of the reason that Biff was a failure was because Willy puffed him up at an early age. Throughout the movie, Willy thinks that he earned a ton of money in the past, and complains that he is not well-liked anymore and is not earning enough money. My question is, how was he crazy enough to refuse a great job offer at $50 per week?
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ReplyDeleteAs Rachel said, the American Dream is a big part of the play. In the play Willy has a blurred vision of the American Dream. He thinks that if you work hard, are well liked, honest, and have the perfect kids (football star), then you will become a great salesman with lots of money. Willy's American Dream doesn't work because there are millions of salesmen out there who have all these same characteristics. Since the sales market is competitive not all salesmen can be successful. Willy wonders why he isn't rich and doesn't has everything because he thinks he is a hardworking salesman. Willy's problem is that just being well liked and honest won't make you rich, there are a lot of successful people that everyone doesn't like. Bernard was not well liked but he becomes successful, while Biff and Happy are popular but not successful. So, Willy's vision of the American Dream is not what really leads to success.
ReplyDeleteI think Willy's problem was not so much the fact that he couldn't live up to his own dream, but the fact that his whole existence was a pursuit of something unattainable: his twisted view of perfection. Willy would never have been content with his own life; he was disillusioned with his legacy and what other people thought of him. The key to success lies not in having everyone like you, but in being content with your best. Willy was too busy trying to make himself into something he wasnt, and dragging his sons down that road too.
ReplyDeleteWilly believed that being well-liked would lead to success. This idea is untrue. The most successful people aren't well-liked because they are successful. People are jealous of their success. Willy also pressured his sons to be better than his perception of himself. He wanted perfection. He wanted something like Chris said, "unattainable." I agree with Chris in that if Willy was content with his best then, his life would have contained a great deal of success.
ReplyDeleteAll throughout the Death of a Salesman, Loman tells his two sons, Biff and Happy, that the key to success in life is to be “well liked”. According to Willy, if you can become popular and get people to like you then you’ll do well in life. The other part of Willy’s success equation was luck; he thought men just stumbled into success the way his brother apparently came into his diamond fortune in Africa. But this philosophy simply sets Willy and his sons up for failure. Good luck and being well liked will only get you so far in life, and it definitely didn’t do much to help the Lomans.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Holly said, Willy was extreemly irritating and brought his stress upon himself. We talked in class about how from generation to generation there is an even more impossible dream of the parents that the children are taught they must attain. This is shown throught Willy and his son Biff. I think for Willy though, he got this "impossible dream" from seeing his brother become successful. I dont think Willy realize however that Ben became rich for luck, i think Willy thinnks the luck was just given to him.
ReplyDeleteWilly Loman is covinced that being well liked is the key to success. He says it many times in the play and he shows it as well. The scene that showed me that all Willy wanted is to be well liked was when Biff has his realization that he is a nobody and cries to Willy. Willy disregards Biff's message about amounting to nothing and only takes into consideration that Biff cried to him. He thinks that the crying shows Biffs love for him. Salesmen are pretty fake people. Lets be honest your not going to buy something from a salesman who was a complete jack ass to you. I think that the stress of being well liked is what got to willy and eventually led to his suicide.
ReplyDeleteThis movie is all about the American Dream. Specifically it is saying that the American Dream just isn't possible without luck, deceit, or doing the wrong thing in someway and even then it is still almost impossible. In this movie, Willy realizes that he hasn't achieved any of the American Dream. He hasn't become well-known, popular, or wealthy. Because of this, he creates a fantasy of himself, which ultimately, leads him to the point where he has trouble distinguishing the real from the fake. Like Peter said,the stress to become that person, led to him committing suicide.
ReplyDeleteThis story is about the American Dream, but really it is about the fact that the American Dream is a myth to cover-up the harshness of capitalism. The American Dream is just our justifying of the "sins" we commit on our way to the top. Willy believes that if he is nice enough, he will be successfull. However by the end of the story, he realizes the truth about the American Dream. He realizes that you cannot be nice and successfull at the same time. My question is, why did it take him so long to realize this?
ReplyDeleteWilly was so obsessed with being well liked that he would do anything to become "popular". I believe the is what pushed him to eventually commit suicide. When he realized that no matter what he did, including sleeping with his wife, nothing would be enough to be successful, then he completely lost it. Matt, to answer your question, I think it took him so long because he never really looked into what he was doing and just kept pushing to become more successful.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this play and the great gatsby went hand in hand in a way. Both are criticisms of the "american dream" and noth are basically trying to say that the dream is completely unrealistic. in doas Willy has been constatnly trying to rise in the social ladder, and become liked so that he can be a successful salesman. But in reality, its impossible for him too and the one who is succesfful is a kid that inherited the success from his father. Likewise, in gatsby, gatz trys to rise from meager beginnings to the top in order to impress daisy. This too fails as he realises that people cant become high ranked in social life, but rather it is only people like tom that can be successful.
ReplyDeleteJust like the Great Gatsby this play is primarily about the "American Dream". Both Jay and Willy believe that to become successful a person must be well-liked. In this play, Willy constantly pushes his son Biff to use his likeable personality to pursue a career as a salesman. On the other hand, Biff tries to tell his father that he wasn't meant to be a salesman, but is ignored by his father as he says Biff will be great one day. Also, Biff's brother Happy is ignored is following in his father's footsteps and is doing everything Willy wants Biff to do. He is ignored by both his mother and father. At the end of the play, and after Willy's family seems to get through to him, he ends his life hoping to provide Biff with enough money to start a business and become a salesman. My question about this play is: why does Willy seem to be ignorant and unable to grasp what's going on around him, is it really a diagnosable disease or his own choice?
ReplyDeleteI think this play is really sad and hard to watch because it makes you think about the American Dream in a different way. It makes the viewer or reader think about how the American dream positively or negatively influences people in society. I think that choosing a salesman to be the main character is a perfect example cause you can really see the evils of capitalism and how the greed becomes the downfall and eventual demise of Willy. In the play you can see how society distorts Willy's perception so much that he becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming succesful just like Uncle Ben and lies to himself constantly to see his dream fulfilled. The play also highlights how other people's greed, including Willy's boss, causes them to exploite others which is the basic foundation of Capitalism. My question is does it matter that the author never states what Willy actually sells?
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