Mr. Pigman's Death Of A Salesman

How can two people watch or read the same story and yet, interpret it completely differently? Does it have to do with the author’s intentions, or maybe it has to do with the viewers’ own backgrounds and ideologies? Whatever the case may be, viewing one piece of work can lead to a wide array of opinions and critiques. It is through the diversity of such lenses that Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller has become one of the most well-known plays in modern history. There are many different ways in which a play can be criticized, however, criticisms from the approaches of a Marxist and reader-response will be utilized to further dissect Death of a Salesman. Marxist criticism sees pieces of works as a struggle between different socioeconomic classes; what better way to see Miller’s play than for what it is at face value, the struggle of a middle-class man trying to achieve the American dream (1750). On the other hand, a reader-response criticism comes from either an objective or subjective view; in this case Death of a Salesman will be viewed with a subjective lens based on Willy’s deteriorating mental health (1746).

In Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman’s life seems to be slowly deteriorating. It is clear that Willy’s predicament is of his own doing, and that his own foolish pride and ignorance lead to his downfall. Willy’s self-destruction involved the uniting of several aspects of his life and his lack of grasping reality in each, consisting of, his relationship with his wife, his relationship and manner in which he brought up his children, Biff and Happy, and lastly his inability to productively earn a living and in doing so, failure to achieve his “American Dream”.

Lorraine and John were great friends with Mr.Pignati. They were always though. Mr.Pignati is a very kind man. They all had so much fun together. John and Lorraine lied to him and

We are gathering here today in honor of my father Willy Loman. Willy left us at the age of 60 years old. Leaving behind two sons my brother happy and I. He also left behind my mom, his beautiful wife of 40 years his wife, Linda. We all have our flaws, we will not remember him for his flaws. But, for his perseverance good intentions and values he instilled in my brother and I.

Shelley Levene is a character that is always sure of himself and certain of all his actions. He knows that he’s the top person of the firm and to anyone that will listen, tells them so. Jack Lemmon, as his character, exemplifies these traits through his actions and voice. He always appears busy and never seems to keep still in one place, as if he physically has to look preoccupied at all times. When he’s talking, with others and in general, his voice raises in octaves to keep attention focused on him while falling down to a mumble when making offhand comments. It appears charming how he talks to others since salesman have to have certain inflection to their words to get the right reaction from potential buyers. Lemmon knows this, which is why

     In Death of a Salesman, a play written by Arthur Miller, Miller reflects the theme that every man needs to be honest with him self and act in accordance with his nature by displaying success and failure in different lights. Miller embodies the theme through characters in the play by explaining how their success and failures in being true to themselves help shapes their fates. Strongest evidence of Miller’s theme is reflected in the characteristics of Biff Loman, Benard, and Willy Loman. Through out the play, these three characters never give way to other’s influence and what other’s view of being successful is.

The story ‘Death of a Salesman’ written by Miller focuses on a man doing all he can to allow him and his family to live the American dream. Throughout the story it is shown how the Loman’s struggle with finding happiness and also with becoming successful. Throughout their entire lives many problems come their way resulting in a devastating death caused by foolishness and the drive to be successful. Ever since he and his wife, Linda, met she has been living a sad and miserable life, because she has been trying support his unachievable goals. Also by him being naïve put his children’s lives in jeopardy and also made them lose sight of who they really were. Miller uses the Loman family to show how feeling the need to appear a certain way to the public and trying to live a life that is not really yours can turn into an American nightmare.

Death of a Salesman is a play written by Arthur Miller and is about the tumultuous life of Willy Loman. Willy is a salesman that lives in New York who travels all over the eastern half of the country selling his products. Though it seems Mr. Loman is in a great position in life, he faces many problems in the play that ultimately result in his demise. Throughout the play it’s evident that despite all that has transpired in his life, happiness eludes him which bombards him into a deteriorated state of mind. Even though play made by Miller is fiction, it manages to stay realistic and shine a light on real issues that many people face today. This play is detailed and accurately pinpoints the struggles that some of the characters have to endure

Lorraine and John are best friends. John and Lorraine are two extremely different people. Lorraine wants to be a writer when she grows up and John was to be an actor. Many people have various avocations. John’s avocation is drinking, smoking, and cursing. Lorraine’s avocation is to write and to read books. One night John and Lorraine were hanging out and they decided to prank call Mr. Pignati. Lorraine talked to him over the phone as a charity worker. While Lorraine was talking to Mr. Pignati John kept telling Lorraine what to say and she was mortified that Mr. Pignati found know it was them. That night Mr. Pignati told Lorraine and John to meet him at the zoo around four o’clock. However, when John went home to tell his mother he was meeting someone at the zoo after school his mother replied to him and said no because he needs to help her clean around the house and because his mother and father thought he put glue in the operator.

In the play, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, Linda Loman’s character is viewed differently by many people. Some critics have seen Linda as a “controlling mother figure” who is actually the one to blame for this failure of both her sons and her husband. In this report I will defend this view citing specific examples from the play. Linda was undoubtedly the only one in control throughout the play. I believe that Linda tried to be a good mother and wife but she did not really know what she was doing. At the very beginning of the book we see that Willy, on his way to Boston, has come home because he was unable to concentrate on the road. And just as he was beginning to figure out why, she took his mind off the subject by suggesting that

All the negativity of Willy Loman’s life begins right as he is caught having an affair by his son, everything starts going down hill from that point in Willy’s life. His son loses respect for him and is responsible for Biff’s inability to live up to the potential he had shown in high school. The problems with his son don’t stop there as even adulthood, Biff has no respect for his father and he and Willy get into constant fights. Willy also has trouble with changing times, especially when change happens in his neighborhood “They should have arrested the builder for cutting those (the trees) down. They massacred the neighborhood. Lost: More and more I think of those days, Linda.” In fact, Willy thinks nothing is as good as it used to be and constantly

To what extent can Willy Loman be considered a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s rules?

As the play’s titular character in Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is viewed by many as the definitive modern tragic hero of modern literature. He is a man struggling to gain upward mobility in a society designed to keep him in the trenches. The classic idea of a tragic hero is an important person who falls from a lofty seat in life. Willy, however, is just a common man trying to get to a place he can fall from. According to Arthur Miller, a tragic hero need not be a king or anyone of high rank. What’s important is the existence of the character’s “tragic flaw”, out of which creates the need to resist anything the character would consider a force attacking their being. Miller outlined the tragic flaw as a quality of a character that leaves them unable to accept anything that would affect or alter his/her status or self-image. While this flaw can create the tragic nature of a character, it does not necessarily create a tragic hero out a character. Willy Loman, though perhaps a tragic character, is not a tragic hero because he does not display the characteristic traits or actions associated with heroism.

Prior to delving deeper into the specifics, it is integral to note that, prior to reading this novel, I steadfastly believed that a personal choice that a parent makes most definitely cannot change a child’s life forever. In other words, I failed to account for the notion, pertaining to how not every situation is complemented by an elixir. With respect to how The Death of a Salesman revolutionized my standpoint, the literary piece efficaciously elucidated upon how Willy’s affair with the Woman, a mistress, profoundly affected his son’s (Biff’s) determination, in terms of pursuing his studies. Further complementing this posed notion, Biff was essentially disgusted by his father’s immorality and dishonesty, to a point where he decided to altogether

As though to recreate the connection in life, literature often shows the relationship between past events and a character’s present actions and values. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy is haunted by memories of his older brother, father, and salesman Dave Singleman. Willy’s character and values are constantly influenced by the memory of the three men, compounding upon his deliria throughout the play. Willy considers these men the epitome of success, thus explaining his dependency on all three. Miller’s view on society, men, and the success of the American Dream are portrayed through Willy’s interactions with the men. The American Dream is synonymous with the phrase “the world is your oyster,” but Miller uses Death of a Salesman to criticize the American Dream through Willy Loman and his interplay between the past and present.