Failure in a Success Oriented Society in Death of a Salesman Essays

Failure in a Success Oriented Society in remainder of a Salesman In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the playwright focuses on the theme of hardship in a victory oriented society. Willy Lowman, a failed salesman, is the central character. Willys downfall is caused by his picture in the propaganda of a society that only has room for winners. The import of this theme, tranquillise very relevant today, is heightened by Millers skilful use of a tell of key techniques, including setting, characterization and symbolism. The drama focuses on the life of a heart aged salesman, Willy Lowman, who, at the outset of the play is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He lives with his adoring but over protective wife, Linda, who acts as a buffer between her husband and their two adult sons, garget and Happy, whose relationship with their father is permanently under tension. The play plots the tragic crush of a man who cannot face up to his moral responsibilities in a socie ty whose nonsensical values attach a dangerous immenseness to success as measured in such transient impairment as income and material possessions. Living according to these values means that failure is likewise defined in economic terms. The plays setting contributes to our understanding of the significance of this theme. Willy Lowmans home is presented as small and fragile-seeming, dwarfed by a wall of apartment blocks whose social movement contributes to the trapped, claustrophobic atmosphere. He makes reference to a time before the work up of this area when there were two beautiful elm trees, now telescoped down by the builder and a garden in which sweet-flavored wisteria and lilacs bloomed in profusion.Willy complains of the airless quality within his apartment, despite... ...ary society. For todays audience, Willy Lowman remains a poignant figure of failure, partly as a result of societys false value system but partly because of Willys own inability to await life with integrity. Works Cited and Consulted Baym, Franklin, Gottesman, Holland, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 4th ed. New York Norton, 1994. Corrigan, Robert W., ed. Arthur Miller. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, 1969. Florio, doubting Thomas A., ed. Millers Tales. The New Yorker. 70 (1994) 35-36. Hayashi, Tetsumaro. Arthur Miller Criticism. Metuchen, NJ front Press, 1969. Martin, Robert A., ed. Arthur Miller. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, 1982. Miller, Arthur. The Archbishops Ceiling/The American Clock. New York Grove Press, 1989. ---. Death of a Salesman. New York Viking, 1965.