"He had a good dream. It's the only dream you can have- to come out number-one man. He fought it out here and this is where I'm gonna win it for him." p.1630
One thing that I think I am struggling with for this play is the central theme. I was sick today, so I never got to address it with my group. I have a guess, but it is nothing I feel adequately addresses the whole play. I think that the theme can somewhat be conveyed in the quote above. This quote describes the obsession Happy and Willy have to always be number one in life. I think the theme is that trying to be the best always leaves oneself disappointed and short of their goal. Everyone can't honestly expect to be the best at what they do. It is a good goal to strive for, but it is something that only a few ever reach. I think Miller really tries to convey this through the characters Willy and Happy. They never are really satisfied with themselves because they never can feel accomplished in what they do. Biff begins to understand this towards the end of the play and wants to be accepted for who he is. As a result, he seems to be a more composed and level-headed character. Willy and Happy, on the other hand, struggle understanding this throughout the play. This essentially is summarized in what Happy says in the quote above. I don't think I'm too off track with this theme but hopefully my group can help me clarify it tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Death of a Salesman: Irony
"Why didn't anybody come? It was a nice funeral. But where are all the people he knew?" p.1629
Wow I definitely did not expect such an irony like this to end the play. The entire focus of the character Willy is his impressions on other people. He goes about his whole life trying to be well-liked by everyone. He even raises his two sons in this manner. He thinks that success is directly correlated with how many people like you and how well-known you are. Nothing could be more ironic than having only two people outside his family show up to his funeral. All his life Charley had been there for him and still is at his funeral. However, it is ironic that Charley, who never pushed success on his own son, has a son who ended up being the most successful out of all of the characters. It is very ironic for practically no one to pay their respects to Willy at his funeral, and it is even more ironic that the two who do are Charley and Bernard.
Wow I definitely did not expect such an irony like this to end the play. The entire focus of the character Willy is his impressions on other people. He goes about his whole life trying to be well-liked by everyone. He even raises his two sons in this manner. He thinks that success is directly correlated with how many people like you and how well-known you are. Nothing could be more ironic than having only two people outside his family show up to his funeral. All his life Charley had been there for him and still is at his funeral. However, it is ironic that Charley, who never pushed success on his own son, has a son who ended up being the most successful out of all of the characters. It is very ironic for practically no one to pay their respects to Willy at his funeral, and it is even more ironic that the two who do are Charley and Bernard.
Death of a Salesman: Parallels with the Glass Menagerie
"Can you imagine that magnificence with twenty thousand dollars in his pocket?" p.1627
This quote from the story pretty much summarizes one of the key aspects of the play. Willy has good intentions for his son, Biff. He wants him to be the best he can be, however, his intentions are often misguided. He tries to convince Biff that in order to be successful, he has to be popular and loved by everyone. This irrational view distorts Biff's life as he grows up trying to be the best at everything. This quote from Willy shows that he never truly moved on from the idea that Biff has to be great in whatever he does. Willy goes on to kill himself just to give Biff a chance to start a business, something Biff doesn't even want to do. Willy has good intentions, however, they are just really misguided. This parallels with the character Amanda from the "Glass Menagerie". Like Willy, she wanted what was best for Laura but often went about in the wrong way of doing it. Both characters were stuck in their past and never really accepted their children for who they were, but rather what they expected them to be. I found these two plays to be very similar in the many parallels among characters.
This quote from the story pretty much summarizes one of the key aspects of the play. Willy has good intentions for his son, Biff. He wants him to be the best he can be, however, his intentions are often misguided. He tries to convince Biff that in order to be successful, he has to be popular and loved by everyone. This irrational view distorts Biff's life as he grows up trying to be the best at everything. This quote from Willy shows that he never truly moved on from the idea that Biff has to be great in whatever he does. Willy goes on to kill himself just to give Biff a chance to start a business, something Biff doesn't even want to do. Willy has good intentions, however, they are just really misguided. This parallels with the character Amanda from the "Glass Menagerie". Like Willy, she wanted what was best for Laura but often went about in the wrong way of doing it. Both characters were stuck in their past and never really accepted their children for who they were, but rather what they expected them to be. I found these two plays to be very similar in the many parallels among characters.
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