Death of a Salesman, a Film Review Essay - 499 Words

Death of a Salesman is probably one of Arthur Millers greatest achievements. This play describes the sixty-three-year-old protagonist Willy Loman, a rounded and psychologically motivated individual. Willy is also a familiar American Philistine and even a universal type. He embodies the stupidity, immorality, self-delusion, and failure of middle-class values Miller portrays as being sterile and vicious. At the same time Willys love of his delinquent sons, however harmful and wrongly expressed has made him a King Lear in mufti. The transparent skeletal settings may be altered instantaneously; they modify naturalism into an expressionistic and dreamlike dramatization of Willys free association, shifting between and confusing the present,†¦show more content†¦Willy Loman is a salesman of small achievement who worships business and small success. His two sons, Biff and Happy, are as unsuccessful as he, but their failure derives mostly from Willys confused ideals and social blindn ess. In the end, Biff makes Willys see their lives are empty dreams, and Willy kills himself in the final illusion that his insurance money will enable Biff to achieve success. Willy is a salesman who has seen better days, or at least lets himself believe he was once more appreciated by his employers. His life has been devoted to his work, his wife, and his sons, Happy and Biff. His boys are the apple of his eye, so he cannot see that they will probably never amount to much. And that Biff has never gotten over his disgust at finding his father in a hotel room with a prostitute has continued to haunt Willy. At sixty-three Willy loses his job and has no where to turn. Then he kills himself in an automobile crash, hoping his $20,000 insurance will pay off the mortgage and give his boys another chance. At his funeral, attended only by Linda, the boys, and Charleys son; who tried to tell Biff about his father. He said that a salesman had to dream, that without dreams he was nothing. When the dreams were gone, a salesman was finished. Biff characterizes his father as a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smili ng back--thats anShow MoreRelatedIn Death of a Salesman as well as in American Beauty, the main conflicts revolve around a great1300 Words   |  6 PagesIn Death of a Salesman as well as in American Beauty, the main conflicts revolve around a great basic problem, which is the appearance as a way of life and expression to the outside. Following this, they will all problems relating to the relationships between the characters, and the lack of communication in the families. It could also be seen in both works that the characters go through great efforts pretending to be happy with themselves. Willy Loman which may sound Low Man- man, writersRead MoreEssay about Marxism and the Fall of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman2986 Words   |  12 Pages In post-Depression America, the United States endured internal battles in political ideologies between capitalists and Marxists, which is the focus of Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman. According to Helge Normann Nilsen, author of â€Å"From Honors At Dawn to Death of a Salesman: Marxism and the Early Plays of Arthur Miller,† the Great Depression had a profound impact in forming the political identity of Arthur Miller: â€Å"The Great Depression created in him a lasting and traumatic impressionRead MoreDiscussion on the Choice of Genre2804 Words   |  12 PagesDiscuss the choice of genre; comedy or tragedy? In this assignment I will discuss the choice of genre; comedy or tragedy? In the play Death of a Salesman (2000) by Arthur Miller and the movie east is east (1999) by Ayub Khan-Din. I will suggest Willy Loman within the play Death of a Salesman (2000) actually is the architect of his own failure. I will put forward Loman’s ideal of the American Dream and show while he strived to achieve this goal, this ultimately proved to be the cause of his demiseRead MoreEssay about Film Noirs Effect on Modern Cinema1365 Words   |  6 PagesFilm Noirs Effect on Modern Cinema High heels click on wet pavement, shady detectives stand in the shadows, shots ring out through the cold, dark city night-just another moment in film noir. These seedy, almost underground films are considered to be some of the best and most influential pictures in the history of Hollywood by anyones standards, most certainly some of the darkest. Even though the glory days of film noir have long passed and given way to big budget productions, their influenceRead MoreA Place Called Chiapas899 Words   |  4 PagesIn this sense, the film tests the resiliency of good human nature. 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Although Death of the Salesman and The Glass Menagerie appear coincidently similar at first glance. Upon a closer examination, it becomes evident thatRead MoreDepicting the Unattainable American Dream in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald1740 Words   |  7 PagesCarraway. Both Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway are parts of Fitzgerald. Jay Gatsby, a millionaire who showed up out of nowhere, is a part of who Fitzgerald wanted to become because of a woman he met during World War I and Nick Carraway, a laidback bonds salesman and the narrator of the story, is also a part of Fitzgerald wanting to be an author. Although both characters are a depiction of Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is a character that lives in the past while Nick Carraway is a character that looks into the futureRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller Essay1552 Words   |  7 Pagesbe afflicted by witchcraft. The afflicted girls accuse people in the town of witchcraft, often choosing victims who they or their families dislike. 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