Willy takes offense when a junior executive questions him about the targets and dismisses him from the job. This underperformance only pushes a junior executive to fire him. That is, even though working as a salesman for many years, he did not achieve any worthwhile results, making less than expected sales.
#SYMBOLISM IN DEATH OF A SALESMAN PROFESSIONAL#
Willy Loman is an insecure and self-deluding traveling salesman, whose life becomes miserable as he fails both in his professional as well as in his personal life. Learn about the different symbols such as Distant Lands in Death of a Salesman and how they contribute to the plot of the book. Willy Loman is the patriarch of the family, his wife is Linda Loman and they have two sons, Biff Loman and Happy Loman. Symbolism in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. It addresses this misguided American dream through the painful conflicts that happen within a family of four. At that time and even now, the play was viewed as a scathing attack on the American Dream of achieving wealth and success without showing importance to principles. So, this paper will analyze how Willy Loman due to his misguided American Dream destructed his own life, and also how his attempt of Anagnorisism or self-realization to correct his negative actions caused by the misguided dreams also ended in failure.Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller and premiered in 1949, is considered one of the classic plays of American theater.
One of the fictional characters who ‘seeded’ his mind with the misguided American Dream, and thereby destructed his life is Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. Likeability is an important quality for a salesman like Willy, yet he is unable to achieve the success he desires. Themes American Dream: The American Dream plays a pivotal role in the novel, it is the central cause of Willy Loman’s downfall and the reason for the Loman family's unhappiness.
Willy Lomans notions of the American Dream equate success with being well-liked. Stockings are also a symbol for Willy's failure as a provider because he cannot afford to get Linda new stockings. In real life or in fictional life, there have been many individuals or characters, who had these misguided dreams eventually succumbing to it. The American Dream is the dominant theme, or main idea, in Death of a Salesman. So, achievable dreams should be ‘watered’ and grown while misguided dreams should be ‘weeded’ out in the ‘germinating stage’ itself. So, all these misguided dreams and unwanted urges should be hidden in the deep ‘holes’ in the mind, blocked by achievable dreams and positive thoughts.