Death of a Salesman
In order for a family to be fully and healthily functioning, it has to be honest and communicative, supportive and nurturing. The Loman family, however, lacks these characteristics and appears more dysfunctional than functional. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is essentially a eulogy for the American Dream, killed by the dysfunctionality of American life. That dysfunction is what seeps into the Loman family and prevents it from operating the way it should. As Biff states at one point in the play, “We never told the… Continue Reading...
In Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman, the Lowman family finds it quite difficult to decode and differentiate between the real and illusion. This theme of reality versus illusion continues throughout the play, which in the end leads to the death of the protagonist, Willy Lowman. The key element of the play encompasses the value and importance of the American dream of becoming successful. The play is set up in the 1940s era when men in America were determined to be successful, not only in the pursuit of provisioning for their families, but… Continue Reading...
Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays" and Miller's Death of a Salesman share in common the theme of showing how the strain of trying to achieve the American dream creates problems for working class families. Both Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays" and Death of a Salesman depict the motif of "separation" between father and son due directly to the stress of the working class labor model (Hiraldo 6). Separation is a major motif in "Those Winter Sundays." Hayden uses diction to emphasize the theme of separation. For example, the speaker in "Those Winter Sundays" describes the winter cold as… Continue Reading...
