Close Reading 4

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/opinion/speaker-john-boehner-makes-an-offer.html

Open Prompt 4

1990. Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid plot summary.

The Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller, is play generally about the conflict between Willy and Biff and the failures of the family. Through the play Willy has false beliefs about life and has a false reality of his sons. Miller uses the conflict between Willy and Biff to criticize the unrealistic American Dream.

Willy is convinced that Biff is destined for greatness, even though he is actually a failure. Willy thinks that all that matters in the world is that you are well liked, which will make you successful. Biff comes back every spring because he thinks that he need to get an "actual" job and be successful, like Willy wants him to be. In the play Biff realizes that he really just wants to work out on a farm in the west. Willy does not want to realize that Biff isn't suited for the business world and thinks that he fails to spite him. Willy himself is never actually really successful. This forces the question of what it means to be successful. Biff finds himself the happiest when he was working on farms in the west and realizes that he has been a failure in the business world, which is contradiction to the standard American Dream.

At Willy's funeral, very few people showed up: his family, Charlie and Bernard. By no one showing up it shows that Willy did not have a legacy to leave behind. Biff remarked that there was more in his house than his whole career. Willy loved working with his hands and being a carpenter. Instead of pursuing what he wanted to do, he went to follow the "American Dream". Biff realizes this and does not want to end up like him. Their differing views on one's occupation is a fuel for their conflict. Despite all of this Happy wants to continue on Willy's legacy and show the corporate world that the Lomans amount to something. This continues on the legacy of the failed American Dream.

The majority of the plot is driven from conflicts between Biff and Willy. Willy's inability to see reality shows the superficiality of the American Dream.

DOS Summary/Analysis

Setting:

• The play takes place in New York City, which was where Miller was born, in an urban environment. He probably chose this city because he knows it best and had the best feel for what the city is like. Willy notes how the city used to be less crowded and is no in decay. Most of the play takes place in the Loman's house or their backyard, where many of the flashbacks take place.

Author:

• Miller has written many plays, many of them criticizing America in some way. 

Charcters:

• Willy Loman: He is a business man, who is now only paid on commission  because he is so bad at selling now. He has never made very much, despite what he has said. Charley often tells him to grow up and his family often uses terms that you would use with a child. He has "flashbacks" whenever he doesn't like the situation he is in and remembers better times. Willy's father left early in life, and thus sees Ben as a father figure. Willy thinks all that matters is that if people like you, not whether you are smart or not, he is neither.
• Biff Loman: Biff is seen as the golden child by Willy. Willy tells him he is something special and is not just a common man. Biff buys into this early on and has it pervade his life and believes that he should have instant success. Biff goes out west every year and then returns every spring time, trying to get his life together according to the ideals that he was brought up on. 
• Happy Loman: Happy is often ignored by everyone. He says many times that he is getting married, but no one even acknowledges it. He often goes out with other woman, even though he is engaged. Happy is the spawn of all of Willy's ideals and will probably end up just like Willy in the future. 
• Linda Loman: She is very supportive of Willy, often seen like a mother figure of Willy. She helps fuel Willy's illusions of reality, especially when she wants him to stay in New York, instead of going to Alaska.
• Charley: He is a foil to Willy. He is a successful business man, unlike Willy and he paid little attention to his son, unlike Willy. Charley is his neighbor and Willy is always jealous of him. Charley feels bad for Willy and gives him money, so he can pay bills. 
• Ben: Even though you can't say that he definitively exists, he has a huge impact on Willy. He goes north and some how ends up in Africa striking diamond mines. He is the father figure to Willy, because his dad left. Linda dislikes him because he tries to get Willy to move and go to Alaska.

Plot:

•  Willy return home from a business trip, which he goes on each week and requires a lot of driving. He doesn't make any money from these any more. Linda tells him to go to Howard and ask for a job in New York, so he doesn't have to travel as much. Willy complains about Biff not doing anything with his life. Linda tells him to go down stairs to get some milk. Willy goes into the kitchen and has a flashback, while talking to himself. In their old room, Biff and Happy reminisce about their childhood and talk about woman. They also talk about getting a ranch in the west and finding true happiness. Willy's flashback is of when he returns home from a business trip and buys a punching bag for Biff. Bernard enters and warns that Biff is going to fail math if he doesn't study. the boys leave to go do some chores and Willy confides in Linda that he is not well liked, but she says he is. He has another flashback of the woman, who gives stockings. He goes back to his other flashback  with Linda mending stockings and he gets angry at her for mending stockings. He also yells at Bernard for saying that Biff will fail math and get caught for stealing. Willy's flashback is disrupted by Biff and Happy coming downstairs. Happy tries to calm Willy down. Willy yells about how he should have gone with Ben and we learn that Ben went to Alaska and somehow ended up in Africa striking diamond mines and was very rich. Charley comes over to play cards and during the game, Willy talks to Ben. Willy loses the game and says that he won. Charley leaves as Willy is yelling at him. Another flashback begins and this time Ben has come to visit Willy's family. Back in the present, Linda tells Biff and Happy that Willy is trying to commit suicide. Biff decides to go to Oliver to get a job and Willy decides to go to Howard to see if he can get a job in New York. Willy goes into Howard's office and asks for a new job. Howard denies him and Willy gets angry shouting about things that didn't happen. Howard fires Willy, then he ends up going to Charley's office. He meets Bernard there, who is very successful. Charley offers Willy a job, which he rejects, and is then given money from Charley. Happy is in some type of bar,  where he flirts with some woman. Biff walks in and tells Happy that he didn't get the job and in fact had never even directly worked for Oliver. Happy doesn't want Biff to tell Willy this. Willy walks in and as Biff is telling him about what happened, Willy falls back into a delusion. The Woman and Willy are in a hotel room and Biff walks in. Biff and Happy leave with the women, while Willy is having his delusion. Willy goes back home trying to plant a garden.Willy and Biff have a fight where Biff says that he loves him. They all go back inside and everyone goes off to bed except Willy. Willy leaves and commits suicide. At the funeral, only Willy's family and Charley are there. 

Style:

• There is no narrator, but the reader does get to see into Willy's delusions. You can't completely trust all of these because you know what Willy says or sees ins't always true. The tone of this play is usually hopeless. Many of the objects like the house are in decay to reflect Willy.

Quotes:

• "He was liked, but not well liked" - This quote appears a few times in the play. Willy says this meaning that being liked is the most important thing, not hard work. This is reflective of what Willy strived for, even though in reality no one actually liked him that much.
• "Nothing's planted. I don't have a thing in the ground." - Willy realizes that he has nothing to show for in his life. 

Theme:

• The American Dream is not the same for everyone - Happy thinks that he must continue on Willy's dream and has to show the world that he mattered. Biff realizes that the business world is not for him and that he just keep out west where he is happy. Willy thought he had to be salesman, because that is the American Dream, even though he should have a carpenter. 

Response to Course Material #4

Since the last response, we have finished discussing Death of a Salesman, which I did not like very much. Many other people seemed to like it, but for some reason I found it very boring and I disliked all the characters except for Ben. I liked reading all of the essays about it. It gave new perspectives to the play that I hadn't thought of before and made it much clearer.

We have also started reading Hamlet, which I find hard to understand sometimes because of the language that Shakespeare uses. I find all of the hidden meanings interesting and how the world of the play is so distrustful. This makes it so each character has to be very careful in what they say. I'm sure as the play goes on I will understand the language that Shakespeare uses, making it easier to find all the underlying themes and what characters are really saying. I feel like the annotations will help significantly with my understanding with play once I get there.