Significant Characters: Willy, Biff, Ben, Happy, Linda, Charley, and Bernard
Plot: The plot focuses on the endeavors of the Loman family. Willy is Biff and Happy's father. He works as saleman selling his body and soul chasing the ideals of his brother Ben, hoping to sell the dream to his children. Biff is confused about his future goals. On one hand he can follow his father and sell his heart and seek the american consumerist dream, or he can go out west and become a farmer and reject the dream for substance. Biff battles with himself while Willy is simply lost in his dream. He is a slave to consumerism. Driven insane, he can't understand Biff. Lost in the past "glory" days, Arthur Miller uses flashback vignettes to paint progress the plot. By far, the most important memory is Willy's infidelity. This changing moment is when Biff loses his innocence and grows up. This is also the point when Willy is driven insane with guilty. With nothing left but an insurance policy and an unpaid mortgage, Willy gives his life for his dream. He and Linda are "finally free" from the burdens of consumerism. Biff rejects the consumerist age and decides to go west. Happy, however, stays back to continue Willy's legacy. Charley acts as a foil to Willy. Charles decides to study hard and build meaningful friendships, improving himself from the inside, rather than the exterior as Biff does.
Theme: The American dream of consumerism is a fake ideal without substance and true meaning. The dream lacks meaningful relationships and more over provides false hope. Willy lives in the past and the future and never seizes the present(Carpe Diem).
Author: Arthur Miller's heavy usage of flashbacks and dream-like vignettes disturbs the line between dream and reality. This technique adds to the false facade of the american dream. Willy is chasing dust and a memory. There is nothing to it and in the end he dies for it(cashing in on his life insurance thus paying his bills). Willy is constantly battling with a memory of his rich older brother ben. Arthur uses this to show the internal conflict within Willy. The prodigal sun, Biff and his foil brother Happy are used to show the competing schools of thought. Old vs. New. Materialism vs. Substance.
Key Quotes: "We’re free. . . ."-Linda
Free from the material grasp. Free of mortgage payments and debt. Many things conplete Linda's statement but what is most significant is deep slave imagery. Willy was a slave to the dream. He worked day and night with the only escape being his life insurance. This is a very radical belief: economic slavery.
"Walked into a jungle and comes out, the age of twenty-one, and he's rich!"-Willy
This is the dream. To walk into the capitalist jungle and walk out rich. However this dream is very similar to the 1890's dream as well. In fact, the dream is the same except the jungle changed and rich has taken on a different meaning. Jungle can mean a physical jungle as well. In fact the founding frontier philosophy that founded America was exactly this. But monetary wealth was not the primary focus in the old dream. The dream was to live a rich life. A life of adventure and outdoorsman, not fat cat capitalism.
Haha once again good job hitting all the important points but just elaborate! especially with the plot cause it's actually and really long complicated plot. Also minor error, its Biff and Happy are the son's you accidentely say Ben in the beginning but fix it later on in the plot haha. Also good use of literary terms like vignette. I also think that a good point made in class that might help beef up your theme and plot is that many argue that Willy is not only just chasing after the American Dream but he's also selling the American Dream. And it never actually said that Happy would continue Willy's legacy so i would be careful before saying that in an essay.
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