Analysis Of Arthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman

Emily Alimusa COM 101—FALL 2014 Death of A Salesman Essay Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman offers an instructive example for understanding the production and maintenance of identity through communicative interaction in a family using the character Biff Loman. Throughout the play, we see Biff’s character develop and change. He is in an identity crisis and is trying to understand his place in the Loman family. Biff is constantly seeking the truth about himself. He believes there is more to his life than the lies Willy has been feeding him and his brother all of their life. In the same note, he wants to prove to his father that he is not the under achiever Willy makes him out to be. In the play, Willy Loman creates his own reality for himself. This reality is merely a fantasy world where he and his two sons are great and successful salesmen. They are well liked and the best there is. Willy tells his sons since they were at least teenagers that they key to success is to be well liked. Be internal izing this into his boys, they believe that his father is successful and that they want to be just like him. Linda, Willy’s wife, has helped him co-construct his reality by constantly making excuses for Willy. She maintains the image of Willy being great all the way through the boys’ adulthood. This is especially important for Biff. Biff has always thought very highly of his father. Through social interaction, this reality is maintained. In the scene when Willy, Hap and BiffShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Arthur Miller s The Death Of A Salesman 1325 Words   |  6 PagesArthur Miller is one of the most successful and enduring playwrights of the post-war era in America. He focuses on middle-class anxieties since the theme of anxiety and insecurity reflects much of Arthur Miller’s own past. 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Although he was a hard worker and kept up with an exhausting schedule, his family always practically lived in poverty and Willy was inferior in his company. He always told his family that they would get the big break he deserved. He had raised two sons, Happy and Biff, to think that life has somehow cheated them and insists that they will get their payback someday. Willy s wife, Linda, lives in denial