Death of a Salesman.
Lindsay Elvin
'Death of a Salesman', is a dramatic play written by Arther Miller. The theme of this play is the American Dream-(pursuit of succes). Miller uses a variety of expert techniques: Characterisation, Dialogue, symbolism of music and lighting, and many more. Willy has a dream of being successful but this is only a dream. Willy is confused in life and always contridicts himself. He has brought his sons up giving them negative advice which has had a downfall on them. We feel sympathy towards the main character in the play, Willy as e believes in a distorted version of the American Dream, but also anger as he cannot accept reality and he is bringing his sons down in his failures.
In the neighbourhood where Willy lives, it apears to the reader that he is resentful, as everyone around him is slighty more succesful than him - they are living the American Dream. Miller conveys this with one of techniques, Characterisation. Willy also explains how he is feeling trapped in the neighbourhood, in his home, and it becomes apparent to the reader as he especially feels trapped in his life: 'There is not a breath of fresh air in the neighbourhood'. This indicates him being suffocated at home, with family and by neighbours who are more succesful. This is effective because it helps us to gain a greater understanding of why, later in the play, he does what he does. I can empathise with Willy as I know I would hope to one day be succesful too, even though this is not easy. Not just me, I think most people would like to achieve great things and reach the American Dream.
In addition to him feeling trapped and jealous, there is one person he truly admires and that is his big brother Ben. through the use of dialogue we can see that Willy looks up to Ben, he is Willy's role model as he is wealthy: 'Walked into a jungle, and comes out, the age of twenty one, and he's rich!'. Willy idolises a false representation of the dream, as his brother made his...