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Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, is a play depicting one man, Willy Loman, in his attempt to achieve the American Dream while living amongst his wife and children. Throughout the play the reader is introduced to many characters, some who are dynamic and some who are static. In any good literal work there is a balance of both of these types of characters, and Death of a Salesman is no exception that Willy Loman, his wife Linda, and their two children, Biff and Happy, create these characteristics. Willy Loman is focused on his primary goal to achieve the American Dream through hard work.
At the beginning of the play Willy had declined to travel with his brother, he insisted that he would achieve his dream. Four years later his brother stumbles upon a diamond mine and is instantly rich. Willy runs in to some tough times, and is constantly asking his friend Charlie for money. Charlie has offered Willy jobs on several occasions, and Willy constantly refuses. : CHARLEY. I offered you a job. You can make fifty dollars a week.
And I wont send you on the road. CHARLEY. Without pay? What kind of a job is a job without pay? Why dont you want to work for me? WILLY.
Whats the matter with you? Ive got a job. CHARLEY. I am offering you a job. WILLY. I dont want your goddamn job. (1683) Willy is still determined to achieve his dream in his own way, as a salesman.
He refuses to earn it any other way. Even in death he endeavored to achieve his dream by dying the death of a salesman. Biff Loman is a dynamic character, because unlike Willy he eventually realizes the unfairness of society. In the beginning of the play Biff is much like his father, living in the world of, if you work hard youll achieve the American Dream. Biff is supporting his father in his dream world.
Eventually Biff runs into some difficult times; he cant hold down a job, and he no longer trusts his father. On the day following the sporting goods store incident, he realizes the flaws in his fathers dream. That day he fails to get the loan, the man, Oliver, who had loved Biff did not even recognize him. The following day Biff cursed Willy for being a fool and a dreamer.
He states, Youre going to hear the truth-what you are and what I am! Pop Im a dime a dozen, and so are you! I am not a leader of men, Willy, and neither are you. You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the ash can like all the rest of them!
Willy you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens? Biff is upset with his father for being so arrogant and unrealistic. He wants Willy to realize that they are not leaders or rich men and to understand that is okay. Biff had it with Willy filling him up with hot air. By the end of the play Biff had gained this understanding, and in this aspect had changed.
He matured to Happy Loman was also a dynamic character. At the beginning he was less renowned than Biff, he usually was in Biffs shadow. He was constantly trying to get attention from his father. He once states, Im losing weight, you notice, Pop? (1647) He does everything he can to get acknowledgement from his HAPPY. Im gonna get married, Mom. I wanted to tell LINDA.
Go to sleep, dear. (1668) But, throughout the play it is Happy that is successful, more popular, and it is he who has all the women; there is not a woman in the world he could not have. Linda Loman was the most perfect example of the static character. It seemed as if her primary purpose in the play was to support Willy. She is WILLY.
I suddenly couldnt drive any more. The car kept going off onto the shoulder, yow? LINDA. Oh.
Maybe it was the steering again. I dont think Angelo WILLY. No, its me, its me. Suddenly I realize Im goin sixty miles an hour and I dont remember the last five minutes. Im- I cant seem to-keep my mind on it.
LINDA. Maybe its your glasses. You never went for your new She doesnt want him to blame himself for anything, she continuously strives to put him on a pedestal. Even when he is blaming himself, she tries to redirect the blame. This is consistent in her character throughout the play. The characters in the Loman family are evenly balanced in the aspect of their static and dynamic characteristics.
Willy and Linda are static; Willy does not deter from his American Dream rationale, and Linda does not stop putting him on a pedestal. Happy and Biff are the dynamic characters; Happy becomes the more successful and more well-liked, while Biff becomes the spitting image of his father, eventually realizing his fathers faults. Arthur Miller does a wonderful job of keeping a balance between static and dynamic characters within Death Of A Bibliography: Work Cited Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed.
X. J. Kennedy and Dana Girls. 7 th ed. New York: Longham, 1999. 1636 - 1701.
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Research essay sample on Death Of A Salesman Achieve The American Dream
