Death of a Salesman Draft 2
Denial is something that many people carry and never bear to face. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, A family of four the Lomans faces their own separate denials, From Willy the head of the family who is losing his mind, Linda Willy’s wife who can’t face the reality that her family is falling apart, Happy the youngest son keeps who is lying to himself, and Biff the eldest son who can’t find where he belongs and has a petty theft problem. Many of these Denials can be traced back to one person Willy, who in my opinion is the most in denial. Throughout the entire play Willy has had to deal with some type of mental illness, from talking to himself to having imaginary conversation with his mistress and brother.
Willy is by far the family member that lives most in denial and delusion. Willy loman was a hardworking salesman who valued the american that seemed to stray from his life as the years went on. In the start of the play Willy Loman is a road salesman on the decline. His life starts to fall apart when he get lonely and decides to become unfaithful to his wife and sleep with “the women” being caught by Biff Willy’s favorite, which destroys the relationship that the two had and puts a strain on the family. From this moment on Willy’s life goes down the drain. An Example of this is that he's not making anymore money at work because of his illness and everyday he comes home to his wife and tells her that he's made $50 when she really knows that he's lying and mooching off their neighbor Charley."I'm very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don't seem to take to me." Act 1, Part 3, pg. 1569 this quote shows that he has a false sense of himself and he shares it with others. Although Willy is lying he is really unaware because his mind is still somewhat stuck in the past. One characteristic that Willy has held onto throughout this time is his personality and gusto like he always says to his boys "It’s not what you say, but how you say it – because personality always wins the day." Act 1, Part 8, pg. 1583. This was before the woman incident happened where all the family relationships were still intact and thriving. The boys really did look up to their father asking him for advice and help when they thought no one else could, for example when biff traveled all the way from New York to ask his father in Boston to go talk to his teacher for him because Biff thought with his dad's personality he could make anything happen. Willy had some major problems towards the end of the play, having made up conversation with his brother Ben that he hadn't seen in years, having flash black of better and worse times of his life, all these things left willy mad and that led him to eventually take his own life thinking that he would die the death of a salesman. Another example of how Willy was in denial is when he said "Coach will probably congratulate you on your initiative!" Act 1, Part 3, pg. 1566 this is an example of how Willy is in denial of his golden son he chooses not to believe in.
Throughout the entire play Willy has had to deal with some type of mental illness, from talking to himself to having imaginary conversation with his mistress and brother. Denial is something that many people carry and never bear to face. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, A family of four the Lomans faces their own separate denials, From Willy the head of the family who is losing his mind, Linda Willy’s wife who can’t face the reality that her family is falling apart, Happy the youngest son keeps who is lying to himself, and Biff the eldest son who can’t find where he belongs and has a petty theft problem. Many of these Denials can be traced back to one person Willy, who in my opinion is the most in denial.
Peer Partner: ______Sally_____________
Using a different color, type your comments:
Does your partner introduce the essay well? No, I was confused by your.....
Does the thesis identify the most delusional in the family. What reason was given?
Did the essay make sense? Was it logical?
What was the problem about which your partner was writing?
Was the essay written well? Was it interesting to read or was it boring?
Was a variety of styles used for the citations? Or was the same style used over and over?
What suggestions do you have to "kick it up a notch"?
Did your partner's argument convincing? Did you to understand the reasoning? Do you think they are correct?
Was the essay written with passion?
Did the arguments make sense?
Was there a discussion for each character in the Loman family (Willy, Linda, Biff, Hap)? - At least a paragraph for each character.
Were there at least 3 citations from the text for each? How many for each?
Willy ____ Linda ____ Biff _____ Hap _____
Were the citations used appropriately?
Were the citations introduced properly and make sense?
Spelling errors?
Grammatical errors?
Does the essay appear to be at least 85% completed?
Death of a Salesman Draft 1
Denial is something that many people carry and never bear to face. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, A family of four the Lomans faces their own separate denials,confusion - what does this mean? From Willy the head of the family who is losing his mind, Linda Willy’s wife who can’t face the reality that her family is falling apart, Happy the youngest son keeps who is lying to himself, and Biff the eldest son who can’t find where he belongs and has a petty theft problem. Many of these Denials can be traced back to one person Willy, who in my opinion is the most in denial. Throughout the entire play Willy has had to deal with some type of mental illness, from talking to himself to having imaginary conversation with his mistress and brother.
Willy is by far the family member that lives most in denial and delusion. Willy loman was a hardworking salesman who valued the american that seemed to stray from his life as the years went on. In the start of the play Willy Loman is a road salesman on the decline. His life starts to fall apart when he get lonely and decides to become unfaithful to his wife and sleep with “the women” being caught by Biff Willy’s favorite, which destroys the relationship that the two had and puts a strain on the family. From this moment on Willy’s life goes down the drain. An Example of this is that he's not making anymore money at work because of his illness and everyday he comes home to his wife and tells her that he's made $50 when she really knows that he's lying and mooching off their neighbor Charley."I'm very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don't seem to take to me." Act 1, Part 3, pg. 1569 this quote shows that he has a false sense of himself and he shares it with others. Although Willy is lying he is really unaware because his mind is still somewhat stuck in the past. One characteristic that Willy has held onto throughout this time is his personality and gusto like he always says to his boys "It’s not what you say, but how you say it – because personality always wins the day." Act 1, Part 8, pg. 1583. This was before the woman incident happened where all the family relationships were still intact and thriving. The boys really did look up to their father asking him for advice and help when they thought no one else could, for example when biff traveled all the way from New York to ask his father in Boston to go talk to his teacher for him because Biff thought with his dad's personality he could make anything happen. Willy had some major problems towards the end of the play, having made up conversation with his brother Ben that he hadn't seen in years, having flash black of better and worse times of his life, all these things left willy mad and that led him to eventually take his own life thinking that he would die the death of a salesman. Another example of how Willy was in denial is when he said "Coach will probably congratulate you on your initiative!" Act 1, Part 3, pg. 1566 this is an example of how Willy is in denial of his golden son he chooses not to believe in.
Throughout the entire play Willy has had to deal with some type of mental illness, from talking to himself to having imaginary conversation with his mistress and brother. Denial is something that many people carry and never bear to face. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, A family of four the Lomans faces their own separate denials, From Willy the head of the family who is losing his mind, Linda Willy’s wife who can’t face the reality that her family is falling apart, Happy the youngest son keeps who is lying to himself, and Biff the eldest son who can’t find where he belongs and has a petty theft problem. Many of these Denials can be traced back to one person Willy, who in my opinion is the most in denial.