1970. Choose a
character from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay
in which you (a) briefly describe the standards of the fictional society in
which the character exists and (b) show how the character is affected by and
responds to those standards. In your essay do not merely summarize the plot.
In Death of a Salesman, Willy lives an a Post-World War II New York City, where he is a salesman who has to drive all over New England in order to sell anything. The economy is starting to pick up again, and the city is growing, so people are expected to start becoming successful businessmen again, but traces of the depression still linger. Willy believes that if a person is well liked, they won't ever fail at the American Dream. However, the growth of capitalism in the city is not as kind as Willy believes and prevents him from succeeding. Willy has too much pride to accept this new reality and continues to live in the past as an escape.
The growth of capitalism and it's affect on Willy's career is shown best through the characters Charley and his son Bernard, who are foils for Willy and his son Biff. On the outside, Willy and Biff appear to be much better looking and and full of "the old confidence." On the other hand, Charley is fat and not the most pleasant person to talk too. Bernard is the class geek who is small and scrawny. Since Willy and Biff appear to be more naturally gifted, Willy teaches Biff that people will naturally like him and give him opportunities. This is more of the old way, when friends stayed your friends because the economy couldn't be depended on. Charley teaches Bernard the opposite. Because they don't have good appearances to make an impression, Charley and Bernard must work hard in order obtain skills to become successful. Since people can't be trusted, they must rely on their own skills to use the economy to their advantage. Not surprisingly, Willy and Biff fail to achieve The American Dream because they have no skills, and couldn't depend upon their popularity.
Biff and Willy both got the same fate because of false dreams, but Willy's pride and insanity cause him to never truly accept his status in life. Since Willy invested all of his time and energy into one goal, that Biff would become a great salesman, Willy couldn't mentally handle his whole life crashing down at once, so he doesn't take blame for any of this mistakes and shifts in between different realities. These delusions become stronger when Willy is in a stressful situation, such as when his is fired for being too old and bothersome by Howard. Willy keeps thinking that he is back in the past, when Biff is about to win an important football game and Charley keeps warning Willy not to put so much stake in one thing. These memories do seem out of place at times, but the structure of the play makes the memories fit in with the present action. Willy's dreams and fears show through well with this format. The climax of the present action, when Willy is at the restaurant with his boys after they both fail, lines up with when Willy sees in his mind the time when Biff walked in on Willy and his lover and looses faith. These memories help show us a glimpse into the tortured mind of Willy that even he can't see clearly.
Willy's cannot achieve The American Dream because he is too proud to accept the changing ways of American society after World War II. He eventually kills himself instead of dealing with the issues in his life caused by both capitalism and his own stubbornness.
You do a good job at not summarizing the plot. I would only talk about one character though, so choose either Willy or Biff to talk about but not both (in the second paragraph). I would add more of a description of how capitalism directly affects Willy, and not so much how his philosophy about how if he is liked then he will succeed affects him. You also could add and explanation about how capitalism isn't as kind as Willy thinks it is. Your explanation about Willy's response is really good though and hits all of the main points, good job!
ReplyDeleteJust to start, I wonder whether you could put a space between each of your paragraphs. It makes them a bit easier to read that way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Caroline in that the first paragraph could probably address how capitalism is not as Willy expects a bit more. While you provide an example of how it's different through the differences between the two families, I think it could be made a bit more informative by more explicitly connecting it to society as a whole instead of just comparing the two families, which is kind of what it sounds like at the moment.
As for the second paragraph, I agree with Caroline as well. Talking about both Biff and Willy seems to make it a little messy. Focusing on Willy would allow you to talk more about how he's living in the past as a response to it, which you address but don't really seem to elaborate on. The way you end that paragraph actually makes it sound like your topic for that paragraph isn't what was mentioned in the thesis.
Overall, I agree with your points and analysis but I think it could use a bit more clarification and elaboration. Good job!
You have some great information and analysis here, all it needs is to be more specialized under one main topic. The first paragraph goes along with your thesis fairly well, for example, but the second paragraph seems to stray. Instead of talking about how Willy's mental state works, try connecting his brief jaunts into the past to the capitalistic society he lives in. You explain the reasons he has these flashbacks well; now connect them to his dream and how capitalism has destroyed it.
ReplyDeleteAs the others mentioned, I'd suggest altering the first paragraph slightly to make the comparison more broad. Start by comparing WIlly and Charley's families, but then expand that to Willy and his ideas vs. America as a whole.