StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Response paper 2 - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The family is comprised of Willy Loman, his wife, kids and Ben his younger brother. Willy is delusional and tries so hard to hide his failures and averageness…
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER93.9% of users find it useful
Response paper 2
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Response paper 2"

Death of a Salesman by Arthur miller This is a play about a family tragedy, and it describes the conflict between their dreams and realities of their lives. The family is comprised of Willy Loman, his wife, kids and Ben his younger brother. Willy is delusional and tries so hard to hide his failures and averageness behind his misbeliefs. Loman is relatively characterized as someone, in a class, who thinks that he or she has ballooned egos, which not everyone else likes. The whole play gives a vivid picture of an American dream gone sour.

Loman’s statement that his brother walked into the jungle and came out with diamonds metaphorically relates to most themes of the play.The quote, “the jungle”, illustrates how Ben ventured in Africa and came back rich. This native locale, just like Alaska where Ben and Willy’s dad also ventured and made exemplary success in his business, proves the title of a failed salesman. In a way, it also depicts Willy’s little success, which is majored in his decision to work, in America, to achieve his dream (Miller et al. 17). In Africa, Ben made a significant fortune when he discovered diamond mines.

This aspect of Ben’s fortune also symbolizes Willy’s failure as a salesman, which also depicts the meaning of the play’s title. Willy also, as a family man, does not give right incentives to his family especially to his son Biff. Willy is much unwearied from his misconceived American dream, and his brother’s attempt to convince him, to follow him to Alaska, is in vain. Ben even at the end of the play tries to influence his brother to enter into the jungle, and find this elusive diamond (Miller et al. 75). In most scenes, Willy is characterized as someone who has internal conflict, which leads him to undertake uncalled for actions.

His stubbornness is what Ben focuses on to condemn him. There is a concurrent reference to nature throughout the whole play. The jungle image has extensively worked as a metaphor. It describes the idea of a world that has not yet been tamed. To some extent, it also reveals how the jungle itself is a place where someone can learn to tame themselves by getting involved.Another crucial idea that “the jungle” metaphor justifies is how Ben has managed to create so much wealth at the ages of between seventeen and twenty-one years.

However, Willy was struggling to achieve his misperceived American dream, during this period. The jungle and diamond analogies are symbolic to the themes of this play. The jungle represents the abstract idea of venturing on an unfriendly environment without prior knowledge of what would transpire (Graziosi & Greenwood 54). Diamonds, on the other hand, illustrate the riches or the fruits of engaging into the unfriendly jungle. This aptly captures the aspect of Ben going into the jungle at seventeen and coming out at twenty-one with diamonds.

Finally, this play has extensively employed the use of metaphors like the poem by Marge Percy, Secretary Chant. In Secretary Chant, Percy compares the narrator to a machine and an object with none human characteristics, which more or less can be related to how Miller metaphorically describes the jungle and diamonds, in Death of a Salesman.Works CitedGraziosi, B and E Greenwood. Homer in the Twentieth Century:Between World Literature and the Western Canon. London: Oxford University Press, 2010.

PrintMiller, Arthur, and Gerald C. Weales. Death of a Salesman. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. Print.Miller, Arthur, Lee J. Cobb, Mildred Dunnock, Dustin Hoffman, Ulu Grosbard, and Alex North. Death of a Salesman. New York: Harper Audio, 1991. Print

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Response paper 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1”, n.d.)
Response paper 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1621341-response-paper-2
(Response Paper 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words - 1)
Response Paper 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words - 1. https://studentshare.org/literature/1621341-response-paper-2.
“Response Paper 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words - 1”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1621341-response-paper-2.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Response paper 2

Skinners Positive Reinforcement Theory

This paper provides a detailed exploration of the theory of reinforcement while highlighting the facets of the theory as well as its organizational application.... The reinforcement theory argues that individuals will choose the response they exhibit to a given stimulus, and based on the outcome they will repeat the same choice in cases of similar stimulus in the future (Skinner, 1970)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

Two separate survey

ail SurveyMail survey is a data collection technique, whereby respondents fill questionnaires in paper format and return them through mail (Zikmund & Babin, 2006).... The intention is to maximize response and measurement legitimacy.... The intention is to maximize response and measurement legitimacy.... However, this form of survey is able to enhance quality than mail survey design, since it has a higher response rate, coupled with a superior response quality and validity (Ritter, 2007)....
2 Pages (500 words) Research Paper

A Proposal for Enhancing the Training and Development Function in Hospital X

The paper examined two hospitals in the United States and their response to organizational change.... Consequently, further training was identified to be an effective response to help prepare staff members and allow them to undertake new tasks.... First, the plan for change in one of the hospitals showed that it is important to evaluate their strong and weak points, as well as possibilities for organizational improvement… Boosting the morale of employees is fundamental, whether this encouragement comes from positive past experiences or constant persuasive communication between managers and employees....
9 Pages (2250 words) Term Paper

Parameters in Estimation of the Design of Floods and Catchment Response

The paper "Parameters in Estimation of the Design of Floods and Catchment Response" evaluates different methods of estimating the response time of catchment in the estimation of peak discharge.... nbsp;… The time of concentration, the time to peak, and the lag time were compared to determine the best method for estimating the catchment response time for the peak discharge.... From this comparison, it was found that the lag time was the best while the time of concentration was the least method to be used in estimating the catchment response of time in South Australia....
33 Pages (8250 words) Term Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us